Any Way You Look At It, Goodell Can't Win 'Deflategate'
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
It would be nice, and far more compelling, if this were over something that really matters. To be honest, I thought one of the main differences between professional football and other levels was everyone used the same ball. In every other level of the game down to the grade school levels, the offensive team snaps, hands off, passes and kicks the footballs they brought to the game.
The New England Patriots didn't leave a doubt who was the better team in the AFC Championship game; 41-7 is a whipping on any level, but it’s much worse in the NFL. The air pressure did not affect the outcome of the game.
The point isn't whether this is a felony or a misdemeanor in the football world; and having never covered the NFL up close I can't say whether such things exist with any real level of credibility. A rule is a rule, evidently just as “a person is a person, no matter how small.”
What this has become is a no-win situation, much as I perceived the O.J. Simpson trial to be in 1994. As that trial went to jury, I remember thinking either a black man is convicted, or a rich man goes free; there wasn't going to be an outcome the masses would define as just.
That, to me, is Brady v. Goodell in a nutshell and without the racial element. Goodell cannot come out of this, whenever it officially reaches its end, and claim a real victory. If the suspension is upheld through all the appeals, all Goodell would have won is a single battle and likely ignited a war where the commissioner’s authority is brought to question time and again. If Brady ultimately wins, Goodell will go down as arguably the weakest commissioner in the history of American sport, and he'll be left to spend his days in some sunny, warm-in-the-winter locale to write books and decide how late is too late in the day to play golf.
Brady is to the point where is legacy and his financial life is secure, he will take his place among the all-time greats whether he plays another down or plays for three more championships. If he's as proud a man as he appears, it's conceivable to me that he'd retire rather than serve a suspension. I don't know if his life plans include a front-office job like John Elway has in Denver (and I thought wrong when Elway retired; his job is anything but ceremonial) but if he does, it'll be because he wants to, not because he needs the work.
From where I'm standing, it seems Brady can't lose, and Goodell has more important things to concern himself with, like what to do with the four games that start each season that are both meaningless and pointless.
It's hard not to notice all the empty seats at the NFL preseason games this year. I've contended for decades it's not worth what the teams charge to watch a game that won't matter unless someone gets hurt, and even then the outcome still won't be remembered except by a kid who may be making a once-in-a-lifetime trip to see a bunch of guys play in a favorite team's uniforms.
Longtime Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson had a weekly radio call-in show, and I was fortunate enough to be there when someone asked why the price of admission is the same for a pre-season game as it is for one in the regular season. He said the game day experience was the same in both cases: same music, same cheerleaders, same fireworks, same food, same ushers and vendors, "everything's the same."
"Except Joe Montana doesn't play because it doesn't matter."
Peterson got a little huffy with the fan, and actually asked "well, would you want a lower price if Joe was hurt and couldn't play?"
"No, if the game still counts in the standings!"
After that, I don't remember Peterson taking a call from a fan in the bar; they were all callers who could be screened and controlled with a 15-second delay. A lot of "hang-ups" and other technical glitches, as I recall."
I realize the guys playing at the end of preseason game No. 4 are playing for jobs in the NFL, and many times that results with a level of intensity that rivals a playoff game. For football purists, that may be among the favorite times of the season.
For the rest of us, it's inconceivable to think NFL decision makers, between minicamps, workouts, organized team activities (OTA's) and four weeks of training camp, with a scrimmage or two thrown in for good measure, isn't enough time to decide who can make the final cut. It's past time for the NFL to dump the preseason and play a 16-game schedule only.
Yes, that means tickets and parking will cost more. So be it.[[In-content Ad]]
It would be nice, and far more compelling, if this were over something that really matters. To be honest, I thought one of the main differences between professional football and other levels was everyone used the same ball. In every other level of the game down to the grade school levels, the offensive team snaps, hands off, passes and kicks the footballs they brought to the game.
The New England Patriots didn't leave a doubt who was the better team in the AFC Championship game; 41-7 is a whipping on any level, but it’s much worse in the NFL. The air pressure did not affect the outcome of the game.
The point isn't whether this is a felony or a misdemeanor in the football world; and having never covered the NFL up close I can't say whether such things exist with any real level of credibility. A rule is a rule, evidently just as “a person is a person, no matter how small.”
What this has become is a no-win situation, much as I perceived the O.J. Simpson trial to be in 1994. As that trial went to jury, I remember thinking either a black man is convicted, or a rich man goes free; there wasn't going to be an outcome the masses would define as just.
That, to me, is Brady v. Goodell in a nutshell and without the racial element. Goodell cannot come out of this, whenever it officially reaches its end, and claim a real victory. If the suspension is upheld through all the appeals, all Goodell would have won is a single battle and likely ignited a war where the commissioner’s authority is brought to question time and again. If Brady ultimately wins, Goodell will go down as arguably the weakest commissioner in the history of American sport, and he'll be left to spend his days in some sunny, warm-in-the-winter locale to write books and decide how late is too late in the day to play golf.
Brady is to the point where is legacy and his financial life is secure, he will take his place among the all-time greats whether he plays another down or plays for three more championships. If he's as proud a man as he appears, it's conceivable to me that he'd retire rather than serve a suspension. I don't know if his life plans include a front-office job like John Elway has in Denver (and I thought wrong when Elway retired; his job is anything but ceremonial) but if he does, it'll be because he wants to, not because he needs the work.
From where I'm standing, it seems Brady can't lose, and Goodell has more important things to concern himself with, like what to do with the four games that start each season that are both meaningless and pointless.
It's hard not to notice all the empty seats at the NFL preseason games this year. I've contended for decades it's not worth what the teams charge to watch a game that won't matter unless someone gets hurt, and even then the outcome still won't be remembered except by a kid who may be making a once-in-a-lifetime trip to see a bunch of guys play in a favorite team's uniforms.
Longtime Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson had a weekly radio call-in show, and I was fortunate enough to be there when someone asked why the price of admission is the same for a pre-season game as it is for one in the regular season. He said the game day experience was the same in both cases: same music, same cheerleaders, same fireworks, same food, same ushers and vendors, "everything's the same."
"Except Joe Montana doesn't play because it doesn't matter."
Peterson got a little huffy with the fan, and actually asked "well, would you want a lower price if Joe was hurt and couldn't play?"
"No, if the game still counts in the standings!"
After that, I don't remember Peterson taking a call from a fan in the bar; they were all callers who could be screened and controlled with a 15-second delay. A lot of "hang-ups" and other technical glitches, as I recall."
I realize the guys playing at the end of preseason game No. 4 are playing for jobs in the NFL, and many times that results with a level of intensity that rivals a playoff game. For football purists, that may be among the favorite times of the season.
For the rest of us, it's inconceivable to think NFL decision makers, between minicamps, workouts, organized team activities (OTA's) and four weeks of training camp, with a scrimmage or two thrown in for good measure, isn't enough time to decide who can make the final cut. It's past time for the NFL to dump the preseason and play a 16-game schedule only.
Yes, that means tickets and parking will cost more. So be it.[[In-content Ad]]
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