Roger Goodell: Leading "America's Passion"

[Lori]

To understand what makes National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell tick, one should probably look at his father's résumé. Charles Goodell, a Republican senator from New York, was defeated for re-election in 1970 because he dared to speak out against the Vietnam War, introducing a “Sense of the Senate” resolution calling for President Richard Nixon's impeachment. As his middle son proudly recalled, “he stood up for what he believed was right” – even though it cost him his political career.

 

There is a framed copy of that page from the Congressional Record right next to the door in Goodell's Park Avenue office, serving as a constant reminder that “you have to make decisions that you think are right, regardless of the consequences.”

 

Goodell addressed several topics during a 75-minute conversation with WIVB-TV sports director John Murphy in the Chautauqua Institution amphitheater, but kept returning to the theme of responsibility. This fall, the league will implement a Fan Conduct Policy to keep out-of-control spectators from negatively affecting others' gameday experiences. The idea is simple: Go ahead and have a couple beers, yell as loud as you can, but don't ruin it for everybody else.

 

The Personal Conduct Policy, strengthened in 2007 with input from over 100 players, applies to everybody in the league. Yes, including the commissioner, who feels that the NFL owes it to the fans to show proper respect for their support.

 

“It's unacceptable to be involved in activities that reflect poorly on yourself and your team,” Goodell said. “And if you have incidents like that, you will be disciplined. But before we get to that point, we try to provide them resources – give them tools where they can make better decisions.” The league will also begin assessing cumulative fines to teams for their players' or coaches' transgressions.

 

The stiffer penalties have been noticed. College and high school coaches have contacted Goodell to tell him that the rules are having an impact at their level, leading him to muse, “Hopefully we're influencing generations to come.”

 

That's the same logic behind taking all the incoming rookies on a tour through the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The program is based on a suggestion by Class of 2007 member Michael Irvin, who told Goodell he may have made different choices early in his career had he fully understood the league's history and tradition. The idea is to address the “it's all about me” attitude by showing the young players that the game was here a long time before they came along, and will still be here after they retire.

 

Of course, coaches and commissioners also eventually move on, and Goodell doesn't expect to hold his current job forever. What legacy will he leave? He doesn't dwell on it, but wants to “try to make a difference – a positive difference. I don't know all the things that are going to come up over my tenure. I certainly, when I took this job, didn't know that I was going to have to deal with some of the issues that I've already had to deal with. You want to make sure that you handle them properly, that you leave the NFL better than it was, and hopefully make the game greater.”

 

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A few other notes, and highlights from the question-and-answer session which followed the program:

 

Toronto?

- Ralph Wilson wants to keep the team in Buffalo, and Goodell will do what he can to make sure that happens. He agreed with Murphy's assertion that there is a closer bond between small-market teams and their fans. The way he sees it, the Rogers Centre initiative should actually help strengthen the franchise.

 

He talked about the 80 percent of revenue that is equally shared by the franchises, but nimbly sidestepped the growing disparity in unshared revenue both in an interview with WGR Sports Radio and during his remarks in the Amphitheater. Based on a conversation I had following the event, I'm thinking at least one local columnist will have something to say about his tap-dancing expertise. Stay tuned.

 

Spygate?

- Again, follow the rules or suffer the consequences ... and the first-round pick and $500,000 fine were an unprecedented price to pay. He said that since he knew what was on the tapes, so he didn't need to keep the tapes. (That decision continues to be questioned.)

 

Community ownership?

- It works in Green Bay, but that's a unique situation. The league can't have 32 Green Bays. They need capital, and they need owners to make decisions.

 

Disputes with retired players?

- The NFL and NFLPA deserve credit for already working to improve retiree benefits – most industries don't do that – “but we can do more. The men who built this game deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.”

 

Steroids?

- The NFL has been testing for performance-enhancing drugs since 1989. That said, people will always look for an edge, and it's difficult to stay ahead of the curve.

 

Betting on games?

- “We need to protect the game from being influenced improperly.” Gambling has become a negative influence on society in general.

 

The Rooney Rule as it applies to management/ownership?

- It does apply, but it's not mandatory. That said, diversity is very important to the league.

 

Expansion?

- “I don't see that.” With 32 teams, the NFL is the largest of the major professional sports leagues. Adding more teams would also mean fewer revenue-sharing dollars for each franchise.

 

Pay-per-view?

- Sure, the Super Bowl could be on PPV ... but that would be unfair to the 150 million people who watched last year's game. The current model works.

 

Rookie salaries?

- It is ridiculous that top draft picks make so much guaranteed money before ever playing a down. “Something needs to change. The money should go to the people who perform.”

 

Globalization?

- “We're not interested in conquering the world,” but there are plans to continue growing the game outside our borders. 15,000 tickets for the Chargers-Saints game in London recently went on sale. They were gone in 30 minutes.

 

Minor-league football?

- The league fought for, and won, the right to keep its three-year eligibility rule. He feels players are better off for the opportunity to both play college football and be exposed to an advanced education. “You can't play football forever.”

 

Fantasy football?

- He doesn't play it, but encourages anything that increases fans' connections to the game.

 

Scalping?

- Definitely something the league is looking at; they're concerned about fraud, and a bevy of new state laws that allow the practice aren't helping their cause.

 

Changing the overtime rules?

- No. The risk of losing the game without ever touching the ball in OT should serve as an incentive to try to win the game in regulation. He's no fan of seven-OT college games.

[Corp000085]

Good writeup Lori. I hope you enjoyed your Chautauqua experience!

[Chandler#81]

Thank you.

 

 

Pin it

[Ramius]

Thanks Lori, great info.

 

I'm glad that the commish is speaking about the ridiculous rookie deals and something needs to get done. But i also dont buy his BS line about spygate. Someone should asked him where he got his sweeping skills from, because he's done his best to brush it and keep it under the rug.

[KD in CA]

He talked about the 80 percent of revenue that is equally shared by the franchises, but nimbly sidestepped the growing disparity in unshared revenue both in the WGR interview and during his remarks in the Amphitheater. Based on a conversation after the lecture, I'm guessing at least one beat reporter will have something to say about that in Saturday's newspaper. Stay tuned.

I don't trust that he either wants to or has the power to stop this disturbing trend.

 

Expansion?

- "I don't see that." With 32 teams, the NFL is the largest of the major professional sports leagues. Adding more teams would also mean fewer revenue-sharing dollars for each franchise.

Good.

 

Rookie salaries?

- It is ridiculous that top draft picks make so much guaranteed money before ever playing a down. "Something needs to change. The money should go to the people who perform."

Very good.

 

Scalping?

-Definitely something the league is looking at; they're concerned about fraud, and a bevy of new state laws that allow the practice aren't helping their cause.

Bullsh--. They're concerned with getting a cut of any resale of tickets.

 

Changing the overtime rules?

-No. The risk of losing the game without ever touching the ball in OT should serve as an incentive to try to win the game in regulation. He's no fan of seven-OT college games.

Excellent.

[Lori]

I don't trust that he either wants to or has the power to stop this disturbing trend.

 

KD, I think the "no power" bit is more true for the rookie salaries than the unshared revenue. Everyone knows the draft-pick pay scale is way out of whack; 2008 No. 1 overall pick Jake Long's five-year, $57.5-million deal, with $30 million guaranteed, dwarfs the $40-million contract ($21 million guaranteed) recently signed by seven-time Pro Bowl lineman Alan Faneca. That's insane. Would Big Mike Williams' career possibly have turned out differently if he'd had to work for a big contract, instead of having one handed to him before he ever played a down in the league?

 

I haven't done a ton of research on the other major sports leagues, but I'm fairly sure none of them operate the same way. Trouble is, even though the union has acknowledged that the veterans deserve better treatment than the rookies, they won't be inclined to just hand that money back to the owners.

 

You're correct about his opinion on unshared suite/PSL revenue: the more, the better. He claimed that the Snyders and Krafts understand the importance of keeping the small-market franchises viable in their current locations, but I believed that about as much as I did his Spygate answer.

 

Bullsh--. They're concerned with getting a cut of any resale of tickets.

No, he has legitimate concerns about scalping and fraud. However, you'll no doubt be interested (but not surprised) to learn that the NFL intends to move into the "secondary ticketing market."

 

Chuck has a good column in today's OTH, but it isn't online. I'll drop an e-mail to their Web editor to see if I can talk him into putting it up. With Bills-related stuff consistently outdrawing anything else on their site -- due largely to TBD, I suspect -- you'd think it would be an automatic upload ...

[nero47]

On PPV,

 

I live in Florida and would gladly pay to see the bills every sunday without having to go to a bar or buy direct tv.

My one concern iis the money be split between the bills and the team they are playing that Sunday. in that way the Franchises would gain more revenue. Those who live in the region would still get the game free.

[Bmwolf21]

On PPV,

 

I live in Florida and would gladly pay to see the bills every sunday without having to go to a bar or buy direct tv.

My one concern iis the money be split between the bills and the team they are playing that Sunday. in that way the Franchises would gain more revenue. Those who live in the region would still get the game free.

Yeah that might be a nice alternative for the millions who can't get DirecTV for one reason or another and don't want to spend a ton of money at a sports bar every Sunday. I wish I had that option when I lived in Orlando - we spent a lot of money at the Orlando Ale House on Sundays...

[Lori]

Thanks to Olean Times Herald website editor Dan LeBlanc for coming through. This is the column I alluded to with the "stay tuned" remark in my original post; it originally ran Saturday morning ...

 

POLLOCK: Goodell upbeat about Bills’ future in Buffalo

 

CHAUTAUQUA - There are certain advantages to bringing a favorite son home.

 

If he happens to be the National Football League Commissioner, and his family summered at Western New York’s leading cultural enclave, you’ve got a built-in compelling guest speaker.

 

And so it was, on Friday morning, that Roger Goodell concluded “Sports in America” week at Chautauqua Institution.

 

It didn’t hurt that when Roger was a kid, he spent many of these 9-week seasons there. That served as the source of occasional jesting comments from Institution staffers about his baseball, softball and water skiing youth.

 

But if the regional media was expecting a scoop ... not so much.

 

Roger was, uhhh, measured in his comments.

 

But you don’t get his job without showing a proclivity for diplomacy and poise with the press.

 

Besides, he pulls it off with confidence and dignity.

 

(more at link)

[Beerball]

Thank you Lori. Much appreciated as your info always is.

 

 

I hesitate adding this, but here goes:

 

What I couldn't square away about Goodell before reading this was his lenient treatment of belicheat*. How did he get off without a suspension? How is it that finding out that the pats* cheated for many years longer than "the cheater*" admited didn't lead to any further sanctions? This quote helps me resolve my questions: “you have to make decisions that you think are right, regardless of the consequences.” Apparently belicheat* used this line on Goodell and he fell for it.

[Lori]

If you read further in the linked column, Chuck calls Goodell a "pure politician." I think that's the answer you're looking for: Whether or not it's actually true, he can tell himself that the punishment levied against Belichick and the Pats* was severe enough to stop them from doing it again, and that's a compromise he can live with. Plus, $500K is a sizable chunk of change even for someone in Belichick's tax bracket.

 

(As for me, I agree that he should have gotten some time off along with the fine, and destroying the original batch of tapes was a misstep -- one they corrected by playing the Walsh tapes in their entirety for the media.)

 

Is Goodell's "do the right thing" image just that, a fabrication by a P.R. genius? Looking solely at Spygate might lead one to wonder ... but I'm not sure I'd agree. In this case, "doing the right thing" meant resolving the situation with the least amount of damage to the league he so loves, and the recent radio silence from Snarlin' Arlen Specter is a sign that his plan is working. Sure, we'll still have our fun with it, as will fans of every opponent on the Pats* schedule for the next ten years, but the uproar has died down.

 

When I sat down to write the original piece Friday evening, I knew I didn't want to focus on the specific Bills topics (Toronto/Lynch) which had already been covered in depth by the media outlets present at the press conference. Reading through my pages of notes, the constant references to "rules" and "consequences" caught my eye.

 

That doesn't mean I believed everything he said.

[bladiebla]

Expansion?

- “I don't see that.” With 32 teams, the NFL is the largest of the major professional sports leagues. Adding more teams would also mean fewer revenue-sharing dollars for each franchise.

 

Hmmm, poor LA lol. Paul T. def. thought different about this one.

 

Rookie salaries?

- It is ridiculous that top draft picks make so much guaranteed money before ever playing a down. “Something needs to change. The money should go to the people who perform.”

 

Maybe they should implement a salary cap per player linked to his experience. But it should also include a guranteed injury settlement fee then.

 

Globalization?

- “We're not interested in conquering the world,” but there are plans to continue growing the game outside our borders. 15,000 tickets for the Chargers-Saints game in London recently went on sale. They were gone in 30 minutes.

 

Jup... As we saw from the closure of NFL Europe... Under Paul T. he always pretended to be a big supporter of development leagues and international expansion, as soon as Paul T. left the building he pulled all the plugs, dishonering a commitment to 2010 made to the 700.000 NFL Europe fans.

 

Minor-league football?

- The league fought for, and won, the right to keep its three-year eligibility rule. He feels players are better off for the opportunity to both play college football and be exposed to an advanced education. “You can't play football forever.”

 

Still leaves a big gap for a development league though for the players that fall through the maze. Maby CFL will start to fulfill that role now that NFL Europe is gone, and they sure can use the quality boost there lol. The level of play in NFL went up similtanously with NFL Europe being the development league, let's see how the level of play will be 3 years from now (will it suffer from the lack of a development league or will CFL take it's place or will it turn out that the raise in play level was coincidental and not related to NFL Europe at all).

 

Changing the overtime rules?

- No. The risk of losing the game without ever touching the ball in OT should serve as an incentive to try to win the game in regulation. He's no fan of seven-OT college games.

 

The NFL Europe OT rule worked so well, I never understood why owners voted it down time and time again. NFL Europe OT rule was that both teams should get the ball at least once, if the team that won the toss scored then the other team would get a drive in which they could try to tie or win it. The result being that it's still a football game instead of a toss "lottery let's kick a fg to take the win". With a FG you werent sure you had it bagged, unless you were the team that lost the toss. It didnt change the game in regular time either, if you are in position to pull in a OT from behind you go for the OT chance in the current NFL model as well, if you have a chance to win the game in regular time then both systems encourage that as well.

[rockpile]

Lori for Commish !

 

 

[Stevie Ray]

(As for me, I agree that he should have gotten some time off along with the fine, and destroying the original batch of tapes was a misstep -- one they corrected by playing the Walsh tapes in their entirety for the media.)

 

Excellent and informative write up Lori. The thing I immediately thought of when reading about the 'constant reminder that “you have to make decisions that you think are right, regardless of the consequences.” ' piece is Goodell's decision to destroy the tapes. Perhaps he knew it wasnt the right thing to do in terms of destroying evidence, knowing full well many would question those actions regardless of the punishment levied agaisnt the Pats. But he may have felt that destroying it would help to put this blemish on the league in the past and allow things to move forward. But if anything, I think it may have had the opposite effect.

[Chilly]

Good read, thanks Lori.

 

He definitely is good at side stepping stuff - spygate, non-shared revenue, probably why he was attractive for the job.

 

I personally prefer the OT system of college - having a 7-OT game is extremely exciting, much more so than the NFL OT. An OT where you have to go back and forth is not only more fair, but also provides more drama.

 

BTW, is there any word on what the official fan conduct policy says?

[Lori]

BTW, is there any word on what the official fan conduct policy says?

No details yet, at least nothing official on the NFL media site. Here's what he said in the Q-and-A at the spring meeting:

Q: Fan conduct?

 

First of all, it’s very possible, and likely, that people can come to a game and enjoy alcoholic beverages or beer and do it very responsibly. What we don’t want is there to be abusive behavior. That includes foul language; that includes disrupting other people who are there to enjoy the game. We’re just saying, come and enjoy yourself, but don’t ruin it for others.

 

Q: Can you police that without having security everywhere?

 

We think we can, and we think some clubs are doing some very creative things here to get help to specific areas and to let our fans know that we expect when you come here you act civilized and allow everyone to enjoy the game. Have fun, scream as much as you want, but do it in a way that’s appropriate. I think I’ve told you in the past that I went to a game last year as a fan. I went through the gates and went through the whole experience, and it was a terrific experience. But that varies from stadium to stadium and probably game to game, and probably time to time. There’s no question that we probably have a more difficult time in the evening games. In some cases that’s because the normal season ticket-holder isn’t at that game and they give it to somebody else. That’s not a license to be unruly. In our opinion, you have a responsibility to whoever you give those tickets to, and you’re responsible for their behavior. It’ll be discipline, enforcement, and making sure that we communicate our message effectively.

 

Q: Any indication that there’s been an increase in bad behavior?

What’s precipitated it is hearing from fans. I hear a lot from fans and our teams hear from their fans, people who have had a bad experience. I think it’s something that we believe should be addressed effectively by the NFL, and so we’re going to take the positive step to do it and do it in a responsible fashion. I think it’ll be good for all of us to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to make sure this experience is a good one.

 

Q: Which teams are doing a good job?

 

I’m not going to go there. I think we can all improve. I think all of us are going to learn from one another about what’s working in some stadiums. The situation is going to vary, and there are some new factors coming in. The secondary ticket market is a new factor and we have to figure out how to handle that. There’s not a one size fits all solution.

Q: Fan behavior issue and not having enough security manpower?

 

Certainly if that’s required, and they need more manpower to address their issues, then yes, we would seek to make sure that they have those resources available to them. Somebody made a comment earlier when we were discussing this issue about statistics. One of the things we want to do is get standardized information so we understand exactly what we are dealing with and, more importantly, understand what’s effective. So as we implement changes and we have various programs to address this issue, we know what’s working and what’s not working so we can focus on what’s working.

 

Q: Are there legal issues surrounding that?

 

I have yet to find something where there wasn’t a legal aspect.

 

Q: The game he attended as a fan and his opinion on the perfect model of an ideal game for fans?

 

I went with my 13-year-old niece and I sat in two locations. I sat all the way at the top on about the 40 and I sat in the end zone, and they were two different experiences, to be honest with you. I was actually quite surprised at how different they were. I think the model is, from the time somebody goes to a stadium, and that includes getting into the stadium, going through the parking experience, going through the gates, sitting there, concessions, restrooms, the whole experience – making sure that they feel safe, that they’re comfortable and that they can enjoy the game without being interfered with. I think people have a right to do that, so I think that’s the experience. We want them to go home safely, and when they arrive home, feel good about what they just did that day.

Q: Could there be fines levied against teams if there are too many rowdy fan incidents in their stadiums?

 

I never mentioned fines in that context. At some point that may be something that we entertain, but at this stage right now all the clubs believe that this is something we can do better at and we are going to be focused on how we can improve the experience. It is not a defining matter at this stage.