Tag: Roger Goodell (Page 3 of 11)

      Even though there’s still plenty of work to be done, secret meeting is positive news for NFL

      June 2, 2011 /
      NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (C) enters a federal courthouse to resume talks regarding labor and revenue issues between the NFL and the NFL Players Association in Minneapolis, May 16, 2011. REUTERS/Eric Miller (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS)

      Just try and halt my enthusiasm after reading about this little clandestine meeting that took place between union officials and NFL owners on Wednesday. The moment I heard about the news I ran up and down the streets screaming, “DING DONG THE LOCKOUT IS DEAD, SNITCHES!”

      All right, so I’m not that excited. But the fact that DeMaurice Smith and other NFLPA union officials (or whatever they’re calling themselves these days after decertifying back in March) met with top NFL owners and commissioner Roger Goodell can only be viewed as a positive sign when it comes to the current labor strife.

      The details are murky and it doesn’t appear that anything imminent is about to happen with the lockout, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that progress wasn’t made. The fact that the two sides are even talking is good enough. It may mean that they’re laying the groundwork for a new CBA deal and while the lockout may not end soon, the two sides have to start somewhere.

      Look, there’s still a lot of work to be done. There’s still a lack of trust on both sides, there’s still the small matter of the owners wanting the players to take a paycut and the players wanting the owners to fork over financial statements from the last X amount of years, and there’s still billions of the fans’ money that needs to be fought over. But again, I’m encouraged.

      Personally, I think the best piece of news that has come out of this is that Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was one of the five owners who attended the get-together. If you remember correctly, he was the one that ticked off many of the players early in the negotiations by treating Peyton Manning like a man who couldn’t even figure out which one of his shoes belonged on which foot. When ESPN’s Adm Schefter tweeted Thursday morning that the meeting was so secretive that there were other NFL owners “that didn’t even know about” it, I thought for sure Richardson was left off the invite list. But maybe his heart is starting to thaw, too.

      So where do we go from here? The two sides will now head down to St. Louis where their lawyers will argue in front of a three-judge panel on Friday. The NFL is appealing an injunction that was grated by Judge Susan Nelson to block the lockout and the appeals court has already granted a full stay of that injunction. Thus, the owners are expected to emerge from this round of court-related nausea as the victors.

      But maybe after their trip to the Eighth Circuit, the two sides will reconvene again and start actually making progress on the CBA. It’s frustrating to think that during this time, the owners and players could have been working on a new labor deal instead of fighting in courts about the lockout. But in the end that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the two sides actually start to make productive strides to ending this charade so that everyone can enjoy professional football come fall.

      External Sports, NFL

      5 questions with Brian Frederick of SportsFans.org

      May 24, 2011 /

      While the NFL owners and players continue to battle in court about how to split the $9 billion pie, some fans are not sitting idly by waiting to find out what happens. Brian Frederick, the executive director of SportsFans.org, is one of those who is literally fighting on behalf of the fans–the fans like you who continue to get shafted by greedy sports team owners and overpaid players. We had the chance to ask Brian a few questions recently about SportsFans.org and some of the current issues affecting fans:

      The Scores Report: First, if you can tell me briefly about how you started your organization and some of the things that you stand for?

      Brian Frederick: Sports Fans Coalition was founded in 2009 by the chair of our board, David Goodfriend, a former Clinton White House staffer. He put together a great board, including a member of the Bush White House. I was brought on in August of 2010 to be the first full-time employee. We were founded to give sports fans a voice on public policy issues; to bring the voice of the fan to the halls of power. We are concerned about issues like media blackouts, stadium construction, ticket prices, work stoppages and the lack of a college football playoff.

      TSR: I read that you were trying to earn a seat at the initial labor negotiations. Did anyone respond to you at all and if so, what did they say?

      BF: After one of the mediation sessions in DC, DeMaurice Smith asked to speak with me and he and I walked back to his office and chatted. He said we had written a great letter and he was interested in some of our ideas. He saw no reason, for instance, that a new CBA couldn’t include language ending blackouts. I am still hopeful that he will try to include that in whatever the new CBA looks like, but I am not holding my breath. I never heard from Roger Goodell.

      TSR: Now that the appeals hearing is set for June 3 and a ruling might not come down until a month later, do you think any games will be missed?

      BF: It depends on the ruling (and further appeals). I’ve always felt that we are likely to lose some early games but not the whole season. That’s not to say that there’s not a chance the whole season will be lost, it just seems unlikely because this is just over how to divide revenue within a structure that works. The NFL doesn’t have the deeper problems that the NBA does, for instance. If the owners win their appeal, I think we’re looking at some lost games. If the players win, I think there’s a better chance for football in the fall.

      TSR: Do you think the NFL has done enough damage to this point that will make fans boycott, at least to some degree?

      BF: The NFL is certainly damaging its brand every day this dispute drags on. I don’t think it’s caused enough harm yet that fans will boycott. Only after games are missed will there even be a chance of enough fans uniting to take action. This is unfortunate, of course, because that is what the NFL and NFLPA are counting on — that fans won’t care until games are missed. But that attitude (like a game of chicken) is exactly what leads to missed games. There’s this sort of attitude among fans that it will get worked out — “they always work it out.” Well, they don’t always work it out. Sometimes there are games missed and even whole seasons.

      TSR: When players and owners say how important the fan is, do you believe them? Why or why not?

      BF: I believe that they believe the fans are important in the sense that they are important to their bottom line. They are interested in treating fans as loyal consumers and they don’t want to jeopardize that relationship. They want the fans to have an enjoyable experience and to pay as much money as they are able to in order to have that experience. They don’t mind that they lose fans who can’t afford to follow anymore. That’s troubling. Sport doesn’t have to be that way. At SportsFans.org we’re trying to empower sports fans and fight for a different way of thinking about sports — one that places what’s great about sports (passion, camaraderie, fair competition, athleticism, etc.) ahead of huge profits.

      For more information about Sports Fan Coalition and SportsFans.org, please visit Sportsfans.org.

      External Sports, General Sports, Interviews, News, NFL

      ESPN reports that stay was granted, then retracts story

      April 29, 2011 /
      NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell does a television interview before the 2011 NFL football Draft in New York, April 28, 2011. REUTERS/MIke Segar (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      ESPN reported that St. Louis’ Eighth Circuit Court granted a “stay” of the lockout injunction on Friday, but then retracted the story.

      From Rotoworld.com:

      Yahoo Sports’ Mike Silver is still reporting that a stay is expected, but it isn’t official yet. Some reports claimed teams were already kicking players out of their facilities; that isn’t the case. Expect a formal ruling to be handed down from the Eighth Circuit Court before the start of round two.

      How ridiculous is it that in the midst of all this hype for the draft, the owners are waiting to hear if their lockout can continue? If you flip on NFL Network or ESPN right now, all the talk is about whether or not these prospects will pan out and what kind of impact they’ll make for their team next year. And yet, there is no season as of right now.

      If Roger Goodell makes more appearances at Radio City Music Hall this weekend, he can expect more boos from fans.

      Fans on Thursday night: “We want football! We want football!”

      Goodell: “I hear ya – me, too.”

      What a joke.

      External Sports, NFL

      Derrick Mason: Roger Goodell is a “joke”

      April 7, 2011 /
      Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason is seen as the Ravens play the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on January 2, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

      During a recent radio broadcast, Ravens’ receiver Derrick Mason said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should stop worrying about blood tests and HGH and start worrying about getting a CBA deal done.

      Oh, and Mason also called Goodell a joke.

      Goodell said Monday that the new labor agreement will include rigorous testing for human growth hormone, with the possibility of a blood test as well.

      Referencing Goodell’s comments, Mason said “He needs to stop crying about blood tests and HGH. He needs to try to get a deal done, that’s what he needs to do.

      “To me, he’s a joke, because every time I look, he’s talking about performance enhancements instead of talking about trying to figure out a way to make sure football is played in August.”

      Fair enough, although in Goodell’s defense if he wants to ensure that there will be HGH testing in the next CBA, this is the time to do it. It’s not like he can spend all of his time working on a new CBA deal and then turn around and say, “Ah crap, you know what I forgot? HGH testing. I swear, I’d forget my head if it weren’t bolted onto my neck!”

      I think calling Goodell “a joke” was an irrational comment by Mason. Does he think that Goodell doesn’t want to get a deal done? Does he think that Goodell likes being perceived as one of the villains in this CBA mess? Does he think that Goodell isn’t focused or determined to ensure there’s a season next year? Does he think that Goodell wants to go down as a commissioner who couldn’t figure out a way for the owners and players to share billions of dollars?

      Come on, we’re all fired up about the lockout but let’s relax and think rationally here. Goodell wants a deal done just as bad as anyone so things can go back to normal. Comments like “he’s a joke” are unconstructive.

      External Sports, NFL

      Players to Roger Goodell: “Your statements are false.”

      March 19, 2011 /
      New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (R) and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch (C) arrive for labor negotiations between NFL players and owners with federal mediation in Washington on March 3, 2011. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight tonight and a lockout is possible but not definite if none is reached. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg.

      The bickering between the players and the NFL just got turned up another notch.

      Earlier this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to every player encouraging them to return to the bargaining table. In response, the players sent out their own letter on Saturday that basically told Goodell that they’re not buying what he’s selling.

      Here are some of the highlights from the players’ letter (courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle):

      We start by reminding you that we were there at the negotiations and know the truth about what happened, which ultimately led the players to renounce the NFLPA’s status as the collective bargaining representative of NFL players. The players took this step only as a last resort, and only after two years of trying to reach a reasonable collective bargaining agreement and three weeks of mediation with George Cohen of FMCS. At all times during the mediation session we had representatives at the table with the authority to make a deal. The NFL representatives at the mediation did not, and the owners were mostly absent.

      The NFLPA did all it could to reach a fair collective bargaining agreement and made numerous proposals to address the concerns raised by the owners. In response, the owners never justified their demands for a massive giveback which would have resulted in the worst economic deal for players in major league pro sports.

      That is why we were very troubled to see your letter, and repeated press reports by yourself, Jeff Pash, and the owners, which claim that the owners met the players halfway in negotiations, and that the owners offered a fair deal to the players.

      Your statements are false.

      One point that that players keep making (and it’s a strong one) is that most of the owners weren’t involved in the talks. As Mike Vrabel of the Chiefs has pointed out, Roger Goodell can’t make a deal. Jeff Pash can’t make a deal. Jerry Jones can make a deal. Jerry Richardson can make a deal. The owners can make a deal.

      But if the owners aren’t even involved in the negotiations, and I mean sitting at the tables in the flesh, then how is a deal going to get made? I don’t agree with all of the moves that the players have made to this point but that’s one thing I do side with them on. They don’t need Roger Goodell sending them letters telling them to get back to the negotiating table if the owners aren’t even going to be there. No wonder most of them laughed Goodell’s letter off.

      That said, the owners claim that their proposal last Friday was in effort to get the players to agree to another extension and to keep the lines of communication open. But according to the NFL, the players never offered a counter-proposal so in my opinion, it sounds like the NFLPA had already made up its mind that it wanted to go to litigation. It sure seems like DeMaurice Smith cares more about going to court than being one of the heroes (and I use that term very, very, VERY loosely) that negotiates a deal so that we can have a season next year.

      For the record, I think Goodell’s heart is in the right place. He doesn’t want the courts to decide the fate of the league: he wants the players and owners to. But again, it’s his job to get both sides to the table. He needs to get all of the decision-makers in one room to hash this thing out or else this situation will only get uglier than it already is.

      External Sports, NFL

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