Is it really Goodell?

[Tunescribe]

He doesn't make any material moves without the approval of a core group of the owners.

And, he doesn't have to be "micromanaged." He knows exactly what they want. If he's not sure, he asks.

How do you define "material move"? Do you think he "asked" the owners how to proceed with cameragate? Framegate? Bountygate? Ray Rice? From discipline to marketing to various PR schemes, Goodell and his league office cronies wield more autonomous power than you imagine. If he was just implementing ownership orders he wouldn't get paid so outrageously.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

How do you define "material move"? Do you think he "asked" the owners how to proceed with cameragate? Framegate? Bountygate? Ray Rice? From discipline to marketing to various PR schemes, Goodell and his league office cronies wield more autonomous power than you imagine. If he was just implementing ownership orders he wouldn't get paid so outrageously.

We see this differently.

I see it that the owners have an agenda and it's Goodell's job to execute it. He gets paid a lot of money because he knows the League, knows the major partners (advertisers and broadcast networks), is supposed to manage relations with the players so there are no strikes and most importantly does what he is told.

He's working for multi-billionaires, each of whom picks up about a million of his salary. They're used to paying more than that to their own managers in their own businesses. To them, he's "hired help," who's around as long as he serves a purpose and who will be gone when he doesn't or when it otherwise suits them .

I'd agree that he does have some autonomy on advertising and PR, but not on the issues that put the league on the front page. Formally or informally, there is a group of owners with whom he knows to check in before he does anything that will make "news."

 

[Gronk]

How do you define "material move"? Do you think he "asked" the owners how to proceed with cameragate? Framegate? Bountygate? Ray Rice? From discipline to marketing to various PR schemes, Goodell and his league office cronies wield more autonomous power than you imagine. If he was just implementing ownership orders he wouldn't get paid so outrageously.

I don't think the pay being "outrageous" by our standards is necessarily proof that that he's not a stooge.
It's not even that much when you consider it's a little over $1m per owner which based on the average owner's wealth and income is about the equivalent of how much my Netflix subscription costs me.

 

[flasox27]

It doesn't matter if it's Goodell or the 31 other owners. All you need to know is that Kraft doesn't have enough influence to screw a light bulb into a socket and it is not likely to change.

 

[Tunescribe]

I don't think the pay being "outrageous" by our standards is necessarily proof that that he's not a stooge.
It's not even that much when you consider it's a little over $1m per owner which based on the average owner's wealth and income is about the equivalent of how much my Netflix subscription costs me.

I don't care what context it's rationalized through -- $40 million annual salary for that soulless robotic stiff is beyond obscene.

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

I'm sure the movie Spotlight (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia hits home for many members here - just saw it last weekend.

A key part of that movie is when the Globe editor instructed his team to go after the organization - not individual(s).

Likewise, the NFL organization (i.e. the owners) appears to be the real problem.

 

[RayClay]

The owners are a huge part of it, no doubt. But strong leaders are able to corral egos like the 32, and satisfy them while still maintaining some semblance of sense, fairness, and professionalism. Goodell is clearly not a strong leader.

Think of it like a teacher. Teachers have to do their job while constantly hearing from INSANE parents who all think their special snowflake is getting a raw deal. A good teacher can placate the parents without compromising their standards as an educator. A bad teacher just gives in to the parents because they're afraid someone will get them fired.

Some article I read where a decades veteran writer was destroying Goodell mentioned Pete Rozell. He said that rozell was nobody's first choice, but they agreed to appoint him because they thought they could control him. He turned into one of the greatest commisioners in sports.

Goodell is weak, so he overcompensates to try to seem strong, meanwhile blowing whatever faction seems in power so he can keep his job.

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

Some article I read where a decades veteran writer was destroying Goodell mentioned Pete Rozell. He said that rozell was nobody's first choice, but they agreed to appoint him because they thought they could control him. He turned into one of the greatest commisioners in sports.

Goodell is weak, so he overcompensates to try to seem strong, meanwhile blowing whatever faction seems in power so he can keep his job.

Is it this article?

Longtime NFL Reporter Compares Goodell To Rozelle, Wonders About Current Leadership

 

[Jlaff]

How do you define "material move"? Do you think he "asked" the owners how to proceed with cameragate? Framegate? Bountygate? Ray Rice? From discipline to marketing to various PR schemes, Goodell and his league office cronies wield more autonomous power than you imagine. If he was just implementing ownership orders he wouldn't get paid so outrageously.

But why would the owners let such an incompetent moron dictate the direction of the league? I'm going to assume that a majority of owners aren't completely stupid, or are at least smarter than Goodell is.

Would you let this buffoon run your multi-billion dollar partnership with anything but a short leash? Or more likely, without your hand up his ass? He's not coming in with striking credentials or any kind of overwhelming experience. Yet THIS is the guy they want to give the keys to the kingdom? I don't believe it. But like I said earlier, I think Goodell is dumb enough to be manipulated into thinking it's him with the power.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I'd say he's both. He's entirely complicit in all of this. He's looking after his own needs which means pleasing the majority of the owners. He's a bad person just like the 32 corrupt owners.

I believe all owners sign an agreement that they are not to speak ill of each other or the NFL and that Kraft would be looking at a major costly suit if he went nuclear on them

That being said I think Kraft laid down and played dead - the first time out of a reasonable hope that just giving up some "blood" to the other jealous owners in the form of draft picks would end DeflateGate with hopefully all charges against Brady dropped

At this point, given how corrupt we've seen the NFL to be, I believe he can and should be doing more as we speak

As to who is behind it - while I like to put the onus on the owners, who don't want the spotlight, it's really Goodell in my mind. The owners don't want to waste time running the league - they've got their hands full with their teams. While there's no question that a handful of owners jealous of the Patriots success wanted to hamstring the Pats to open the door for their supposed Super Bowl run, and Goodell complied to curry favor, Goodell is the one that can and should have stopped this charade long ago

Quite frankly he's stupid, incompetent, crazy, and dangerous to the game of football

I think of him as the Kim Jong-Un of sports comissioners

It's humilating to have him representing this sport - and even more humiliating to see how many stupid NFL fans there are that believe Goodell even when he gets caught in lie after lie

For our purposes we should focus attention on the corrupt owners in order to get rid of Goodell. They do NOT want people focusing on their role in this.

 

[Tunescribe]

But why would the owners let such an incompetent moron dictate the direction of the league? I'm going to assume that a majority of owners aren't completely stupid, or are at least smarter than Goodell is.

Would you let this buffoon run your multi-billion dollar partnership with anything but a short leash? Or more likely, without your hand up his ass? He's not coming in with striking credentials or any kind of overwhelming experience. Yet THIS is the guy they want to give the keys to the kingdom? I don't believe it. But like I said earlier, I think Goodell is dumb enough to be manipulated into thinking it's him with the power.

It's kind of hard getting 32 hands up one guy's ass.

 

[IllegalContact]

The owners are tied to each other through their substantial investments.....there's too much money in it now for any one of them to try to go against the majority

Kraft can't blow anything up because he would spite himself more than anyone

Kraft hasn't changed ..... Most of the owners around him have, and goodell simply gets paid way too much money to say no

Most league fans have not been shaken down ... Only the pats....

 

[PatsFanSince74]

goondell was hired because he is weak. the owners can just push him around to drive their agenda.

I gave that an "Agree," but would tweak it just a little bit.

Yes, the owners hired him because they knew, with the money they were paying him, he would understand that it was his job to do their bidding and be "pushed around." 100% agree there. In that sense he is weak.

But they also knew he was stubborn and determined and a "true believer" who would implement their vision of the NFL because he was fundamentally committed to the belief that the League belongs to the Owners and would take a high degree of public criticism for doing their bidding. In that sense, he is not weak.

 

[ReverendMaynard]

It's as much Kraft's NFL as Goodell's. We're all reaping what he has sown.

I Think I Hate Robert Kraft’s NFL

(not an actual ESPN site)

 

[Clonamery]

What's his buyout? $120 million? So what ugly thing can you imagine him doing or saying that the owners would fork over that tidy sum of cash in order to be rid of him?

He's paid to take a public beating and he generally seems to enjoy it most of the time until a video or a seriously damaging article finds their way to the mainstream. Then it gets a little ugly.

 

[Rhodey]

56 lies the NFL told during Deflategate.

"Very few people believe anything the NFL says. Apparently however, plenty of people out there take them at their word when they say that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are cheaters. Can you really trust the NFL when they make that claim?" (Allen)

Link:

 

[1960Pats]

It's kind of hard getting 32 hands up one guy's ass.

Especially with his head already up there.

 

[fnordcircle]

Goodell is just the right amount of incompetent to be easily manipulated especially with his huge throbbing commissioner boner about how he's here to clean up the league.

I don't think he's capable of orchestrating something even as bumbling as Deflategate, he's just a guy with a fetish for being a corporate Wyatt Earp which makes him an effective tool for owners who want to beat a team off the field that they can't touch on the field.