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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Goodell's Legacy Remains Polarizing In NFL Circles After 10 Years As Commissioner

In the 10 years since he succeeded Paul Tagliabue as NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell "has taken the league to unprecedented heights of prosperity, but along the way he’s faced unprecedented criticism," leading to the question of whether it matters that the "most powerful person in sports is also the most hated," according to Jenny Vrentas of THE MMQB. Vrentas: "Can a man so reviled by the public rule the most popular sport in the country effectively ... and should he?" Evaluating Goodell's success "depends on your perspective." Conversations with current and former players, coaches, sports execs and the league’s club owners revealed that each group "defined success differently." But one consistent measure was, "Can you trust the person in the job?" Giants LS Zak DeOssie, a member of the NFLPA's Exec Committee, said of Goodell, "Trust is a tricky word in this conversation. But you’ve gotta appreciate the man’s hustle when it comes to keeping the bosses happy.” Vrentas noted everything in the NFL "is bigger now, starting with the lucrative TV contracts," than when Goodell took over. Eight teams also "have built or are in the process of building new stadiums," including the "long-awaited" L.A. solution. Under Goodell’s watch, the NFL "has seized the digital explosion, milked big-time sponsors and developed new ways to consume the game."

COMING AT A COST: Vrentas notes that "dogged pursuit of the bottom line, though, has come at a cost." Some veteran players refer back to '08, when the NFL "opted out of its existing labor agreement with the players." Players "started to see him then how many see him now: as a vessel for the interests of the owners." Since '05, the NFL "has adopted 42 safety-related rules changes," and today, there are "unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants on the sideline of every game." The NFL "has worked with the feeder levels of the sport, too." But despite the steps forward, Goodell’s bottom-line mentality "has taken away from his credibility on this core issue of his platform." Players "can’t reconcile his stated health and safety priorities with the fact that the league keeps adding more of the Thursday night games that stress their bodies, and wants to stretch the season to 18 games and expand the playoffs" (MMQB.SI.com, 7/19).

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE? In DC, Sally Jenkins writes after Deflategate, Goodell "will go down in history as a ruined figure," as this "was his defining moment in history, and it firmly established him as a political bungler and a dunce." His reputation "won’t recover," and in persecuting Patriots QB Tom Brady, he himself "performed in a way that completely undermined the public trust in the commissioner’s office." The thing that "was most important to Goodell, his image, has been destroyed," and what "was second-most important to him, his power, has been severely undermined" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/20). 

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