I think Goodell has slit the NFL's throat and only a few owners are catching on. Most seem to only look at the immediate bottom line; but some of the old guard see an erosion in future popularity and profit, and aren't so sure they like the new bubble-wrapped overtly politically correct version of the NFL that has come about under Goodell's leadership.
It's not that Goodell meant to stumble. The problem is that his out-of-the-box thinking assumed a politically left leaning ownership and fans and so adopted that underlying platform and agenda in both policy making and marketing. In other words, he came out of the closet and overlaid his own political views upon the League and its customer base. Whereas in the past the high stakes politics behind the NFL were hidden from public view and only used in arcane tax and anti-trust laws, now a strong, unmistakable political alliance has come bursting out and has become fully intertwined and emblematic with the League's public face.
Even if the leaning had been obviously to the right (instead of the left), the result would have been the same: civil war among the owners, and disgruntled fans who want escape from politics (of either persuasion) when watching the NFL......not being all caught up in it in a whole new way.
Result? NFL viewership trending down with no indication of that changing. Sunday Ticket subscribership dropping. Even a mainstay, long time advertiser going public and blaming the NFL's tone deaf approach to the Anthem and player social protests for their falling pizza sales.
Goodell is absolutely to blame for this. He's the captain of the ship. Nobody is suggesting that the NFL is going away. But what is playing out between Jones and Goodell is not a joke, nor is it simply a spat. Clearly Jones has decided that Goodell is certainly NOT the right man to guide the NFL out of the mess Goodell himself created because he believes what he has done is right. I really don't know who the right person is; but I can assure you that Jerry Jones is going to have a huge hand in deciding both Goodell's tenure and his replacement when the time comes.
And I suspect that the time will come much sooner than anyone thinks at the moment. Jerry Jones carries that kind of clout, partially because he'll bet the house when he feels strongly enough about something and obviously he wants Goodell gone.
And so do I.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2017 04:40AM by RockRam.
