The commish needs to grow some teeth
Does NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell really mean what he says, or is the first year head of the most powerful league in North American sports just paying lip service to the rash of black eyes the league has endured in the past year? Speaking at his first Super Bowl press conference since taking the reigns from Paul Tagliabue, Goodell told reporters on Friday that the league had to take a harder look at the rash of off-field incidents that players have been involved in this year.
"I don't see it happening in droves. I think it's just a few, but that's a few too many," said Goodell. "We recognize some players don't do what we would hope they do and when that happens, we will be very aggressive in dealing with that."
If you don’t consider the nine arrests alone that have gone down in Cincinnati this year droves, then what qualifies?
Remember when the Raiders used to be the bad boys of the NFL? Heck, they’re the choir boys of the AFC West these days, when you consider the likes of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams (murdered outside a club in January) and San Diego’s Steve Foley (league’s best Butch Cassidy vs. armed police impersonation last Summer). Don’t even get me started on Sean Merriman.
Tank Willams needed special permission to leave Illinois, so he could participate in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Goodell, doesn’t just have a problem on his hands, he has a plague to deal with.
"We are raised to a higher standard in the NFL. We must make sure the players are more accountable and our clubs are more accountable,” added Goodell.
I think he may be on to something. Hold the clubs more accountable to whip their soldiers into shape. If someone on your roster gets shot by police, you should lose a 1st round draft pick. Just think how motivated these teams would be if they had to make that type of concession.
Holding the players accountable has done squadoosh to curb the recklessness and disregard for common civility. So hit the teams up for this insanity. If a team starts to pay the price for the transgressions of its players, then perhaps they’ll get serious about imposing harsher punishments on players.
Former Raider great Gene Upshaw has proven to be a champion of the players rights and privileges, but I’m almost embarrassed for him. He’s like a death row lawyer who fights to save the lives of his clients, regardless of their crime.
Upshaw can score one more victory if he were to move proactively with the league to set higher standards for the players that he represents. It’ll probably never happen, but I can only imagine what heinous act it’s going to take before the players open their eyes. For the league’s sake, I hope Goodell means business.
"I don't see it happening in droves. I think it's just a few, but that's a few too many," said Goodell. "We recognize some players don't do what we would hope they do and when that happens, we will be very aggressive in dealing with that."
If you don’t consider the nine arrests alone that have gone down in Cincinnati this year droves, then what qualifies?
Remember when the Raiders used to be the bad boys of the NFL? Heck, they’re the choir boys of the AFC West these days, when you consider the likes of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams (murdered outside a club in January) and San Diego’s Steve Foley (league’s best Butch Cassidy vs. armed police impersonation last Summer). Don’t even get me started on Sean Merriman.
Tank Willams needed special permission to leave Illinois, so he could participate in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Goodell, doesn’t just have a problem on his hands, he has a plague to deal with.
"We are raised to a higher standard in the NFL. We must make sure the players are more accountable and our clubs are more accountable,” added Goodell.
I think he may be on to something. Hold the clubs more accountable to whip their soldiers into shape. If someone on your roster gets shot by police, you should lose a 1st round draft pick. Just think how motivated these teams would be if they had to make that type of concession.
Holding the players accountable has done squadoosh to curb the recklessness and disregard for common civility. So hit the teams up for this insanity. If a team starts to pay the price for the transgressions of its players, then perhaps they’ll get serious about imposing harsher punishments on players.
Former Raider great Gene Upshaw has proven to be a champion of the players rights and privileges, but I’m almost embarrassed for him. He’s like a death row lawyer who fights to save the lives of his clients, regardless of their crime.
Upshaw can score one more victory if he were to move proactively with the league to set higher standards for the players that he represents. It’ll probably never happen, but I can only imagine what heinous act it’s going to take before the players open their eyes. For the league’s sake, I hope Goodell means business.
Labels: Gene Upshaw, Roger Goodell
posted by Mike at
10:32 PM
8 Comments:
dude, Foley and Williams are very bad examples. Even a choir boy can be murdered or shot by a psycho with a gun - yes, that off duty cop was a racist psycho, and should be tried for attempted murder.
In poor taste, I think...
You're missing the point. Anyone can get shot if they a) stay away from places where guns exist and b) don't mouth of to cops when they're pointing a gun at you. Is that a naive position to take? No, it's not. If you're character is questionable, I guess it's ok to get caught up in questionable situations. That's the problem with professional athletes. There are too many questionable characters and the league needs to take action. Are they all that way? Of course not, but you don't hear about the majority of guys that behave themselves becase there's no story there.
I don't buy the argument that these guys were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's a cop out. People don't just shoot people for no reason.
That should have been, "Anyone can NOT get shot..."
cop out, eh?
so, someone who hangs out in public places (read: clubs) has questionable character? Ok, that rules out everyone who's not a hermit (read: the unabomber). You sure this logic works?
And if you read up on the Foley incident I think you'll find that Foley was followed for miles from city to city by someone in street clothes driving a regular car, then cornered by this person, who drew a gun without identifying himself. This is not the same as "mouthing off to a cop".
You seem to have a very short sighted view of the world and how people interact in it.
by the way, I do agree with your basic premise, just think there are many more reasonable, less offending examples to choose from.
Come on. Foley was being followed on suspicion of drunk driving. He was tested with a blood alcohol level of .233, which is almost three times the legal limit.
The cop ordered him to stay where he was, but Foley refused, so he shot him in the leg. Foley continued to approach the officer and was shot three more times (twice in the leg and once in the hand. Foley wasn't an innocent bystander.
If I'm a cop (uniformed or not), and I order 6-4, 260 lb. man to stay where he is and he refuses, I'm using my gun as well. If I shoot him in the leg and he still proceeds to approach me, I'm shooting him again.
I can't believe the guy had the presence of mind to shoot him three times in the LEG.
Foley is no boy scout:
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/articles/2006/04/21/chargers_lb_steve_foley_arrested/
Fact is, the "officer" should have called it in, but he didn't. Off duty, street clothes, street car, out of juridiction (two-fold since he was off duty) cop who did not identify himself shoots someone needs to be held accountable. Cops are not above the law. This guy had a problem, and did not perform in a responsible manner. Foley may have been driving under the influence, but that doesn't clear the racist idiot cop of his wrongdoing. Why you don't want to see this for what it was? I know Foley is a bolt, but so what. What happened to him is unfair and illegal. Cop should go to jail for a long time.
The cop was in his own vehicle correct? I know one cop personally. He carries his gun on him all the time. He doesn't have a police radio in his car. Could the the cop that shot Foley have used a cell phone? Sure, if he had one. We don't know if this is the case. We know he had his gun on him.
Let's assume he had no way of calling in the report. So he follows him in his vehicle. Seems logical to me. The guy is driving erratic (which also seems reasonable considering he had a .233 BAL).
When Foley does finally decide to stop, the cop orders him to stay n the car, or whatever he orders him to do. Foley disobeys. The guys draws his gun. Foley continues to disobey. The guy shoots him in the leg in order to stop him. Foley still disobeys. He shoots him again.
I'm not sure I see what's unreasonable about this scenario. The fact is, Foley had a prioer record for attacking a police office. So I'm thinking it didn;t matter if the cop identified himself or not. Foley was going to respond the way he did.
Bring race into this debate is the part I find unreasonable. You assume that this was an issue, because the cop was white and Foley was black? That's an unfortunate stance considering the facts that have been laid out. Do cops use racial profiling? I'm sure they do. Could Foley have behaved himself. Absolutely.
I don't know about you, but if a guy is pointing a gun at me. Walking toward him is the LAST thing on my mind. And this is the part of the original point I was trying to make. Many pro athletes assume they are above the law because they have the money to combat the law.
We can agree to disagree, but my position still stands. Had Foley acted in practical manner, he would have been playing last season. The fact that he was a bolt had nothing to do with my position. I think Darryl Russell's actions were similarly stupid. Same goes for Sebastien Janikowski. My affinity to a professional sports franchise does not cloud my judgement when it comes to civility.
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