What is Goodell's endgame?

Has anyone else considered that Goodell's endgame may be to push the Kraft family to the point where they would sell the franchise? And he would just happen to have a "pre-approved" buyer who would move the team to LA. The NBA stripped Sterling of the Clippers franchise for "conduct detrimental to the league". Could it happen here? And will there be an implied message to the officials that they need to be zealous in flagging the Patriots if they wish to continue their employment. I know there is a separate officials union/organization but I am not sure of how it's connected to the league.

you are insane.

Kraft is one of 3 people that decides goodells compensation.

Goodell is clearly committing sepuku via kraft fury.

PlanB said:

Has anyone else considered that Goodell's endgame may be to push the Kraft family to the point where they would sell the franchise? And he would just happen to have a "pre-approved" buyer who would move the team to LA. The NBA stripped Sterling of the Clippers franchise for "conduct detrimental to the league". Could it happen here? And will there be an implied message to the officials that they need to be zealous in flagging the Patriots if they wish to continue their employment. I know there is a separate officials union/organization but I am not sure of how it's connected to the league.

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That would take a 3/4 vote of the owners, and I don't think enough of them are that stupid.

He wants to keep his 40m per year job. Something that he's got no chance of duplicating elsewhere. Pretty simple actually.

Very simple.................. PUBLICITY. He is the ultimate narcissist. He'll take any press he can (negative or otherwise). Particularly publicity for the NFL. Look, at usually the deadest time of the year for football, this story is dominating the sports talk world. If not an endgame, it is certainly something that he is reveling in.

My take is Goodell"s fancies himself a political player and is attempting to create his own power base independent of Kraft and his group. To accomplish this he must pay the entry fee demanded by those he wishes to become loyal to him.
IMO the owners whom he is courting to be his own are Jets, Ravens, Colts, Denver and Steelers.
He took the Saints out for Indy and now is focusing on taking out NE for Jets, Ravens, Colts Denver and Steelers.
If he can deliver on this others will be calling upon him and in his own mind he will become the Czar of he NFL picking and choosing who will succeed and who will fail.
If the rest of the owners do not see this and address it, it will only get much worse.
Both bounty-gate and deflate-gate are made up charges and made up convictions. Both will be overturned regarding the players but the draft picks and fines will never return.
His tactics use the lynch mob mentality stirred by the press as justification and fuel. The owners better wake up and wake up and wake-up soon.

patsfaninpa said:

He wants to keep his 40m per year job. Something that he's got no chance of duplicating elsewhere. Pretty simple actually.

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If that was the case he wouldn't have pissed off someone with 33% of the vote when it comes to his salary

Goodell is under pressure from the other 31 owners because New England are competitive every year. The draft and salary cap were meant to prevent dominance, but that didn't legislate for Bill & Tom. So now he's under pressure to level the playing field at any given opportunity.

PlanB said:

Has anyone else considered that Goodell's endgame may be to push the Kraft family to the point where they would sell the franchise? And he would just happen to have a "pre-approved" buyer who would move the team to LA. The NBA stripped Sterling of the Clippers franchise for "conduct detrimental to the league". Could it happen here? And will there be an implied message to the officials that they need to be zealous in flagging the Patriots if they wish to continue their employment. I know there is a separate officials union/organization but I am not sure of how it's connected to the league.

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Why on earth would the NFL want to move the Patriots to LA, and alienate a huge fan base, in one of the largest sports markets in the US. Moving a team to LA makes perfect sense, moving the second most valuable franchise in the NFL out of a market where it is successful is crazy. There are plenty of struggling franchises, The Patriots are on the other end of the spectrum. New England makes money for the NFL every year, you don't mess with that. If by chance Goodell has a crazy plan, there is no chance the other owners go along with it. Like them or not, the Patriots are a cash cow for the NFL.

PlanB said:

Has anyone else considered that Goodell's endgame may be to push the Kraft family to the point where they would sell the franchise? And he would just happen to have a "pre-approved" buyer who would move the team to LA. The NBA stripped Sterling of the Clippers franchise for "conduct detrimental to the league". Could it happen here? And will there be an implied message to the officials that they need to be zealous in flagging the Patriots if they wish to continue their employment. I know there is a separate officials union/organization but I am not sure of how it's connected to the league.

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I see it as a power play.

I think Goodell knows his position was weakened after the Rice **** show last fall. I think Goodell surveyed the landscape and realized he had a powerful ally in Kraft. But I also think that he knows there were probably more owners who did not have full confidence in him, and were also sick of the Patriots dominance.

So he sells out Kraft, who has supported him, and strengthens his position among those who were on the fence by punishing the Patriots. In his mind, he's strengthening his position by showing the other owners that he isn't allied with Kraft.

As others have written, this was about an opportunity for Goodell all along and he played his hand.

This is why I laugh when I hear people say "But, but the NFL had nothing to gain by punishing the Patriots."

From the surface it looks that way. But the owners, who don't like this team or Kraft (Jimmy The Junkie Irsay and Woody Johnson to name two) have plenty to gain.

Goodell's endgame is all about PR.

He's boo'd at every public appearance and has had his competence openly questioned. If the Wells report came back inconclusive and that his office's incompetence contributed to that finding (not documenting psi before game, not sure which needle gauge was used, not testing all the Colts balls at halftime or even after the game, etc…) it would be another PR nightmare for "Goof"dell. He would be criticized for "fixing" the results for his good buddy Robert Kraft or simply condemned for being the incompetent fraud that he really is.

I don't think its a coincidence that Goofdell just had a puff piece released by NFL Network talking about the impact his mother had on his life. It was an attempt to make him look human and likable. The man's image is very important to him, as it should be. Unfortunately, he's just not very good at sifting through complicated situations….In short, he's bad at his job.

Coming down hard on the Patriots was his only win. The Patriots are an extremely polarizing team. The media leaks fed a national outcry and now Goodell looks like the hero who finally brought those "cheating" Patriots to justice.

Having said all this, I do believe this is more complicated than a simple conspiracy. What we have here is the flaw generated by giving too much weight to assumptions. Its a complicated world full of all kinds of different people with different thought processes. Some rush to judgement and some don't. Wisdom is not a common trait amongst human beings. Its rare. Unfortunately, what was needed in this case (and many others) was a intellectual mind capable of digesting information and applying wisdom to the situation. Instead we got stuck with a guy like Wells, who despite his best effort, is prone to basing his opinions on assumptions and faulty logic.

I am not sure, but the NFL office went full ******. Everybody knows you don't go full ******. You end up going home empty handed.

Sitting on his front porch at his home on Black Point counting the hundred million or so he is getting paid to ruin the NFL.

Maybe I'm just projecting, that's what I would be doing.

PlanB said:

Has anyone else considered that Goodell's endgame may be to push the Kraft family to the point where they would sell the franchise? And he would just happen to have a "pre-approved" buyer who would move the team to LA. The NBA stripped Sterling of the Clippers franchise for "conduct detrimental to the league". Could it happen here? And will there be an implied message to the officials that they need to be zealous in flagging the Patriots if they wish to continue their employment. I know there is a separate officials union/organization but I am not sure of how it's connected to the league.

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If Roger were really that smart and manipulative he wouldn't have such a long litany of EPIC FAIL moments as Commissioner already

In fact, I think the end game right now is that this little show where Roger Goodell can demonstrate that he has jurisdiction over the Ideal Gas Law may simply be about getting people to forget just how utterly incompetent he's been on Ray Rice and dozens of other Goodell created controversy

Mission accomplished, at least until this one blows up in his face too

chasa said:

you are insane.

Kraft is one of 3 people that decides goodells compensation.

Goodell is clearly committing sepuku via kraft fury.

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how about minimum wage next year?

This is insane...almost rivaling the wells report