NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday met with 11 former NFLers to discuss the "planned changes" to the league's personal conduct policy, according to Mark Maske of the WASHINGTON POST. The league "confirmed that the 3 1/2-hour meeting took place at the NFL’s offices" in N.Y and also included NFL Exec VP/Football Operations Troy Vincent. In addition to Pro Football HOFer Mike Singletary, the "group of players included" Willie McGinest, Roman Oben, Eddie Mason, Matt Birk, Patrick Kerney, Robert Porcher, Charles Way, Scott Turner, Tony Paige and Marty Lyons. The NFL said that there will be "additional meetings with people from inside and outside the sport as Goodell begins the work of modifying the conduct policy." A source said that NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith and Goodell yesterday "were in contact" and are "expected to meet later this week" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/24). Vincent said, "One question asked around the room was, when an arrest occurs, do you take them off the field or let them play and let the due process take care of itself? To a man, they said, `Take them off the field, pay them, and let due process take care of itself.'" He added, "I felt like the clock was on after last Friday and the clock was on that we can't talk to enough people." Vincent said that the meeting "became emotional at times as the players stressed the importance of 'making sure everyone is accountable'" (AP, 9/23).
OPEN TO ALL IDEAS: On Long Island, Bob Glauber notes Oben "commended Goodell for owning up to the problem, and said he believes positive change is coming to the league as a result of some well-intentioned soul-searching on behalf of the commissioner and other league and team executives." Oben said that there was also a "different sentiment expressed during the meeting." Oben: "We have to be in the second-chance business. You can't mandate behavior. All you can do is punish it." He added the meeting "was about creating standards for the personal conduct policy, maybe removing some of the legal jargon so everyone is clear on it" (NEWSDAY, 9/24). In N.Y., Gary Myers notes Lyons yesterday brought up the "intriguing suggestion" of letting former players "set the discipline for the current players when they violate the policy." Lyons: "We levy the fines, the guys who made the game what it is. Former players will hold them accountable. There will be more transparency. When players get fined for doing something, they won't look at Roger so much. They look at the former players." Lyons added that he "believes in giving players second chances." But he said there are "expectations when you come into the league, there is the standard we live by. ... It's clearly defined and completely understood that if you make a mistake, there is a price you have to pay" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/24).
THE FANS HAVE SPOKEN: SI's Don Banks cites a poll of more than 500 NFL fans across the country as showing that the events of recent weeks "have left a bad taste in the mouths of NFL fans although the appetite for the game has not diminished." Just 28.5% of fans surveyed in the poll, which was conducted last week by Marketing & Research Resources, believe that Goodell "should keep him job," while another 33.6% "are unsure." The remaining 37.8% "think he should be fired for his mishandling of the issues." Among the fans who have "followed the story very or somewhat closely," the degree of how the incidents involving Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Adrian Peterson, Ray McDonald and Jonathan Dwyer "worsened their opinion of the NFL varied from a high of 55 percent for Rice to a low of 48 percent for Dwyer." However, the game "remains widely popular." A total of 32% of respondents indicated that their "level of interest in the league has risen compared to last year," with 59% saying it has "stayed the same" (SI.com, 9/24).
A CHANGE WOULD DO YOU GOOD? HBO's "Real Sports" last night held a roundtable discussion about the state of the NFL, with host Bryant Gumbel noting Goodell "has been the lightning rod" for the league's recent crises. Goodell "didn't help himself with his press conference the other day," and Gumbel asked, "His credibility, his authority -- gone for good?" Sports commentator Frank Deford said, "His moral sway has absolutely evaporated. He's a ghost now. I don't know when he'll leave, but I don't think he can continue to have any kind of real credibility." Deford called on the league to hire someone "from the outside." Deford: "I think all of football needs kind of a steward, and the head of the NFL is the obvious person to be that. We're not just talking about the NFL here. We're talking about college football, we're talking Pee Wee football and all the damages that can come to young people as well. They need somebody from the outside to come in and be that person." HBO's Bernard Goldberg noted while this story is "very big now," he is unsure "how long it's going to be very big." Goldberg: "I'm not sure how long people are going to care about Roger Goodell's moral authority." HBO's Jon Frankel said Goodell "in a sense is sort of the scapegoat here." He asked, "Would any commissioner who's running this league right now have done anything different? They're answering to the 32 owners and they are protecting a $10-billion business." Gumbel said, "If he were fired, nothing would change." Frankel: "It's the culture of the game; it's the owners." But Deford said, "If he was fired and the right person replaced him, then someone who didn't appear to be beholden to the owners and beholden to the glory of football, someone who could look at the whole picture -- I think it could begin to change" ("Real Sports," HBO, 9/23).
UP FOR THE CHALLENGE: In DC, Jena McGregor wrote new NFL CMO Dawn Hudson has "managed during controversial issues before" and she "seems ready for the stress again." She will be "taking on what's sure to be an intense job helping to repair the NFL's image." Hudson was Pepsi-Cola North America President & CEO when the beverage industry "agreed to ban most soda sales in U.S. school vending machines." She also "knows what it's like to be a female executive in a world dominated by men" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 9/23).
