Roger Dodger

Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for the N.F.L., they did.  And it appears that Roger Goodell has now joined a different league--- the league of CEO’s that found a way to take a PR disaster and make it infinitely worse—Equifax, United Airlines, and Pepsi.   But Goodell may, in fact, be in a league of his own now that he has decided to take sides in the culture wars and support N.F.L. players that have chosen to disrespect America and the flag during the national anthem. 

Goodell fired back at Donald Trump’s statement that players that kneel during the national anthem should be fired by stating:

The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture.  There is no better example than the amazing response from our clubs and players to the terrible natural disasters we’ve experienced over the last month.  Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.

Let’s take this apart, shall we?   Roger, is the NFL creating a sense of unity and our country and our culture by permitting players to demonstrate their disdain for the country and its symbols?   Really?  If so, why did the NFL not permit the Dallas Cowboys to wear stickers honoring the slain police officers in Dallas last year?  Surely, there is no greater sense of unity than mourning those that have died while serving and protecting our communities.

Second, Roger, your statement creates a straw man.  Trump’s comments were NOT directed toward the NFL, the great game of football or ALL of your players.  It was ONLY directed at the players that showed contempt for America and the people that serve it.  While it is laudable that some players and clubs responded to the natural disasters that occurred, the fact is that the league has also been marred by players that have tortured animals and have had multiple instances of violence against women.   beaten their wives and their girlfriends, and have engaged in other criminal behavior.   So, Roger, your assertion that NFL players are Mother Theresas in helmets is a little thin.

The sanctimony and hypocrisy doesn’t end there.  Never mind that there are no protests against the hundreds of African Americans dead because of gang violence in Chicago, and never mind that Mr. Kaepernick is sporting t-shirts with emblems of mass murderers on them.

If you want to examine black exploitation, look at your minor league, Mr. Goodell--- the NCAA.   Let’s get real.  NCAA football is a government sanctioned monopoly that also has the benefit of not-for-profit status.  It is a wonderful farm system for the NFL and a bonanza for the NCAA itself.  Forbes recently published the top valued NCAA football teams with Texas as #1 at $129 million, followed by Notre Dame (not much heard about the racist connotations of “Fighting Irish”), Penn State (the child sex abuse capital of the NCAA), LSU and Michigan.   The top paid state employee in 39 states is either a football or basketball coach.  In NCAA football, 53% of the players are African American (while black men represent 3% of the population at large), but only 10% of the coaches are in FSB football.  In a college system which nets millions to mostly white coaches and the schools, black players are collusively capped at tuition, room and board and a little for incidentals, say $60,000 per year, about the starting salary of a teacher in a small town.  NCAA football is hardly a free labor market.

So if Goodell wishes jump in with both feet with the social justice warriors, he should hope that nobody notices the indentured servitude that the NFL’s minor league fosters (See the book Indentured by Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss)

In the meantime, I wish to thank the NFL protesters and Mr. Goodell.  I am re-discovering high culture on Sundays—museums, art institutes, symphonies, and nature walks.  And my golf game is improving.   You won’t see me wasting any more of my precious leisure hours at an NFL game or watching any on TV.

Maybe Goodell will next want to have Linda Sarsour, Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna as its spokespersons.