NFL

Goodell’s continued power struggle

Chris McGlynn NFL , , ,

Football is finally back, more or less, and with it has come a brand new controversy involving a number of NFL players. While what they are being accused of is not as stupid as Ryan Lotche’s situation, it still is not a good look for the players or the league.

Four players, James Harrison, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Mike Neal, all are facing allegations of PED use stemming from a report by the now-defunct Al Jazeera America. The NFL decided they wanted to look into the issue, but the players seemed less than pleased to comply, maintaining that nothing had happened. Much of the report’s backing faded once the doctor at the heart of it recanted his statements.

Roger_Goodell
Goodell has the final say on all things regarding player discipline. (Wikimedia Commons)

However, the league still is insisting on meeting with the players, but the players all seemed unwilling to do so. Naturally, Roger Goodell responded by threatening to suspend the players.

No, seriously he did. Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which runs through the 2020 season, Goodell has the power to act as judge, jury and executioner. Sounds unfair right? Well don’t feel too bad for the players.

This is their fault. Aaron Rodgers pointed out this week that the players have no one to blame but themselves for the amount of power Goodell has. They focused heavily on fewer padded practices and more mandatory days off to prevent injury during the 2011 negotiations. As a result, the league got to push a more stringent agenda regarding the powers of the league office and most notably Goodell.

The NFLPA is reportedly urging all of these players to take a stand against the NFL in this case to challenge Goodell’s power. However, it sounds like Peppers, Matthews and Harrison are all going to meet with the NFL in the coming days. Neal will not though as he is currently a free agent and theoretically has nothing to lose. The latest is that the NFLPA wants Neal to sue the league over the issue. There is no word on what Neal thinks of that plan yet.

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Mike Neal (far right) played most recently for the Green Bay Packers, along side the also accused Clay Matthews. (Wikimedia Commons)

On the surface, it seems like the players truly have nothing to lose in meeting with the NFL if they have not taken PEDs. They would have their names cleared and avoid a possible suspension. However, this goes much deeper than that. It seems that a number of players, especially Harrison, are fed up with the way that Goodell wields his power. Taking a stand would be a point of pride in acting as if the allegations were beneath you and a challenge to the authority of Goodell.

Unfortunately, after the results of Deflategate, where Tom Brady ultimately will have to serve his four game suspension, players have seen just how far Goodell and the league office are willing to go to maintain this power struggle. It takes a lot of investment to oppose the NFL on an issue like this because of the potential length of the proceedings. Not to mention the NFL’s persistence. We all thought Deflategate was as good as dead when Brady avoided suspension last season, only to find that the league managed to slap him with it this year instead.

The underlying point is that this will continue to be an issue until after the 2020 season, when the CBA is renegotiated. The scary thing is, with how intense the league has been about maintaining absolute control in player discipline, you have to wonder how willing it might be to budge. And if that is the case, we could be looking at another NFL lockout at the start of the decade. The NFLPA is not willing to back down from this fight and continues to look to find ways to challenge this standard even before the CBA is up.

This will be the main topic of those negotiations and you can bet those arguments are going to be very heated.

The NFL continues to hound Brady

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , , ,

You know in the movies where there is a relationship that fails but one of the people involved continues to cling on, in hopes that maybe they could salvage something. It’s usually the guy and he usually has no way of fixing things or proving that he can make it work. Right now the NFL is that guy.

Tom_Brady
Brady led the Patriots the AFC Championship last season.

CNBC just tweeted that the U.S. Appeals Court reinstated Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension in relation to his involvement in Deflategate. You remember Deflategate, the only thing ESPN could talk about last summer where the New England Patriots were accused of cheating en route to a Super Bowl victory.

Just when we all thought it was finally coming to a close with the NFL Draft coming up. It would definitely be talked about as the Patriots forfeited their first round pick in the upcoming draft due to the allegations of Deflategate. After that, it seemed like we could all put it behind us. Clearly, that isn’t happening.

I have a feeling that the Patriots are not going to stand for this decision, and rightfully so. Because this, according to ESPN, was the ruling from the U.S. 2nd Circuit Appeals Court.

“We hold that the Commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness.”

Roger_Goodell
Goodell has maintained throughout the process that Brady deserved his suspension.

Well there you go. This all traces back to the one man that is single-handedly ruining the NFL. Roger Goodell once again wields his unchecked and disproportionate power.

What this means is not that Brady was guilty or that the NFL found some new evidence. It just means that Goodell has the power to do this. And that is a problem.

I’ve been saying for years that Roger Goodell needs to be replaced atop the NFL’s hierarchy. (I’ve also been saying the league needs to change its player discipline process since July). He is unreasonable and has let his power go to his head. However, this also shines a light on an organizational issue for the NFL.

The fact is, the court is right. Goodell has the power to make these kinds of sweeping, grandiose decisions. That needs to change. There has been talk for some time about the league taking the power of player punishment out of the commissioner’s hands and delegating it to a third party. That way, the league could avoid situations like this and the commissioner could focus more on the future endeavors of the league, rather than how much he can fine James Harrison in a given season.

So yes, Goodell still needs to go. If you need examples, see Rice, Ray or Hardy, Greg. Either one will demonstrate why Goodell is not fit to be running the league. But this is also an institutional problem, where the NFL has given one man entirely too much power. It is similar to FIFA with Sepp Blatter in the way that the NFL as an institution is thought of as solely Goodell. (For a fun article about those two clowns, click here).

As for Brady’s situation, did he cooperate as needed? Probably not. Does the NFL have the evidence necessary to suspend him for four games? Definitely not. At most, Brady should receive a fine for disorderly conduct. And then that should be the end of it. There is no reason that Jimmy Garappolo should be playing the first quarter of the season for New England.

Unfortunately, it seems like this nightmare just restarted. Only time will tell if this new ruling holds up. Maybe some good will come out of this. Maybe the league will finally realize the flaws in how it lets Goodell govern and begin limit his power. Fingers crossed on that one.