Since 1960, the National Football League has had just three commissioners — Pete Rozelle (1960-1989), Paul Tagliabue (1989-2006) and Roger Goodell (2006-present). Both of Goodell’s predecessors left on their own terms. That’s closing in on 60 years. In that period of time, if you take away the past 12 months, the NFL has experienced unrivaled and unfettered growth.
After the Rozelle retirement in 1989, the successor was supposed to have been Jim Finks, the president and general manager of the New Orleans Saints and an entrenched league insider. That was until a group of young owners banded together to overthrow the old guard that included Bud Adams, Lamar Hunt, Art Modell, Jack Kent Cooke, Art Rooney and Wellington Mara. The upstarts, led by the Eagles’ Norman Braman and the 49ers’ Ed DeBartolo Jr., rallied around the league’s chief legal counsel, Paul Tagliabue.
The mantra back in 1989 was to grow the revenues of the league. That was the dynamic of how Tagliabue upset Finks.
If you Google Roger Goodell’s contract extension, the three stories that come up are Sports Illustrated stories about one month apart — Aug. 21, 2017, with a headline that reads, “Roger Goodell: NFL Commish Set for Contract Extension,” the next headline dated Sept. 20, 2017, “Roger Goodell Contract Reportedly ‘Getting Done,’” and the third dated Oct. 22, 2017, “Roger Goodell: Contract for NFL Commish Delayed.”
So if we Google this same topic of Goodell’s contract a couple of months from now, what will we find?
For Goodell, it’s beginning to look like his ending will come because of the attrition of his base of support over myriad topics. Not the least of which could see the league begin to slide in revenues and no clear-cut path to regenerate or grow them.
So what has happened through these past 2½ months that has changed what seemed like a slam-dunk extension of four to five years at approximately $45-50 million per year?
The answer to that question is that Jerry Jones has become to Goodell what the late Al Davis was to Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue — Public Enemy No. 1. But the truth of the matter is to Jones, the commissioner has been too strong in his overreaction to the original two-game suspension for Ray Rice back in 2014 by trying to suspend the Cowboys’ RB Ezekiel Elliott for six games, and for being too weak on the national anthem issue by not insisting NFL players stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
While Jones has not yet revealed a candidate he wants to put forth to replace Goodell, he has taken the unprecedented action of hiring high-powered attorney David Boies. Yes, the same David Boies who represented Al Gore in the aftermath of the 2000 election recount in the state of Florida. And yes, the same David Boies who is currently Harvey Weinstein’s attorney.
According to a recent New York Times article, Jones’ purpose in hiring Boies is to threaten a lawsuit against the league and the six members of the league’s compensation committee — Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Giants owner John Mara, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, Steelers owner Art Rooney II and Texans owner Bob McNair — if they attempt to execute the new extension of Goodell’s contract.
Jones has certainly upped the ante in his attempts to block the extension of Goodell. What is taking away from legitimate concerns regarding Goodell’s fitness for the job is the perception that Jones is doing this only because of the Elliott suspension, which could be short-circuiting the Cowboys’ chances for a meaningful run in the playoffs.
Jones’ credibility would not be called into question if he would stick to the obvious failings of Goodell’s stewardship of the league he commands. And that list is long and growing all the time, from the exposure of the league’s calculated lies as seen in the 2013 PBS documentary “League of Denial” on what the league has known for a long time about the dangers of traumatic brain injuries, to the Ray Rice decision, to the relationship or lack thereof between the commissioner and the NFL Players Association’s head DeMaurice Smith, to the talking out of both sides of his mouth on concerns about player safety and yet continuing the horrid idea of “Thursday Night Football.”
And TV ratings continue to take a hit.
Now, we see Papa John’s Pizza founder John Schnatter ripping how the league has handled the national anthem protest problem as he has seen a 9 percent dip in his stock valuation. He’s pulled some of his advertising from NFL games.
Business folks tell me $45-50 million a year in compensation for a CEO of a business that has $14 billion in gross revenues is appropriate. Whether that is true or not, I can’t say. What I can tell you is that if I am paying the captain of a ship $45-50 million a year, I’d sure expect him to steer clear of the icebergs more regularly.
Top photo courtesy Flickr
Stan “The Fan” Charles is the founder and publisher of PressBox.
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