WFAN-AM's Mike Francesa and CBS' Jim Nantz got into a heated back-and-forth Sunday morning concerning the investigation into the NFL's handling of the Ray Rice case by former FBI Dir Robert Mueller III. Francesa noted he was "against the investigation" and that the league "made a big mistake, because the law firm is a law firm they do business with." Francesa: "They needed independent people. I don't think the public's going to buy it." But Nantz said, "What do you think the reaction would have been if the league went out and just got somebody no one had ever heard of?" He said the media would claim the NFL "found some stooge who's going to stick up for the league." Francesa said, "You can't think you're going to ever investigate yourself when you're paying for it and get an honest appraisal." Francesa: "No one's going to investigate them, nobody can do it, when you think you can whitewash something by saying I'm going to pay for an investigation. ... You're talking about something that is run by the NFL and paid by the NFL, it's worthless. No one's going to take it seriously." Nantz called Mueller a "great American" and said he has an "absolutely unimpeachable rack record." Despite that, the media is talking "all the time" about how the investigation is "already flawed." Nantz: "We're already telling people that this guy's incapable of presenting the truth." But Francesa replied, "Who's paying for it?" Francesa: "Anything that you are going to chair by NFL owners and paid for by NFL money the public isn’t going to buy." Francesa then began talking loudly over Nantz, saying, "No one!" Francesa said Mueller's investigation is "going to take months and the media's not waiting months." The investigation was to "back off the media, that was the reason for it, and it's not going to work." Nantz: "I was not taking sides on this. My point in this whole thing is I'm tired of the former director of the FBI being besmirched by everybody as if he's incapable of telling the truth and I don't think it’s fair to Robert Mueller." Francesa: "He should have stayed out of it." At this point, Francesa cuts off Nantz and said, "This is not about Robert Mueller. Thanks for coming on, I'll talk to you next week" ("Football Sunday," WFAN-AM, 9/21).
CALLS FOR GOODELL CONTINUE: In Minneapolis, Mark Andrew wrote NFL owners “should fire" NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, calling him a “good ol’ boy who has been along for the ride in a period of breathtaking growth of influence and prosperity of the NFL.” However, Goodell has a “poor record of action on profoundly human issues such as player concussions, drug and alcohol addiction and sub-human issues like physical violence against strangers and loved ones” (STARTRIBUNE.com, 9/22). In Chicago, Mike North writes under the header, “NFL Needs Better Leadership At The Top.” Goodell is “not a good leader for the NFL.” A leader “needs to be trusted, and I doubt many players, fans, media or sponsors trust him now.” North: “He is only satisfying the 32 owners, but should or will that be enough to keep his job?” (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 9/23).
PARTLY CLOUDY FORECAST: NBC's Brian Williams said the NFL scandal "hovers in the background of every down and every quarter on the field" ("Nightly News," NBC, 9/22). In New Jersey, Tara Sullivan writes the forecast for the NFL is "even bleaker" than that of the Jets and Giants, and if the league "doesn’t get it right soon, it threatens to overshadow an entire season" (Bergen RECORD, 9/23). But the NATIONAL POST's Cam Cole writes this past weekend represented the NFL "at its impervious best: bulletproof, shock-proof, outrage-proof, able to survive any scandal, however sordid, because whatever happens in the headlines during the work week, every weekend there are The Games" (NATIONAL POST, 9/23).
