.Deep down the NFL cannot believe they can win this with the evidence that is currently presented.
It's not "they"...it's HIM.
Back in 2007 I was the voice in the wilderness on this board screaming that Goodell trumped up the "spygate" garbage because it was directly counter to HIS stated mission objective...ABSOLUTE LEAGUE PARITY. The NEP were an outlier then to his most fervent desire for "different season, different champion". I was villified, called a paranoid, delusional, crazy...break out a thesaurus and pick a freakin' synonym.
Today it's a "plain as broad daylight" issue. You all KNOW now what I've known since he was named commissioner. He has a constant, focused plan of attack to tear away at the very fabric of Patriots football and the Patriot philosophy of "team". Goodell IS an insular, detached, little spoiled rich kid all grown up elitist with nearly ZERO understanding of the fans and absolutely no regard for the players. He is a pimp for the members of the billionaires Boys Club and nothing more.
I've been reading a lot of opinions on our board the past few days and I get an overwhelming sense of rage, betrayal, confusion and outright disbelief. I share it all with every one of you. None of you fine people, intelligent, well spoken and fair minded to a man(woman) deserves to have that part of your lives that gives you pleasure enjoyment and escape from the drudgery of the everyday rat race ripped to shreds by this insensitive , malignant insult to the human gene pool. Roger Goodell SHOULD have been removed as commissioner after that sham of a Super Bowl fix in 2007, a fix HE orchestrated and took visible pleasure in. Mike Carey should have been switched with Charlie McCarthy the minute that game ended and Puppeteerdell should have been exposed for the blatant rigging of that contest.
It took years for people here and elsewhere to begin to come around that this league and this national media machine was in lockstep with some kind of agenda or directive aimed at solely maximizing profits for all concerned, at the expense of credibility. The Ray Lewis Retirement Show in 2013...here's a brief snippet from a cursory Google topic search...
"
espn.go.com/.../2013-super-bowl-ray-lewis-baltimore-ravens-ends-...
ESPN
Feb 4, 2013 - Ray Lewis went out a winner, capturing the second Super Bowl title of his career, which ended with Sunday night's win and a wild celebration ..."
WILD!!! CELEBRATORY!!!...Torrey Smith ripping a defender's arms on a sure INT at the 2:00 mark of the 1st half in front of hundreds of millions of viewers...no call. A game changer for S.F. Denied by referee refusal to call the blatantly obvious. Then the mystery "blackout" for 15 minutes giving the Ravens D a much needed blow as they were getting slashed by the 9ers offense....and the outrageous pass interference in the end zone at the end of the game on Crabtree by Jimmy Smith. You ALL saw it.
I told everyone here WELL BEFORE the game was played that this was going to be a Goodell special sanitizing Ray Lewis and his image and that there would be an immediate transfer from NFL to ESPN analyst post game. Again I was vilified by some as a paranoid, others as a "tin foil hat". We all saw what happened.
Throughout it all, however, there has been ONE constant. The relentless attack on the NEP, the "hold to a higher standard" league strategy used solely on the NEP, the constant revising and changing of the rules of NFL football aimed directly at the NEP and now THIS...an outright, ultra-preposterous witch hunt that has already pronounced sentence on the NEP without even the merest hint of any democratic sense of due process, fairness or legality.
OK, I'm going to wander back out into the wilderness again when I say this to all of you...in my opinion, the only recourse we have, as fans, as hard working, righteous , intelligent human beings is an organized "fan action". I would call for a ground swell of NEP fans to begin to protest the abomination that this league has become by fighting back using the same media THEY use to spin their lies. I would ask that the segment of this fanbase that pays for season tickets and attends games at Gillette hold a "game action". One game, with the "media" notified in advance. Our fans with PAID tickets, paying the exhorbitant parking fees, arriving in normal fashion, tailgating, throwing footballs around, doing THAT which all NFL fans do every Sunday and which forms the backbone of this league. Show up! DO NOT ENTER the game. Remain in the lots and the lawn chairs and grills going strong...and let that game be played out in front of NO ONE. Let ESPN,NFLN,the Boston media and press sit inside by themselves and commentate on national TV while the country sits in their living rooms watching an empty stadium. If this moron Goodell is going to suspend Tom Brady, let US join him in that suspension until this ignoroid, this utter lying, despicable weasel of a human being notices his emperor's new clothes are nothing more than transparent cellophane.
We can no longer hope to enjoy our chosen pastime if this monocular, mongoloidal rhinocerous-like commissioner is allowed to run amok with impunity, trampling our relaxation time and our life long pastime. Only action will work now. THAT is only my opinion of course, but I see no toher option.
