The League, Roger Goodell, and their interests

[Steve Billieve]

It seems to me that there is a lot of talk about the NFL's use of discipline. Most of what I read seems to think that this processes' chief objective should be fairness or impartiality or any number of other ideas. To me this seems completly ridiculuous. We have laws for a reason and the league should in no way attempt to be a body of law. In my view the league's use of discipline should be aimed exclusively to the purpose of protecting itself. To a much larger extent than most people seem to express, ensuring its interests, existance, longevity, popularity, etc is not really a bad thing. The league has a vested interest in being fun, fair, popular and enjoyable.

 

For what other purpose should the league dispense discipline? It's not a moral or a government body, its a business. The league should be all about promoting football and themselves, it is after all what they'll do best, and that's a good thing, at least for fans.

 

Although there is certainly something just a little unsavory about Roger Goodell it seems clear that this is the most logical context for and to explain his actions. I'm not trying to say the league hasn't made mistakes, but on the whole they've done a pretty good job promoting the game. I think if we look at popularity their record speaks for itself.

 

Please try to avoid talking about any specific punishments etc, there's plenty of that on existing threads, and I think we all get the "discrepancies" involved.

 

First time new topic, don't flay me.

[PromoTheRobot]

The NFL's prime directive: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!

 

What is happening with discipline is a commissioner and league that has lacked a proper yard stick for measuring suspenadble offenses, on and off field. It used to be easy; 4 games for smoking weed. Then they got blowback when they undersuspended players for domestic violence offenses. Finally they have a team that has been brazenly been cheating for a decade, that the NFL helped cover for (Spygate) but the other 31 teams are sick of it and want the commish to smack them down once and for all. (Wolf comment to Goodell.)

Edited August 9, 2015 by PromoTheRobot

[NoSaint]

Avoiding the specific punishments, but if Goodell wanted to be able to rule based on his own whims, then he should've argued for a cba that gives him that power. The players gave the nfl a lot of range but that's not freedom to do whatever they want to "protect the shield"

 

On a related note, when did the phrase "protect the shield" become commonplace for the nfl? I think part of the issue is the brand is a lot sturdier than their reactive discipline process reflects, and it hurts the league just as bad as the offenses.

[Steve Billieve]

Avoiding the specific punishments, but if Goodell wanted to be able to rule based on his own whims, then he should've argued for a cba that gives him that power. The players gave the nfl a lot of range but that's not freedom to do whatever they want to "protect the shield"

 

On a related note, when did the phrase "protect the shield" become commonplace for the nfl? I think part of the issue is the brand is a lot sturdier than their reactive discipline process reflects, and it hurts the league just as bad as the offenses.

while in a lot of ways I agree, and there have definitely been missteps and outright blunders, I don't think you'll ever have a decision that pleases everyone. There will always be plenty of people eager to complain.

[Kelly the Dog]

while in a lot of ways I agree, and there have definitely been missteps and outright blunders, I don't think you'll ever have a decision that pleases everyone. There will always be plenty of people eager to complain.

I think that's really true. Personally, I think that Goodell went overboard years ago and tried to be super cop and went too far. Obviously the offenses are way out of whack, but they are way out of whack for stuff like weed in the rest of the country, too. I understand how companies in the rest of the business world will sometimes fire you if you get in trouble outside of business but that doesn't make it right.

 

Frankly, even though I think Goodell makes a lot of bonehead decisions he is in a thankless job and his employers, for the most part, love the job he is doing overall.

[Steve Billieve]

I think a lot of the discrepancies that we are experiencing lately are more about changing views on certain issues within the general public. A good example might be non performance enhancing banned substances, where they don't need to have stars suspended for an issue no one really cares about. Plenty of issues gain more traction at times and need to be dealt with differently from a PR standpoint. I don't see why the amount of attention you bring to yourself and what you do shouldn't have an impact on how the league reacts. I think we expect lots of fines to operate in this way, but once its a suspension people get very upset, because then it affects them, their team, and the game.

[DC Tom]

Avoiding the specific punishments, but if Goodell wanted to be able to rule based on his own whims, then he should've argued for a cba that gives him that power. The players gave the nfl a lot of range but that's not freedom to do whatever they want to "protect the shield"

 

On a related note, when did the phrase "protect the shield" become commonplace for the nfl? I think part of the issue is the brand is a lot sturdier than their reactive discipline process reflects, and it hurts the league just as bad as the offenses.

He DOES have a CBA that gives him that power.

[Webster Guy]

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here, but I don't think the NFL needs promoters any more than I think Russ Brandon's so called marketing skills have sold a single ticket.

 

Pro Football is the best, most popular sport in our country, and continues to grow. It's popular simply because it's exciting and great, not because of a commish or an ad campaign or front office executives. They may take credit for it, but the NFL needs no help to thrive any more than video games need tv ads-- they're so good by themselves they're self marketing. People are passionate about the things they love, they talk about football and show it to their kids, friends, family, co-workers, etc. We plan events around it, look forward to it and football always delivers because it's an amazing game with the worlds best athletes playing it.

 

That's why it's so popular.

 

In fact, the NFL has succeeded despite guys like Roger, TagliabooBoo, Jerry Jones, Snyder, cheating teams, thug players, etc. That's what burns me about Goodell making $3M a month when ticket prices are so high (that and he's the polar opposite of the typical Bills fan)

 

As far as the discipline goes, there really is a moral obligation here to hold players accountable for their actions. You're right, it's a private business and they can act in any way they choose to within the law, but ultimately it's just good policy to set a standard for player conduct and punish those who cross the line.

 

Except Dareus, I'm going to write Roger a strongly worded letter outlining why we REALLY need him against Indy in the opener. I might even throw in some cash to persuade him........

[NoSaint]

He DOES have a CBA that gives him that power.

It also restricts him to use consistency. There are also several spelled out situations/punishments in it. He can't just do whatever he wants.

[Steve Billieve]

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here, but I don't think the NFL needs promoters any more than I think Russ Brandon's so called marketing skills have sold a single ticket.

 

Pro Football is the best, most popular sport in our country, and continues to grow. It's popular simply because it's exciting and great, not because of a commish or an ad campaign or front office executives. They may take credit for it, but the NFL needs no help to thrive any more than video games need tv ads-- they're so good by themselves they're self marketing. People are passionate about the things they love, they talk about football and show it to their kids, friends, family, co-workers, etc. We plan events around it, look forward to it and football always delivers because it's an amazing game with the worlds best athletes playing it.

 

That's why it's so popular.

 

In fact, the NFL has succeeded despite guys like Roger, TagliabooBoo, Jerry Jones, Snyder, cheating teams, thug players, etc. That's what burns me about Goodell making $3M a month when ticket prices are so high (that and he's the polar opposite of the typical Bills fan)

 

As far as the discipline goes, there really is a moral obligation here to hold players accountable for their actions. You're right, it's a private business and they can act in any way they choose to within the law, but ultimately it's just good policy to set a standard for player conduct and punish those who cross the line.

 

Except Dareus, I'm going to write Roger a strongly worded letter outlining why we REALLY need him against Indy in the opener. I might even throw in some cash to persuade him........

This is mostly the view I hear a lot. Aside from football being awesome, I don't really understand the reasoning. Things like production and advertising do matter. As does pr a sense of fair play and accessibility. You mention how the nfl has the best athletes, but that has a lot to do with how much you pay them.

I don't like the idea of an aggressive and super competitive organization trying to be a moral authority, to me a vastly successful enterprise maintaining a constant pr battle is much more comforting, and in my opinion closer to reality.

Boxing would be a great example of a mismanaged sport that lost its popularity. If football succeeds despite the league what are some better managed sports?

[FireChan]

It also restricts him to use consistency. There are also several spelled out situations/punishments in it. He can't just do whatever he wants.

Can I see a link to that?

The NFL's prime directive: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!

 

What is happening with discipline is a commissioner and league that has lacked a proper yard stick for measuring suspenadble offenses, on and off field. It used to be easy; 4 games for smoking weed. Then they got blowback when they undersuspended players for domestic violence offenses. Finally they have a team that has been brazenly been cheating for a decade, that the NFL helped cover for (Spygate) but the other 31 teams are sick of it and want the commish to smack them down once and for all. (Wolf comment to Goodell.)

It doesn't even matter. The NFL is making more money than ever. All this outrage nonsense hasn't hurt the brand at all.

[Kelly the Dog]

Can I see a link to that?

It doesn't even matter. The NFL is making more money than ever. All this outrage nonsense hasn't hurt the brand at all.

 

Yep. I don't really understand all the outrage either. The idea that Goodell is going to lose his job is hysterical to me. The league is doing great, even though its players are getting dumber and dumber.

[White Linen]

To me "protect the shield" means make sure our customers are happy. The fine line is understanding what that is vs. injecting a power trip. I think we need to always remember that the CBA that gave Goodell this responsibility was fought for by the league and it's owners. It wasn't necessarily Goodell fighting for his own supremacy.

 

I do think the next CBA will look much different - in terms of a more expansive pre-determined chart for fines lined up with specific offenses and anything outside of that chart will be some sort of committee decision.

[buffalover4life]

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here, but I don't think the NFL needs promoters any more than I think Russ Brandon's so called marketing skills have sold a single ticket.

 

Pro Football is the best, most popular sport in our country, and continues to grow. It's popular simply because it's exciting and great, not because of a commish or an ad campaign or front office executives. They may take credit for it, but the NFL needs no help to thrive any more than video games need tv ads-- they're so good by themselves they're self marketing. People are passionate about the things they love, they talk about football and show it to their kids, friends, family, co-workers, etc. We plan events around it, look forward to it and football always delivers because it's an amazing game with the worlds best athletes playing it.

 

That's why it's so popular.

 

In fact, the NFL has succeeded despite guys like Roger, TagliabooBoo, Jerry Jones, Snyder, cheating teams, thug players, etc. That's what burns me about Goodell making $3M a month when ticket prices are so high (that and he's the polar opposite of the typical Bills fan)

 

As far as the discipline goes, there really is a moral obligation here to hold players accountable for their actions. You're right, it's a private business and they can act in any way they choose to within the law, but ultimately it's just good policy to set a standard for player conduct and punish those who cross the line.

 

Except Dareus, I'm going to write Roger a strongly worded letter outlining why we REALLY need him against Indy in the opener. I might even throw in some cash to persuade him........

 

Football is a great game and it is very marketable but I disagree that the commissioner and owners are just along for the ride. The commissioner and all of the owners have made rule changes that have made the game far more competitive over the past 10 years.

 

People love to see scoring (even more than they like to see big hits), especially people that are new to the game.

 

They have made a bunch of new rules to protect players and make it easier on offenses to score points.

 

The game is in the public eye and if they don't manage their brand properly and up hold the "integrity of the game" they could fall out of favor with the public.

[DC Tom]

It also restricts him to use consistency. There are also several spelled out situations/punishments in it. He can't just do whatever he wants.

 

No it doesn't. He can pretty much do whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't punish a player for the same offense twice, or fine someone below the negotiated minimum. Yes, you read that last one correctly: Goodell can't fine someone too little money.

 

It's Article 46 of the CBA. You should read it. It's hilariously open-ended.

Can I see a link to that?

 

Google NFL CBA, it's available on line.

 

I don't have the link, I have the pdf on my desktop. It's a great read, if you derive amusement from stupid people agreeing to stupid things.

[Mr. WEO]

 

No it doesn't. He can pretty much do whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't punish a player for the same offense twice, or fine someone below the negotiated minimum. Yes, you read that last one correctly: Goodell can't fine someone too little money.

 

It's Article 46 of the CBA. You should read it. It's hilariously open-ended.

 

Google NFL CBA, it's available on line.

 

I don't have the link, I have the pdf on my desktop. It's a great read, if you derive amusement from stupid people agreeing to stupid things.

 

Why/how did Tagliabu vacate Goodell's bounty gate suspensions (hint, it wasn't in "court").