Steph hammers NFL on Elliot shenanigans

[QuantumMechanic]

A typical good post by Stradley:

The Ezekiel Elliott Case Shows How Ruinous NFL Policy Is

Nonetheless, I want to see Dallas screwed because f**k every other team. No sympathy for any of them.

 

[neali]

Great writing by Steph. I got to agree with her, I don't like the Cowboys but Roger is the enemy. Don't enjoy some other team being in the barrel because they will get back to the Patriots and it won't be 31 teams later.

 

[DaBruinz]

I suggest not only reading this article, but every other article she links.. Amazingly powerful stuff and really helps to put it ALL into perspective.

Not that I needed more of a reason to hate Goodell and his sham office, but this is huge:

"Just the description in the letter of the process was an obvious sham to me. Sounded official and legal and neutral to a non-legal person but was just a thrown together PR-focused process. With more information available now, the process is far worse than the original letter suggested."

"I found the nature of the questioning of the woman to be hostile and privacy invading. I don’t think it was intended that way but people do all sorts of things in life they don’t intend to be abusive but are. It certainly wasn’t as hostile or thorough as it would be from a defense perspective, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t awful in every respect."

" In both Deflategate and Bullygate, non-lawyers expressed how intimidating the questioning was, how they felt like they were being treated like liars and that the lawyers ignored important context if it didn’t fit what the NFL’s narrative."

"The NFL has tried to shift responsibility to the NFLPA for “victim blaming.” No, the entirety of this debacle of a policy is fully and completely on the NFL"

 

[BradyFTW!]

A typical good post by Stradley:

The Ezekiel Elliott Case Shows How Ruinous NFL Policy Is

Nonetheless, I want to see Dallas screwed because f**k every other team. No sympathy for any of them.

Right there with you. I want everyone involved to suffer because **** all of them. The Cowboys didn't stand with us on Deflategate, so I've got no sympathy for anything that happens to them now.

 

[DaBruinz]

Right there with you. I want everyone involved to suffer because **** all of them. The Cowboys didn't stand with us on Deflategate, so I've got no sympathy for anything that happens to them now.

You and Quantum are both missing the point. This isn't about saying "Screw the other teams". This is about the NFL's reaction to a terrible situation and how they're making it worse, not better.

Stradley makes it a point to say just that in her blog. So, look at the bigger picture. Read the other articles she's written on this and the other articles she references.

We all KNOW that Goodell and his goons are a bunch of schmucks that can't be bothered to actually be fair. Which is why I stated when the rumors came out about another extension for Goodell, the NFLPA needs to send a message loud and clear. Goodell = NO CBA negotiations.

Most of the people on this board want football to succeed. We want injuries to go down. Particularly concussions. We want to see our favorite players on our favorite teams 16 times a year. The biggest issue stopping that is the damage that Goodell is causing. Not all the owners are seeing it because they just care about the short-term success. They are forgetting the rules of risk management. Customers lost are very hard to regain.

So, let's focus on the bigger issue, like Stradley is doing with this and other articles.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Goodell has handed out and will hand out mob rule, MSM approved justice. This is the new way of the NFL and it ain't changing. Goodell will stand up in front of the media and deceive in order to polish this unjust justice. The only way it changes is if the players take a contractual stand and demand a neutral appeals board.

At the next negotiation between the NFL/owners and the NFLPA/the players, if the players take an extra .25% in net profits to drop what should be a non negotiable neutral board of appeal demand? IMHO the players are now just as guilty as the owners. It's arguable the players did not know the extent at which they had given an ethic challenged man too much power. There is absolutely no way to plead ignorance now.

 

[DarrylS]

As much as I loathe Goodell and his minions, there were two sides who negotiated that contract and all of its subleties, two parties who approved the language.. was Article 46 an intended or unintended consequence??

Article 46 was probably considered "boilerplate", as it already existed on the books, and did not come up for discussion, the issue became how Roger interpreted that clause and the power associated with it..

Goodell has blown so many public relations nightmares.. Peterson, Rice etc. any chance he gets he overextends that as some sort of redemption, and if it is overturned the Courts did it.. Roger upheld the "banner of righteousness" for the NFL.. so next owners meeting when they meet behind closed doors for their ritualistic *********** they can all shake their sticky hands and tell him what a good job he is doing.

 

[BTTA]

A typical good post by Stradley:

The Ezekiel Elliott Case Shows How Ruinous NFL Policy Is

Nonetheless, I want to see Dallas screwed because f**k every other team. No sympathy for any of them.

And yet, QM, is there any way to solve the Goodell problem without an awakening from all 32 teams? I'm all for Dallas and Elliot challenging the process here and shining more light.

The other issue she raises, in the first post I think, is that every NFL team has domestic abuse going on and nobody wants its exposed because of the financial implications, for the families, the teams, and the sponsors. So as long as that's the case, we Pats fans are just as at risk as every other team of having our happy apple cart upset when another case gets brought to light (and bungled by the League).

 

[MassPats38]

You and Quantum are both missing the point. This isn't about saying "Screw the other teams". This is about the NFL's reaction to a terrible situation and how they're making it worse, not better.

* * *
So, let's focus on the bigger issue, like Stradley is doing with this and other articles.

Out of curiosity, do you believe the NFL should be involved in this area at all? Stradley points to why this policy is bad/misguided, but I don't believe she indicates it should be amended or ways to fix it or whether it should be scrapped. I was waiting for the punch line.

This particular area of criminal law is a horrible fit for NFL discipline. In a public sports league, there is a continuing and widespread media spotlight on any process that may affect field performance by a team. Concepts like victim anonymity or addressing challenged relationships down the road have no place. Many opined after Rice that the NFL should leave this to the competent state authorities and wait for convictions to act. I was in that group.

As for Quantum's more general statement, I agree with it. When a corrupt procedure is celebrated by those who later become victims of it and thereafter bemoan the unfairness of it all, then I feel a very real sense of satisfaction. Given the outcome and what happened during Deflategate, screw Jerrah and the Boys for not trying to right the ship then.

I am not going to react excessively to what happened in the handling of Elliot's case, because this investigation (1) was not prosecuted completely, (2) has significant factual issues and (3) may or may not be domestic violence at all (she and Elliot know what happen, but even reading the schlock with the details I would like to hear more from the respective parties). I still believe the NFL should stay out of this entirely because it is completely unqualified to address the concern given it is a PR engine driven by the concerns of owners and 32 fan bases (mob rule).

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I want to see Jerrah go " to the mattresses" and do what we had hoped ownership would have done in Brady's case. Skeptics said it wouldn't have changed anything but we'll see.... I can't see Jones rolling over and accepting this, " for the good of the 32"......

 

[bresna]

"Both Kia Roberts and another former prosecutor working for the NFL, Lisa Friel jointly wrote a report. The report left out a lot of information that favored Elliott. The report did not state Roberts’ concern with the credibility of the accuser nor did it contain her recommendation based on that for no discipline."

"This is typical of how the NFL puts their reports together. They put a lot of shaky information together and then decide the quantity of it makes it somehow persuasive."

Boy does this sound familiar to Patriots fans.

 

[DaBruinz]

Out of curiosity, do you believe the NFL should be involved in this area at all? Stradley points to why this policy is bad/misguided, but I don't believe she indicates it should be amended or ways to fix it or whether it should be scrapped. I was waiting for the punch line.

Do I believe that the NFL should have a Personal Conduct Policy that applies off the playing field? Yes, I believe it should. Do I believe that the current policy is good? No. It's horrible. For all the reasons that Stradley mentioned.

IMHO, Stradley does suggest ways to change it by pointing out the flaws in the current system. Such as pointing out that the one investigator's recommendation of not suspended Elliot was not included in the final report. A report that was likely amended by the NFL's attorney, much the way he amended the Deflategate Report. I honestly believe that Stradley comes right out and says that the NFL shouldn't be investigating anything. They should be letting the courts handle it and then handing out punishment based on the court's decision. Personally, if the player is arrested, penalizing him 50% of his salary seems just. That 50% goes into escrow until the courts reach a decision. If not guilty, then the money is returned. If guilty, then the money is given anonymously to a charity. Only then would I suspend the player at the 50% pay with requirements for counseling and doing service time (1000 hours) and reinstatement only after 500 hours are completed.

People seem to forget that there are plenty of other professions in which people are penalized for their actions outside of the workplace. Why should the NFL be any different? The problem is that the NFL's system of "Mob Justice" is flawed. It's procedures are flawed. In (almost) every case that has gone before Goodell since 2007, he's had a preconceived conclusion and made the facts fit.

 

[bresna]

"Punitive-focused approaches are typically not recommended for employers as they take away control of the abused and may deter reporting."

may deter reporting.

This is the crux of the problem. How many women will look at what the NFL has done to players accused of domestic violence, see those players' careers ruined and think, "I can't do that to our life"?

 

[XLIX]

Many opined after Rice that the NFL should leave this to the competent state authorities and wait for convictions to act. I was in that group.

Those voices were few and far between as the overwhelming media and public response was that the NFL didn't do enough to punish Rice. Jobs were nearly lost over the whole thing, including Goodell's who (unfortunately) survived the incident.

In fact, I remember stating at the time that it was pretty sad how 99.9% of public/media/political outrage was directed at the NFL and not at the legal system which allows a man to do what Rice did and get no punishment beyond a pre-trial diversionary program.

However, the NFL learned its lesson and decided it would never again be seen as lenient in a high profile case. I suppose Josh Brown wasn't high enough profile.... but here, the Elliott treatment is a direct consequence to how the NFL was skewered by the public for Ray Rice.

 

[XLIX]

Do I believe that the NFL should have a Personal Conduct Policy that applies off the playing field? Yes, I believe it should. Do I believe that the current policy is good? No. It's horrible. For all the reasons that Stradley mentioned.

IMHO, Stradley does suggest ways to change it by pointing out the flaws in the current system. Such as pointing out that the one investigator's recommendation of not suspended Elliot was not included in the final report. A report that was likely amended by the NFL's attorney, much the way he amended the Deflategate Report. I honestly believe that Stradley comes right out and says that the NFL shouldn't be investigating anything. They should be letting the courts handle it and then handing out punishment based on the court's decision. Personally, if the player is arrested, penalizing him 50% of his salary seems just. That 50% goes into escrow until the courts reach a decision. If not guilty, then the money is returned. If guilty, then the money is given anonymously to a charity. Only then would I suspend the player at the 50% pay with requirements for counseling and doing service time (1000 hours) and reinstatement only after 500 hours are completed.

According to the above rules, Ray Rice would not have been punished. He never went to trial, so he was certainly not found guilty of anything in a court of law.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

Am I the only one who thinks if he put his hands on that girl that he should be in counseling or prison and not the face of a NFL Franchise making millions of dollars.
Now here's the line if a police investigation that might of been derailed due to money cough cough Jerry Jones.
I don't see how the NFL can say we think he hurt this girl when the Legal system found him innocent.
That being said if I was a defender and I thought he really hurt that girl then I would try to hit him with a little extra every time he touched the ball.

 

[Gumby]

Patriots 2017 Opponents, Five First Impressions of the Chiefs

Steve Balestrieri

Since the 2013 season, the Chiefs defense is second only to the Seahawks allowing just 18.5 points per game.

Continue reading...

(If you enjoyed this entry - hit the Thumbs Up/If not, hit the Thumbs down in this thread)

A typical good post by Stradley:

The Ezekiel Elliott Case Shows How Ruinous NFL Policy Is

Nonetheless, I want to see Dallas screwed because f**k every other team. No sympathy for any of them.

Right there with you. I want everyone involved to suffer because **** all of them. The Cowboys didn't stand with us on Deflategate, so I've got no sympathy for anything that happens to them now.

I want to see Dallas screwed because then we can get Jerrah in the right corner when we need 24 votes to send Gotohell packing.

Otherwise a pox on both their houses!

 

[scott99]

I have no pity for the Cowboys whatsoever. This case is unjust ? THIS one ? Yet what happened to Brady was just ? Jerry Jones thought so, said Goodell was doing a great job.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I want to see Dallas screwed because then we can get Jerrah in the right corner when we need 24 votes to send Gotohell packing.

Otherwise a pox on both their houses!

Best post in the thread.

...but I doubt anything will come of this as Goody just received an extension.

 

[Gumby]

Best post in the thread.

...but I doubt anything will come of this as Goody just received an extension.

Skeptical as well, but hope springs. . . .

PS: I like your new (? hadn't noticed before) avatar.