Roger Goodell was proud; now he's confused
Roger Goodell has a robust history of handling political and social issues as if he were trying to catch a butterfly with a catcher’s mitt. But rarely has the NFL commissioner gotten the point completely backward. If nothing else, the man is out there on the frontier of foolishness.
Goodell made national headlines Tuesday went he sent a memo to team owners and executives saying that the league will consider changes to the game manual that says the players “should” stand during the national anthem. But the various gestures protesting social injustice by some players have so far gone unpunished, because the action breaks no NFL rule nor civil law.
-snip-
So despite the fact that in late September he said the players’ protests after Trump’s initial efforts to divide the league and country “made him proud,” Goodell now wants a scheduled owners meeting next week in New York to take up “a plan” to stop the stance in which he ever so briefly took pride.
-snip-
Goodell’s problem is that he is being reactive instead of pro-active. He’s behind, playing catch-up. He missed a chance this summer.
He could have started by supporting much of what was sent to him in a 10-page memo in August by Seahawks DE Michael Bennett and three other NFL players that sought, among other things, a social-justice awareness month similar to what the NFL does for breast cancer and military appreciation.
The memo was a call to positive action that followed a phone conversation between Goodell and the players earlier in the summer. It was no ambush; he knew they were preparing a thoughtful presentation, which also included an addendum explaining to the “What are these rich guys complaining about?” crowd about the bigger issues driving the discussion: Criminal justice reform, police accountability, bail reform and the criminalizing of poverty, among other topics.
http://sportspressnw.com/2235886/2017/thiel-goodell-was-proud-now-hes-confused
= new reply since forum marked as read
. . .for the NFL owners.
They want to end this shit once and for all? - they should let the teams stay in their locker
rooms until AFTER the anthem is played and then let them take the field.
As it is, they will be on the wrong side of history.
