Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL. He’s the most powerful man in sports. He runs a league that practically prints money and is beloved all over the world.
He is also becoming the biggest joke out there.
Now, it doesn’t take much to convince a Patriots’ fan of this. Just mention the term “Deflategate” to any New England fan and you will hear chapter and verse on how terrible the commissioner is. Like it or not, however, the players agreed to make him the final decision maker, which likely played into Tom Brady’s decision to accept his punishment.
But when Goodell starts exerting his over-authority regarding smaller issues, he becomes a joke. And when it involves denying a team the right to honor the victims of a terrible tragedy, it’s embarrassing.
For anyone that wasn’t aware, the Dallas Cowboys requested the opportunity to wear a decal on the back of their helmets honoring the officers tragically slain in the ambush in Dallas. Well that wasn’t an acceptable idea, thanks to Roger and the NFL’s draconian uniform rules. As reported by FOX Sports, the NFL denied the request. Goodell and company went further than that, as Pro Football Talk wrote, by extending the denial into the preseason.
What an embarrassment. A game that is the most popular in America can’t find a way to honor American heroes. Pathetic.
The president of the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation said it best:
“The NFL had an opportunity to be leaders and advocates for change in law enforcement,” Sgt. Demetrick Pennie, president of the foundation, told the website. “”These are our friends and our loved ones... it hurts to not have the NFL fully support us.”
He should be hurt. He should also be offended. Let’s see, who are those guys that make arrests of unruly fans? Policemen! Who helps keep the stadiums safe in the wake of attacks and potential attacks? Policemen!
Policemen are employed by the league to keep games safe, fans safe, and events under control. They are an essential part of the game day process. But Roger couldn’t make an exception to the uniform rules and allow five of them to be honored?
It’s apparently OK to break the rules to break those same rules to honor fallen members of the NFL family though. Whether it be players, owners, or in the case of Mr. Kraft, family members of owners, those are all acceptable. But it’s not OK to honor cops?
By the way, the sainted Goodell had nothing to say when the Rams ran out of the tunnel for a game giving the “Black Lives Matter” salute. OK, it’s all right to protest cops, but not honor them?
Seriously?
It’s completely acceptable to have rules. It’s not acceptable to be a hypocrite.
Roger Goodell is a hypocrite, and the Dallas police are owed an apology. His actions are embarrassing.