Cleaning Up The NFL...
Look out NFL players - here comes Roger Goodell. The NFL’s new commissioner is setting out to clean up a league that has had too many criminals for too long. It has been a long time coming, and this should be just what the doctor ordered. Goodell will be handing out suspensions like Santa’s elves hand out candy canes (if he just moved his office to Cincinnati then he could probably cover half of the league’s problems right there).
It is still unclear how the suspensions will work for minor infractions, or even some of the larger ones (Joey Porter beware). What we do know is that Goodell is very serious about cleaning up the NFL. Between murder trials, shootings outside strip clubs, and drugs, the NFL is widely viewed as a league of criminals. Some would even go so far as to say that because the league makes so much money off of the players, there is a conspiracy to keep them out of prison.
Every NFL offseason, there are stories about NFL players getting into a scuffle, getting caught with drugs, or even worse, getting killed. As a strong starting point to his term as commissioner, Roger Goodell is putting his foot down to say, “No more.” I must say it is refreshing in this day of the almighty dollar to see the league’s highest ranking official stand up for what is right and make football better. Fortunately, the players seem to be all for it too.
Goodell created a player committee to advise him on player related issues. Reportedly, many NFL players had been growing increasingly concerned over the level of misconduct throughout the league. DeAngelo Hall of the Atlanta Falcons, one of the concerned players, recently referred to Goodell as the “new sheriff in town.” The term couldn’t fit better.
A sheriff’s job is to keep the town safe and police those in it. Goodell has taken it upon himself to clean up the NFL and make it respectable again. Like any other good sheriff though, the first thing he has to do is get the bad seeds out. Unfortunately for them, two of those seeds recently found out just how serious Goodell is. Former West Virginia players Adam “Pacman” Jones (of the Titans) and Chris Henry (a Bengal) were suspended for significant time. Jones received a full year suspension, while Henry will be out for the first eight weeks.
As two of the league’s most notorious miscreants, Goodell apparently has decided to use Jones and Henry as poster boys for his brand of justice. Goodell has put bite into the league’s personal conduct policy and now there is no question that players who cannot abide by the law will be suspended. Goodell said it best himself by saying, “We must protect the integrity of the NFL.”
Quite simply...the sheriff is doing his job. Look out NFL - this guy means business.
It is still unclear how the suspensions will work for minor infractions, or even some of the larger ones (Joey Porter beware). What we do know is that Goodell is very serious about cleaning up the NFL. Between murder trials, shootings outside strip clubs, and drugs, the NFL is widely viewed as a league of criminals. Some would even go so far as to say that because the league makes so much money off of the players, there is a conspiracy to keep them out of prison.
Every NFL offseason, there are stories about NFL players getting into a scuffle, getting caught with drugs, or even worse, getting killed. As a strong starting point to his term as commissioner, Roger Goodell is putting his foot down to say, “No more.” I must say it is refreshing in this day of the almighty dollar to see the league’s highest ranking official stand up for what is right and make football better. Fortunately, the players seem to be all for it too.
Goodell created a player committee to advise him on player related issues. Reportedly, many NFL players had been growing increasingly concerned over the level of misconduct throughout the league. DeAngelo Hall of the Atlanta Falcons, one of the concerned players, recently referred to Goodell as the “new sheriff in town.” The term couldn’t fit better.
A sheriff’s job is to keep the town safe and police those in it. Goodell has taken it upon himself to clean up the NFL and make it respectable again. Like any other good sheriff though, the first thing he has to do is get the bad seeds out. Unfortunately for them, two of those seeds recently found out just how serious Goodell is. Former West Virginia players Adam “Pacman” Jones (of the Titans) and Chris Henry (a Bengal) were suspended for significant time. Jones received a full year suspension, while Henry will be out for the first eight weeks.
As two of the league’s most notorious miscreants, Goodell apparently has decided to use Jones and Henry as poster boys for his brand of justice. Goodell has put bite into the league’s personal conduct policy and now there is no question that players who cannot abide by the law will be suspended. Goodell said it best himself by saying, “We must protect the integrity of the NFL.”
Quite simply...the sheriff is doing his job. Look out NFL - this guy means business.
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