NFL Inevitable implosion

[Kramerica Industries]

Btw pmoehrin and i met at fan fest last year first person from ccslc i ever met in real life.

how would this even go, anyway? I know there are some CCSLC'ers in Tampa and St. Pete and it would probably require some really amusing happenstance for something like "raysox/AstroBull/Cola/[other], is that you? Hey how about that!" to actually occur.

[Tigers6884]

I think the NBA will fall before the NFL. While both have become more concerned about marketing over the quality of the product they put out, Americans tend to go with the harder-hitting sports.

[Gothamite]

setting the Pro Bowl up to fail as miserably as it possibly can (regardless of how people feel about it, it was still a VERY popular game until very recently as shown by TV numbers),

See, I think this is an example of why Goodell actually has the hardest task ahead of him.

Everybody agrees the Pro Bowl is a joke, it can't stay the way it is, but it draws numbers. So anything he does is fraught with peril.

We keep talking about him not having to kill the golden goose, but under those shiny feathers the goose is already dying, riddled with cancer and decay. The league is right around the corner from an existential crisis, and he's supposed to address the fundamental problems infecting the game without actually changing the game in any way.

I don't agree with a lot of what he's doing (think Cuban is right and he's taking away the sense of common event that boosts each Sunday), but I understand that in order for pro football to survive another decade or so, it'll have to undergo radical changes. And yet we the fans fight and whinge every step of the way as he tries to save our sport.

[Lights Out]

I'm not saying Goodell is dealing with the player safety issue out of an altruistic love for the game and its athletes, but at least he acknowledges that a problem exists.

Hardly. If he did, he wouldn't have sabotaged the PBS documentary by pressuring ESPN into backing out, his league wouldn't be hyperfocusing on concussions to distract people from the actual issue of CTE, and he wouldn't be implementing non-solutions like banning throwback helmets. It seems he's only interested in dodging lawsuits as opposed to taking meaningful steps to make the game safer.

[Gothamite]

Again, I think he's walking a very fine line. He needs to make radical changes to his sport, but look at this thread - even minor tweaks are met with whinging and howls of protest.

Admitting the extent CTE will impact the sport means a change like eliminating helmets. See how that will go over.

[ScubaSteve]

Getting rid of the touchdown dunk on the field goal poll? An absolutely stupid and annoying rule that pisses me off. Is it going to make me, a hardcore fan that watches their team play every sunday, stop watching the game? Of course not. But the casual fans that love the little quirks that come with the NFL may become less interested in the game with all these stupid rules. It's more of a build-up, really.

That brings up a good point because I can't imagine not watching my team play despite these minor annoyances either. As a hardcore fan what, if anything, would the NFL have to do to make you lose interest alltogether? I figure that unfortunately we have to stomach these rules because it's not like there's competition on a professional level.

[See Red]

Goodell's efforts to save the long-term future of the sport by making the game safer and navigating whatever legal issues the league faces would likely be more appreciated if he wasn't, at the same time, trying to make the players endure even more wear and tear by adding more games to the regular season and trying to add mid-week games, increasing the likelihood of players playing in a short week. His efforts to make the game more exciting to watch would be more appreciated if he wasn't, again, trying to add mid-week games (that are always sloppy and borderline unwatchable) and if the game wasn't becoming increasingly bogged down by commercials, which are not at all exciting.

[OnWis97]

Goodell's efforts to save the long-term future of the sport by making the game safer and navigating whatever legal issues the league faces would likely be more appreciated if he wasn't, at the same time, trying to make the players endure even more wear and tear by adding more games to the regular season and trying to add mid-week games, increasing the likelihood of players playing in a short week. His efforts to make the game more exciting to watch would be more appreciated if he wasn't, again, trying to add mid-week games (that are always sloppy and borderline unwatchable) and if the game wasn't becoming increasingly bogged down by commercials, which are not at all exciting.

Well put.

Previous administrations have not only ignored, but apparently tried their best to hide, the head injury issue. Whatever the motivation, he at least acknowledges that an issue exists. This puts him in a lose-lose because he has to think long-term about the impact to the players without alienating his primarily blood-thirsty fan base. I can appreciate the tightrope he is walking.

That said, he needs to put "growing the game" in perspective. This is most evident with the 18-game schedule. In addition to another playoff round, this could be up three extra games for some teams and it is contradictory to his interest in safety. The players who have the most problems are those that play a long time; for many it's not about that one big hit but the cumulative impact. Increasing the per-regular season hits by 12.5% (for non-playoff teams) all so even more money can be made is tasteless at best. And there is thought (though I don't think any certainty) that injury issues are much worse on short weeks. Now just about everyone has Thursday games; if they have to do Thursday games (which they don't), how about implenting a rule that Thursday teams are coming off of byes?

It seems that Goodell wants a legacy as someone who did more than just maintain the league. He wants to be someone who made it even more money, put it on even more TV channels and nights of the week, and put it into other countries. From a legacy perspective it may be high-reward, but it's high risk. At status quo, Golf, MLB, NBA, and NCAA football combined cannot touch the NFL. Maintaining that is probably a pretty solid objective. He should be trying to maintain that while walking the tightrope of safety vs. not changing the game too much.

So there are two things about him: First is player safety and I don't think the sports-viewing public cares about that so the only way it kills the league is if parents stop letting their kids play football. Second is over-exposure. The key cliche here is "too much of a good thing." I know I don't tune in on Thursdays. I have the NFL network (along with ESPN, the original NFL Network) but I could not tell you what channel number it is. Football being on Sundays and Monday nights made it the easiest sport to follow and Goodell may want to keep that in mind.

All that said, it's going to be a while before the NFL is going to drop even to #2. So the "inevitable implosion" has been greatly exaggerated.

[Gothamite]

So there are two things about him: First is player safety and I don't think the sports-viewing public cares about that so the only way it kills the league is if parents stop letting their kids play football.

Preliminary indications are that it's already happening. Pop Warner enrollment dropped nearly 10% between 2010 and 2012. That's the largest two-year drop since they started keeping statistics, and the organization's chief medical officer called concern over head injuries "the No. 1 cause" for the drop.

[Lights Out]

Goodell's efforts to save the long-term future of the sport by making the game safer and navigating whatever legal issues the league faces would likely be more appreciated if he wasn't, at the same time, trying to make the players endure even more wear and tear by adding more games to the regular season and trying to add mid-week games, increasing the likelihood of players playing in a short week. His efforts to make the game more exciting to watch would be more appreciated if he wasn't, again, trying to add mid-week games (that are always sloppy and borderline unwatchable) and if the game wasn't becoming increasingly bogged down by commercials, which are not at all exciting.

They'd also be appreciated if there was actually an attempt at maintaining fairness instead of just throwing defenses under the bus. Also, if Goodell and the owners weren't so stubbornly inclined to deny, deflect, and distract.

[Gothamite]

Offense brings in fans. Ask big-league pitchers how they feel about changes in their sport over the last few decades.

[Burkell007]

Well this might be the beginning of the end. Northwestern players got a win in court to be recognized as a union...,

[See Red]

Does offense really bring in fans, though? I know a 27-24 game, for example, is going to be more well received than a 9-6 game, but in the grand scheme of things, does a league scoring average of 23.3 ppg (2013) bring in more fans than a league scoring average of 21.4 ppg (1995) or so?

Granted, I don't remember a lot of football from 1995 exactly but I do remember a time when if my favorite team made a big stop on third or fourth down I didn't have to pause for five seconds afterwards because of the likelihood of yellow popping up on the screen because a corner 20-some yards away from where the action was slightly bumped his WR at seven yards past the line of scrimmage. That's made the game far less watchable to me.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I think dropping gems like "90 percent of Washington fans like the team's nickname" can be added to Goodell's tone-deaf list.

Side note: Shouldn't it be higher? I mean, most teams have to be near 100 percent, save rare exceptions like the Bobcats... right?

[Gothamite]

Does he really say that? Or is he repeating the discredited study that 90% of Native Americans approve or at least don't mind the name?

[CubsFanBudMan]

CBS Sports via Washington Post:

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24501404/goodell-commends-snyder-says-90-percent-of-redskins-fans-like-name

Just double-checked. Quote matches the headline.

[Gothamite]

Hmm. First time I heard that.

Really hope that's the new line, that fans love it, rather than pretending Native Americans support the name in those numbers.

[infrared41]

Does offense really bring in fans, though? I know a 27-24 game, for example, is going to be more well received than a 9-6 game, but in the grand scheme of things, does a league scoring average of 23.3 ppg (2013) bring in more fans than a league scoring average of 21.4 ppg (1995) or so?

Granted, I don't remember a lot of football from 1995 exactly but I do remember a time when if my favorite team made a big stop on third or fourth down I didn't have to pause for five seconds afterwards because of the likelihood of yellow popping up on the screen because a corner 20-some yards away from where the action was slightly bumped his WR at seven yards past the line of scrimmage. That's made the game far less watchable to me.

I'd much rather watch a well played 27-24 game than a 51-48 game in which defense is basically ceremonial.

[FiddySicks]

setting the Pro Bowl up to fail as miserably as it possibly can (regardless of how people feel about it, it was still a VERY popular game until very recently as shown by TV numbers),

See, I think this is an example of why Goodell actually has the hardest task ahead of him.

Everybody agrees the Pro Bowl is a joke, it can't stay the way it is, but it draws numbers. So anything he does is fraught with peril.

We keep talking about him not having to kill the golden goose, but under those shiny feathers the goose is already dying, riddled with cancer and decay. The league is right around the corner from an existential crisis, and he's supposed to address the fundamental problems infecting the game without actually changing the game in any way.

I don't agree with a lot of what he's doing (think Cuban is right and he's taking away the sense of common event that boosts each Sunday), but I understand that in order for pro football to survive another decade or so, it'll have to undergo radical changes. And yet we the fans fight and whinge every step of the way as he tries to save our sport.

Well, you certainly do have a flair for the dramatic.

[rainmaker17]

I miss Rozelle.