Falcons owner Blank says Brady ruling is 'unhealthy' for NFL

Deus Irae said:

You guys are being a bit unfair, with regards to this article:



Here, he's talking about years and, obviously, multiple issues.



Here, he's basically saying that they need to address the confrontational situation with the NFLPA.

In other words, the owners are starting to walk back from the "Screw you guys, Roger's king" position they took in the CBA negotiations. Unfortunately, they aren't doing it because it's morally correct, and they won't do what should actually be done (completely remove the league from any non-NFL issues, install mutually chosen 3rd party arbitrators as the appeals court to Rodger's lower court), but at least it's a start.

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Good take and I agree.
I think people have to expect platitudes from Blank and others like him. He isn't going to say 'of course we lost. We were wrong. We should have lost'. Even if it is correct it isn't realistic he will say it.
IMHO Blank's word were significant and positive. Saying what he said, and given what Jonathan said a few days ago, tells me there definitely is rumblings about how deflategate has been 'done' by the commissioner. Whether it is more than a few owners -- a few would be too small a group -- is the question. Hopefully the concussion movie, deflategate appeal dragging on, and whatever the next royal screw up is (isn't one always just on the horizon with this bunch?) will create enough ongoing noise to get more owners on board with the 'we need a few changes' idea.

Sticky Caulk said:

Not only that, but they got a slap on the wrist and were allowed to blame a 'rouge' employee with no assumption of guilt involved. If the Falcons situation were like the Pats, they would have been largely fined and lost a 1st and 4th. The commissioner would force an expensive, time-consuming investigation that comes up with a clearly biased report claiming Matt Ryan was aware the sound guy pumped in noise because he signed a hat for the guys daughter and Ryan made a 'raise the roof' motion on the sideline after a Falcons sack, clearly indicating he wanted more noise on the speakers.

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Obviously their lawyer was Chris carter.

Too much greed by "The 32" these days. Here's to hoping the next generation of owners is better.

Blank has no idea what it means to have a "tarnished legacy" because the Falcons have no legacy. Brady fighting this wasnt just about playing 4 games, it was about respect, honor, legacy…..



**** Arthur Blank. He's been vocal in support for the NFL in this whole thing. *******.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Good take and I agree.
I think people have to expect platitudes from Blank and others like him. He isn't going to say 'of course we lost. We were wrong. We should have lost'. Even if it is correct it isn't realistic he will say it.
IMHO Blank's word were significant and positive. Saying what he said, and given what Jonathan said a few days ago, tells me there definitely is rumblings about how deflategate has been 'done' by the commissioner. Whether it is more than a few owners -- a few would be too small a group -- is the question. Hopefully the concussion movie, deflategate appeal dragging on, and whatever the next royal screw up is (isn't one always just on the horizon with this bunch?) will create enough ongoing noise to get more owners on board with the 'we need a few changes' idea.

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Yeah, I'm not defending Blank in general. After that idiotic commentary in May, he deserves to get verbally slapped around. It's just that this piece isn't the place to start from. It's a potential olive branch, and it's a long way from

"The league feels a tremendous sense of responsibility, as do all the owners, in reinforcing the culture of the NFL, the shield and make sure the game remains as balanced and as pure and as true to its integrity and its ethics as can be done. When they find any organization or any individual has gotten off those tracks it's their job to remind them of that and bring them back on the tracks and do it in a way that really reinforces what the league is about.

"I think in the case of New England they have done that."

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Blank said his team's penalties were "a little difficult" but "reasonable."

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I'm all in favor of never letting him live that idiotic time down, unless he apologizes and shows sincere repentance (sort of like a certain Patriots owner), but not based upon this last set of comments.

VrabelJr said:

Too much greed by "The 32" these days. Here's to hoping the next generation of owners is better.

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Don't you worry that these teams are now so valuable that they are going to be passed down to spoiled brat kids instead of sold? I wonder what that will be like.. A bunch of J. Krafts or, more likely, a bunch of Jim Irsays..

Notice how they change their tune once they lose. Before, it's bad to go to court (BTW, the NFL brought it to court). Now, it's bad that they lost but you've heard the last of the owners saying they want it to end. Now, they are fighting for "justice" lol

Kdo5 said:

Oh we have to "perhaps look at some change", eh Arthur? Don't go out on a limb there.

All 31 owners can go **** themselves and frankly Bobby has been a weakling throughout this entire thing. And if I wasn't a Pats fan I'd probably tell him GFY after how much he supported buddy Rog beforehand, amidst other controversies.

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I mean all 32 were generally aware that Goodell was on a witch hunt with no concrete evidence and they stood silent. Anyways ... I'm waiting on Irsay ... the intelligent voice.

I don’t think they [commissioners rights] should be re-bargained in a federal court.

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This seems to be the talking point of the day by the NFL. It may be all Blank knows since he's probably getting his information from the NFL.

Berman didn't "renegotiate" the CBA, he stopped the NFL from redoing the CBA through fiat. He vacated for specific reasons.

1. Notice- meaning the punishment isn't in the CBA, and the NFL tried to "negotiate" it in without an actual negotiation.

2. Fairness, primarily from withholding Pash and Wells notes. Which is to say Berman said "Okay Roger, you agreed to be the arbitrator in the CBA, I'll accept that, but words mean things. Arbitrator means hearing the evidence, allowing the evidence, and THEN making a decision."

He can't redefine arbitrator to mean guy who makes a ruling without any process, it means more and it always has. It's meaning is covered in law, a law that existed when he agreed to be the arbitrator. Changing his role from arbitrator to dictator IS again renegotiating the CBA.

That said, this criticism by Blank is as good as we've seen overall. Maybe they will get tired enough to do something.

SammyBlueCat said:

He can kiss my A_ _

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Could this by any chance be your cat in the video?

IcyPatriot said:

I mean all 32 were generally aware that Goodell was on a witch hunt with no concrete evidence and they stood silent. Anyways ... I'm waiting on Irsay ... the intelligent voice.

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Generally aware? Maybe but I'm not quite sure of that. Steph seemed to think those absurd comments by the Texans' owner were stated with a genuine belief in their truth despite being absurdly wrong (she's been pretty spot on too).
Something tells me most of us on here know way WAY more about Deflategate than virtually all the owners (or media, and certainly more than the average NFL fan). Just like with Bountygate I'd bet virtually all owners get their info from Goodell's office and, more or less, accept it as probably accurate.

If that is true -- again I don't know if it is -- then this fiasco may have a silver lining. The owners may finally be getting a clearer view of the underbelly. A view that hopefully compels them to rethink what they have created.

Deus Irae said:

Yeah, I'm not defending Blank in general. After that idiotic commentary in May, he deserves to get verbally slapped around. It's just that this piece isn't the place to start from. It's a potential olive branch, and it's a long way from





I'm all in favor of never letting him live that idiotic time down, unless he apologizes and shows sincere repentance (sort of like a certain Patriots owner), but not based upon this last set of comments.

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You seem to be one of the few who have read the article. I agree that Blank is definitely taking a much softer position than previously taken. He also doesn't say Berman's ruling is unhealthy but instead the position the NFL is in is not healthy. The owners want the power but they and money the best way for them to restore that is to ask the NFLPA to sit down and renegotiate the CBA. I don't see them getting rid of Gooddell over this, he is feeding the info to the owners and if he loses the appeal he will no doubt just say that there was a miscommunication between lawyers and him about his position and he was told by them it would be fine. They owners will accept that as he makes them money.

Overall they need to agree on a new way to here appeals. They can leave the part in that says Goodell can be the arbiter but players should be offered a 3rd party if they want it. That keeps Goodell with that ability if players allow it. Not that any player would have him do it.

Patriot_in_NY said:

Hahaha.... Indeed.

I will say that this is one of the first public "rebukes" from the ownership that I've heard on this. Perhaps Unkle Rog's house of cards will eventually come down after all.

Here's hoping anyway

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I want GoToHell to stay. So when it's their turn we can say the same thing. Kraft did the same thing

RecoveringCowboy said:

Could this by any chance be your cat in the video?

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Not me.