Email from Roger Goodell??

[jms493]

I received this email this morning

http://view.ed4.net/v/EX960C2/ZGR3/SPJHPQP/622HG8/MAILACTION=1&FORMAT=H

With one of the most exciting regular seasons now completed and the playoffs about to begin, let me first thank you and all NFL fans for your incredible support. Many fans have been asking me where we stand on signing a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union. Let me update you and be clear at the outset:

I know we can and will reach an agreement.

My goal as Commissioner now is to help our teams and players find a solution that is fair to everyone and ensures that football becomes more popular, accessible, and fun. We want the next decade to be the best yet for our fans, and I’m ready to work day and night to make that happen.

We've come a long way. Compare where we are today with 10 years ago. From player accountability to player safety, more and better television coverage, upgrading the in-stadium experience, innovations like the RedZone channel, the Draft in prime time and playing the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, we are focused on doing what’s best for the players, teams, and fans. My priority is and always will be the game and the fans who love our game.

The NFL is great because fans care deeply about it. Economic conditions, however, have changed dramatically inside and outside the NFL since 2006 when we negotiated the last CBA. A 10 percent unemployment rate hurts us all. Fans have limited budgets and rightly want the most for their money. I get it.

Yes, NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices and the NFL is no different.

These are not easy negotiations, but the outcome can be positive. If both sides give a little, everyone, including fans, will get a lot and the game will improve through innovation.

Even in difficult economic times, a new CBA presents us with the opportunity to secure the future of our game. You may ask how will the NFL look under this vision?

A significant change would be to resolve fan complaints about preseason by modifying our 20-game format. Fans tell us they don’t like the quality of the preseason games, and we’re listening. An enhanced season of 18 regular season and two preseason games would not add a single game for the players collectively, but would give fans more meaningful, high-quality football.

Our emphasis on player health and safety is absolutely essential to the future of our game. We are strictly enforcing rules that protect players from unnecessarily dangerous play, especially involving hits to the head. We are changing the “play through it” culture to a “player-first” culture to ensure that if a player has a head injury, he doesn’t play again until his health is certain. We are also addressing the potential wear-and-tear on players in the way they train in-season and off-season.

It’s not just the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league. That includes a new system that properly compensates proven veterans and retired players by shifting some of the outrageous sums paid to many unproven rookies. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated published a list of the 50 highest-paid American athletes that included five 2009 NFL rookies. Every other athlete on the list was a proven veteran. In 2009, NFL clubs contracted $1.2 billion to 256 drafted rookies with $585 million guaranteed before they had stepped on an NFL field.

Don’t get me wrong: top draft choices will continue to be highly paid. All we’re asking for is a return to common sense in paying our rookies. Other leagues have done this and we can too.

These improvements and more will lead to better football, plain and simple. A forward looking CBA that is fair to players and clubs will lead to a great future for the NFL and our fans.

My job is to represent the game — the fans, teams, players, coaches and business partners. Protecting the integrity of the game and ensuring it thrives is a responsibility I take very seriously.

This is about more than a labor agreement. It’s about the future of the NFL. We have to improve and will be relentless in our quest. The commitment to our fans is to make the NFL experience even better in the years ahead. With a responsible CBA, we will fulfill that vision.

Happy New Year and enjoy the playoffs.



– Roger Goodell

 

[Maynard]

all u got was an email? he called me personally

u must be on a mailing list of some kind through nfl.com or something

 

[jms493]

yeah it was just weird as I never get nfl.com emails. and in my inbox I saw roger goodell. I thought it was spam.....

 

[Boucher]

Boo No Fun League

 

[Rayman]

This nigga could eat a dick

 

[Leftwich]

But the underlying theme of the letter is about the CBA. If he can actually pull this thing out of his ass and keep football alive next year I will take back everything negative i've said about him and praise him.

 

[Houston]

Email him back and tell him to stop having The Cowboys play on Thanksgiving.

 

[Derrville]

Email him back and tell him to stop having The Cowboys play on Thanksgiving.

Only if they stop having a team in Houston.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I know its "fun" and "trendy" to rip the commish, but I think he's doing a tremendous job.

 

[Woy]

Email him back and tell him to stop having The Cowboys play on Thanksgiving.

I like how you went from hardcore bashing of the Titans last year to the Cowboys this year. Wonder who's going to be on your radar next.

 

[Rush]

I sent that shit to my spam folder, then fined him with a "fuck you" response.

 

[Houston]

I like how you went from hardcore bashing of the Titans last year to the Cowboys this year. Wonder who's going to be on your radar next.

You don't know what it's like to never make the playoffs. I have to do something to make the season interesting.

 

[adembroski]

This pissed me off.

With one of the most exciting regular seasons now completed and the playoffs about to begin, let me first thank you and all NFL fans for your incredible support. Many fans have been asking me where we stand on signing a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union. Let me update you and be clear at the outset:

I know we can and will reach an agreement.

Meaningless. Can means "able", will means "Want too"... how about shall?

My goal as Commissioner now is to help our teams and players find a solution that is fair to everyone and ensures that football becomes more popular, accessible, and fun. We want the next decade to be the best yet for our fans, and I’m ready to work day and night to make that happen.

We've come a long way. Compare where we are today with 10 years ago. From player accountability

You mean fining and suspending players on the basis of suspicion and accusation?

to player safety

Well, you haven't issued flags yet, I'll give you props there.

, more and better television coverage

Really? Because I used to be able to watch Thursday night games. And I didn't need cable to watch on Monday Night, either.

Oh, and they used to switch away from blowouts and let us watch close games and games in overtime... now they site some NFL rule that says we can't watch the rest of the game.

upgrading the in-stadium experience

I'll comment on that when it doesn't cost 90 bucks for nosebleeds, k?

, innovations like the RedZone channel,

Innovation: Give the non-DirectTV customers something so they'll stop begging for Sunday Ticket.

the Draft in prime time

Well, at least you've done SOMETHING right.

and playing the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl

Except that a good portion of the players who should be in the probowl are in the Superbowl.

we are focused on doing what’s best for the players, teams, and fans. My priority is and always will be the game and the fans who love our game.

Then let me watch Thursday Night football, let me watch overtime, let networks switch to entertaining games, let me get Sunday Ticket, and make ticket prices reasonable.

The NFL is great because fans care deeply about it. Economic conditions, however, have changed dramatically inside and outside the NFL since 2006 when we negotiated the last CBA. A 10 percent unemployment rate hurts us all. Fans have limited budgets and rightly want the most for their money. I get it.

Clearly, you don't. See above.

Yes, NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices and the NFL is no different.

These are not easy negotiations, but the outcome can be positive. If both sides give a little, everyone, including fans, will get a lot and the game will improve through innovation.

Why do you feel the need to give? Why do you act so damn tough on individual players, but as soon as something becomes politically sensitive, you grab your ankles?

Even in difficult economic times, a new CBA presents us with the opportunity to secure the future of our game. You may ask how will the NFL look under this vision?

A significant change would be to resolve fan complaints about preseason by modifying our 20-game format. Fans tell us they don’t like the quality of the preseason games, and we’re listening. An enhanced season of 18 regular season and two preseason games would not add a single game for the players collectively, but would give fans more meaningful, high-quality football.

So, instead of having 4 meaningless preseason games, you'll dilute the meaning of the 16 regular season games and destroy the only sports league with a mathematically balanced format? Here's an idea: STOP CHARGING REGULAR SEASON PRICES FOR PRESEASON GAMES.

Our emphasis on player health and safety is absolutely essential to the future of our game. We are strictly enforcing rules that protect players from unnecessarily dangerous play, especially involving hits to the head. We are changing the “play through it” culture to a “player-first” culture to ensure that if a player has a head injury, he doesn’t play again until his health is certain. We are also addressing the potential wear-and-tear on players in the way they train in-season and off-season.

And you're ignoring the fact that football is a physical sport by fining players for doing their jobs. Don't you think you did enough when you handcuffed DBs with the "unofficial" more stringent interference rules? I'd really like to see a tad more defense in this league, yet you seem compelled to continually undermine it.

Yes, fans want entertaining games. Yes, fans like big plays. But if we wanted unopposed offense, we'd watch AFL. A sack or an interception can be as exciting as a long run.

It’s not just the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league. That includes a new system that properly compensates proven veterans and retired players by shifting some of the outrageous sums paid to many unproven rookies. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated published a list of the 50 highest-paid American athletes that included five 2009 NFL rookies. Every other athlete on the list was a proven veteran. In 2009, NFL clubs contracted $1.2 billion to 256 drafted rookies with $585 million guaranteed before they had stepped on an NFL field.

And every one of those contracts were agreed too by the owner of the team that drafted that player. You need special rules to protect owners from spend their own money?

Don’t get me wrong: top draft choices will continue to be highly paid. All we’re asking for is a return to common sense in paying our rookies. Other leagues have done this and we can too.

You think copying lesser leagues benefits you?

These improvements and more will lead to better football, plain and simple. A forward looking CBA that is fair to players and clubs will lead to a great future for the NFL and our fans.

I hate market-speak. "Forward looking" "Fair" "great future"... and btw, the CBA cannot lead to great football. The CBA has nothing to do with football.

My job is to represent the game — the fans, teams, players, coaches and business partners. Protecting the integrity of the game and ensuring it thrives is a responsibility I take very seriously.

Integrity? is that what you call it when you arbitrarily tell someone they can't bid on a team because the racist head of the union doesn't like him, so you buy into obviously fake "quotes" and tell him he's not welcome?

This is about more than a labor agreement. It’s about the future of the NFL. We have to improve and will be relentless in our quest. The commitment to our fans is to make the NFL experience even better in the years ahead. With a responsible CBA, we will fulfill that vision.

Happy New Year and enjoy the playoffs.



– Roger Goodell

Ok, I'm done.

 

[Rayman]

Email him back and tell him to stop having The Cowboys play on Thanksgiving.

:hemad:

 

[NAHSTE]

A former player responds:

http://deadspin.com/5727848/a-former-player-responds-to-roger-goodells-open-letter?skyline=true&s=i

What a buzzkill. On the eve of the playoffs, just when fans' excitement in the sport is cresting, Roger Goodell tripped on his shoestrings again, puked all over his keyboard, and then hit "send."

His letter to the fans in a nutshell: greedy players and broke owners. The NFL needs more money (more even than the many billions of dollars the new Monday Night Football TV contract will provide), and the athletes who populate the league need less. It's the same tune he's been practicing, but now sung with a bullhorn. He wants the fans to keep in mind, as they watch the playoffs, that the athletes on their televisions are overpaid hooligans whose bodies are not their own properties and thus shall have no say in the direction of the league as a whole.

Five years into his tenure, the players are realizing what they have in Roger Goodell. At first, it was hard to tell. He had a refined message and promised the players that he wouldn't change a thing, unless it was deemed necessary, in the name of progress. Players are always skeptical of the power structure in the NFL — coaches, owners, or, in this case, the commissioner. There is always a prevailing "us against them" feeling. Players know that loyalty and honesty are scarce at their level, but I think for the most part, the belief endured that Goodell would respect the sacrifice of the players and keep the ship steady.

But now there's a storm coming, and the skipper is drunk at the wheel. The first sign of this came after a few well-publicized player indiscretions. Goodell started beating his chest at the rest of us. We will not tolerate this. We will not tolerate that. Here is a video about it. Here is a pamphlet about it. Here is another pamphlet (he loves pamphlets). We'll be watching you. Here I am talking about it on television. Here I am again! How's my hair?

Goodell's failure to understand how this would be received by players has proved to be a recurring theme in his tenure. His vaunted code of conduct policy, his public flogging of the NFL's relatively few troublemakers, and his repeated cries for a "culture change," all seen by him as progress, were taken in the locker room as the opposite. One can only assume that a call for a "culture change" means that Goodell is unhappy with the current culture, or more to the point, with the players themselves. He is openly questioning their morals. Understanding that the majority of the players in the NFL are young black men, and he is representing the interests of old, rich, white owners, Goodell has needlessly widened the cultural rift between the players and the displeased owners who might wish their players weren't quite so black. That's not progress.

It also doesn't help that, in the eyes of the players, Goodell couldn't find his balls when he was in the same room with Brett Favre and a bagful of evidence. Roger could have given him a fitting retirement party, but he punked out.

Meanwhile, he had no problems locating his nuts when began doling out fines for what he perceived as overly vicious hits. But the way it looks in the locker room, the fines are a function of media attention and the marketability of the player getting hit. And if you accidentally graze the head of a quarterback, it's your ass. (And here we thought that's what helmets were for.) This is when Goodell's PR train permanently went off the rails. Players practice at full speed every week. They smack heads and then go watch it on film. They know everyone is getting hit in the head. The laughably inconsistent enforcement of the head-shot rule makes it clear to the players, or at least the vast majority of them: your brains are expendable.

And now its just getting silly. On the heels of an impassioned plea for safer play, he's aggressively pushing an 18-game season.

I know he's in a negotiation here, but don't put Icy Hot in my jockstrap and ask me why my balls itch. And the manner in which he is selling the longer season to the public insults the intelligence of the players even more. He says that it won't add a single game. It's still a 20-game format. Enough with the 20-game argument. Every player knows that during the four combined preseason games, the starters barely play a total four quarters, if that.

Preseason games are used to evaluate the bubble players who are fighting to make the team. My career owed itself, in no small part, to those preseason games. While the starters rested and prepared for the regular season, I had a chance to prove that I belonged. Take away two of them, and that chance is diminished.

Add two regular-season games, and careers will be shorter and life-changing injuries more frequent. As the body breaks down late in the season, the athlete's strength wanes and the difference between a routine play and a crippling injury gets smaller and smaller. But the pressure to perform never wanes, so the player must soldier on, knowing that if he can't go, someone else will. Players are reminded of that fact almost daily, and no one minces words. The threat of being replaced is a constant. Whether it is Game 2 or Game 18, you ignore the pain. The commissioner is sadly mistaken if he believes otherwise.

A team's training room at the end of the season is a battlefield scene: people lying on tables, things clamped to them, moaning in pain. Injured reserve players stack up as the season drags on. New players are signed to replace them, then suffer the same fate. Snap, crackle, pop. The players who can't practice during the week but end up playing anyway are injured. They shouldn't play; that's why they can't practice. But they get shot up on game day, or they don't, and they play anyway. Their adrenaline is through the roof and the drugs work, so they don't feel the pain that's telling them to stop. Fucking stop! But they don't heed the warnings, no one does, because playing with severe pain is an institutional reality that Goodell is either blind to or too dehumanized to care about. Regardless, the damage is done. More games, more damage.

Now, the picture of Goodell is clear: He is a guy eager to put his stamp on the league; he doesn't care what he is stamping just so long as it has his name on it. Problem is, he is losing the players, one PR gaffe at a time. The NFL is doing just fine on its own. It doesn't need Roger Goodell to be its pimp. Step out of the spotlight, Roger. It's not your show.

 

[NAHSTE]

A former player responds:

http://deadspin.com/5727848/a-former-player-responds-to-roger-goodells-open-letter?skyline=true&s=i

What a buzzkill. On the eve of the playoffs, just when fans' excitement in the sport is cresting, Roger Goodell tripped on his shoestrings again, puked all over his keyboard, and then hit "send."

His letter to the fans in a nutshell: greedy players and broke owners. The NFL needs more money (more even than the many billions of dollars the new Monday Night Football TV contract will provide), and the athletes who populate the league need less. It's the same tune he's been practicing, but now sung with a bullhorn. He wants the fans to keep in mind, as they watch the playoffs, that the athletes on their televisions are overpaid hooligans whose bodies are not their own properties and thus shall have no say in the direction of the league as a whole.

Five years into his tenure, the players are realizing what they have in Roger Goodell. At first, it was hard to tell. He had a refined message and promised the players that he wouldn't change a thing, unless it was deemed necessary, in the name of progress. Players are always skeptical of the power structure in the NFL — coaches, owners, or, in this case, the commissioner. There is always a prevailing "us against them" feeling. Players know that loyalty and honesty are scarce at their level, but I think for the most part, the belief endured that Goodell would respect the sacrifice of the players and keep the ship steady.

But now there's a storm coming, and the skipper is drunk at the wheel. The first sign of this came after a few well-publicized player indiscretions. Goodell started beating his chest at the rest of us. We will not tolerate this. We will not tolerate that. Here is a video about it. Here is a pamphlet about it. Here is another pamphlet (he loves pamphlets). We'll be watching you. Here I am talking about it on television. Here I am again! How's my hair?

Goodell's failure to understand how this would be received by players has proved to be a recurring theme in his tenure. His vaunted code of conduct policy, his public flogging of the NFL's relatively few troublemakers, and his repeated cries for a "culture change," all seen by him as progress, were taken in the locker room as the opposite. One can only assume that a call for a "culture change" means that Goodell is unhappy with the current culture, or more to the point, with the players themselves. He is openly questioning their morals. Understanding that the majority of the players in the NFL are young black men, and he is representing the interests of old, rich, white owners, Goodell has needlessly widened the cultural rift between the players and the displeased owners who might wish their players weren't quite so black. That's not progress.

It also doesn't help that, in the eyes of the players, Goodell couldn't find his balls when he was in the same room with Brett Favre and a bagful of evidence. Roger could have given him a fitting retirement party, but he punked out.

Meanwhile, he had no problems locating his nuts when began doling out fines for what he perceived as overly vicious hits. But the way it looks in the locker room, the fines are a function of media attention and the marketability of the player getting hit. And if you accidentally graze the head of a quarterback, it's your ass. (And here we thought that's what helmets were for.) This is when Goodell's PR train permanently went off the rails. Players practice at full speed every week. They smack heads and then go watch it on film. They know everyone is getting hit in the head. The laughably inconsistent enforcement of the head-shot rule makes it clear to the players, or at least the vast majority of them: your brains are expendable.

And now its just getting silly. On the heels of an impassioned plea for safer play, he's aggressively pushing an 18-game season.

I know he's in a negotiation here, but don't put Icy Hot in my jockstrap and ask me why my balls itch. And the manner in which he is selling the longer season to the public insults the intelligence of the players even more. He says that it won't add a single game. It's still a 20-game format. Enough with the 20-game argument. Every player knows that during the four combined preseason games, the starters barely play a total four quarters, if that.

Preseason games are used to evaluate the bubble players who are fighting to make the team. My career owed itself, in no small part, to those preseason games. While the starters rested and prepared for the regular season, I had a chance to prove that I belonged. Take away two of them, and that chance is diminished.

Add two regular-season games, and careers will be shorter and life-changing injuries more frequent. As the body breaks down late in the season, the athlete's strength wanes and the difference between a routine play and a crippling injury gets smaller and smaller. But the pressure to perform never wanes, so the player must soldier on, knowing that if he can't go, someone else will. Players are reminded of that fact almost daily, and no one minces words. The threat of being replaced is a constant. Whether it is Game 2 or Game 18, you ignore the pain. The commissioner is sadly mistaken if he believes otherwise.

A team's training room at the end of the season is a battlefield scene: people lying on tables, things clamped to them, moaning in pain. Injured reserve players stack up as the season drags on. New players are signed to replace them, then suffer the same fate. Snap, crackle, pop. The players who can't practice during the week but end up playing anyway are injured. They shouldn't play; that's why they can't practice. But they get shot up on game day, or they don't, and they play anyway. Their adrenaline is through the roof and the drugs work, so they don't feel the pain that's telling them to stop. Fucking stop! But they don't heed the warnings, no one does, because playing with severe pain is an institutional reality that Goodell is either blind to or too dehumanized to care about. Regardless, the damage is done. More games, more damage.

Now, the picture of Goodell is clear: He is a guy eager to put his stamp on the league; he doesn't care what he is stamping just so long as it has his name on it. Problem is, he is losing the players, one PR gaffe at a time. The NFL is doing just fine on its own. It doesn't need Roger Goodell to be its pimp. Step out of the spotlight, Roger. It's not your show.