I have been posting for years that Goodell is ruining the NFL.
The thing is, the sport WAS so popular, it seemed as though no matter what inane thing Goodell did, NFL football thrived. So as the popularity stayed strong, and the money rolled in, the owners were all satisfied.
But that's changed. Popularity is down significantly. Viewership down. The players are in a lather. And now the NFL's #1 advertiser and sponsor, Papa John's, has publicly stated uncategorically that the Anthem protests has hit their bottom line. Know what that means? Nowhere near as much interest in NFL advertising and therefore the TV revenue is going to trend downward. Now THAT the owners care about.
What did Goodell do? He politicized the NFL. Oh, the NFL has always had an association with politicians; but it was covert and behind the scenes and had to do with things like the NFL getting special tax breaks and being shielded from the monopoly laws. But Goodell went one step farther. He boldly adopted the principles and agenda of one particular political party. And because I don't want to get banned from this board for political talk, I won't say which side of the political spectrum Goodell openly embraced and adopted, but it's pretty darn clear. And not all owners operate on that side of the isle.
The morals and values that Goodell espouses, and the discipline that Goodell hands down, is based on only one rationale: it depends entirely on what the political side he embraces decides is the most popular and finds the most aggregious. Everything Goodell does is about Political Correctness. And the problem is, when you go that route in a business, in a nation that is bitterly divided right down the political middle, you're going to upset one side to please the other. And even the side you please won't always be happy because it, too, is not a monolith; it too is divided into factions that don't agree and have different agendas.
I don't watch the NFL to get a lesson in the politics of a certain political party. I don't watch it as a civics lesson or to see it used as a protest platform. It is entertainment to me, to get away from all that other nonsense. But Goodell has now married the NFL to politics. And it is imploding.
Jones can see it even if other owners can't or because they are on Goodell's side of the political spectrum, they're willing for their business to suffer a bit to have their agenda carried out. But the other owners don't feel that way at all, with Jones only the most courageous and outspoken.
Might the Ezekiel Elliott thing have been the catalyst? Perhaps. But this isn't so much specifically about Elliott being suspended; it's about the reasons for it and why the punishment was so severe. And it is entirely to do with the political agenda of one political party.
Jones knows that the NFL needs to take a step back and get back into the entertainment industry and forget overt politics. But it is going to be painful because the players have, consequently, also been politicized even if they didn't realize it.
Man I hope this is the end of Goodell.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2017 04:16PM by RockRam.
