Guys, here is what Goodell is saying:
1) Other teams have skated, and the Pats got hammered. Now I am taking the **** from some Iggles fan a s s clown in the Senate, and the **** rolls downhill.
2) You know as well as I do I whacked Belichick to set an example and make everybody cut the crap.
3) We KNOW some of the crap you all pull.
4) I'm getting hammered for not coming down "hard enough" for "cheating." And why? Because I came down hard on "cheating."
5) Time for the **** to roll downhill... to PROVE I was making an example of the Pats, not "letting them off the hook," I'm going to follow up on my "New Sherrif" routine.
6) Oh and by the way, the a s s clown in the Senate is interested in two things: kicking the league in the Nads for Comcast, and legislating a super bowl tie for the Iggles. NEITHER OF THESE THINGS IS IN THE INTERESTS OF THE LEAGUE.
7) Hence, this memo. Best case scenario it "proves" I cleaned up football. Worst case scenario, it "proves" that football is just football (up to now anyway,) and everybody "cheats."
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My take? I think this will be bad for the league but good for the Pats.
There will be far more crying and whining from losers looking for a second chance at a game they "shoulda" won, if the competition committee pushes this memo through.
This does not look on the face of it like a Pats witch-hunt, sensitive as we all are. This looks like a "save the Pats/Save the Lombardi/Save the league" impact to me.
Basically, asterisks are bad for business; this move makes it clear "asterisk talk" is silly. However, in true Goodell unintended-consequences fashion, it opens the door to future asterisks out the... well, out the asterisk.
PFnV