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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NFLPA President Eric Winston Calls NFL PED Ultimatum Unprofessional, "Peak Silliness"

Bengals OT and NFLPA President Eric Winston yesterday addressed the NFL's ultimatum to the four active players targeted by its PED probe, calling it "peak silliness" and "peak unprofessionalism." Appearing on "PFT Live," Winston said, "We’ve gone from this place where NFL used to be conducted in a super-professional way ... to now it’s almost seemingly like these scripts that are pulled from a ‘WWE SmackDown’ or something like that." Winston said it is "hard to understand why this is being allowed to continue on by some ownership that has some control, but it is and we’re going to keep fighting." Winston: "We’re going to keep advising our players in an open and honest way exactly about what their rights are." Winston said he has told the four players -- Steelers LB James Harrison, Packers LBs Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, and free agent DE Mike Neal -- each case "is different, each guy is different. Each guy might want to do different things, so no matter what each guy wants to do we’re going fight for them like crazy." Winston said the NFL’s disciplinary philosophy is a "bully mentality they’ve used for quite some time." Winston: "You get to this point of, 'Where do we go from here?' How do we resolve any of these differences? And it’s tough. That’s the most frustrating thing for me." Winston said of a potential rift between the players’ union and the league regarding player privacy rights during investigations, “That thought and that line has definitely been a topic and it needs to be a topic because there’s rules, there’s procedures that unfortunately are commonly broken" (“PFT Live,” NBC Sports Radio, 8/17).

EVIDENCE FOR INVESTIGATION? NFLPA Assistant Exec Dir of External Affairs George Atallah appeared on ESPN’s “OTL” yesterday, noting so far there had been no "credible evidence of any kind that the league has provided to substantiate such an investigation and to substantiate the interviews." Host Bob Ley asked if Atallah trusted the NFL to conduct a fair investigation, to which he replied, "We will be there to represent the players if they decide that they want to be interviewed in light of the threats made the other day.” Ley asked once again, “Do you trust the league?” Atallah said there has been essentially the same CBA “in place for 20, 30 years now and you never saw these issues pop up when Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was in that chair. This is the regime that this group of NFL owners have accepted." Ley noted the NFL was invited to join the show, but the league "declined in a response which was highly critical of ESPN's reporting on the story" (“OTL,” ESPN, 8/17).

POWER PLAYERS: Packers QB Aaron Rodgers appeared on "The Jim Rome Show" yesterday and said of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's power in meting out punishment, "We have nobody to blame but ourselves. Because we had the opportunity in the CBA to make some legitimate changes to that. I think there was probably too much pressure to come to a deal when we had all the power on our side. That was something we should have had negotiated into the CBA because there shouldn't be somebody who is the judge, jury and executioner." However, Rodgers believes the case against the players "should not be moving forward." He said the investigation is "pretty typical of how things have been going" with the NFL lately. Rodgers: "As far as the league goes, there's been some negative things that have come their way and the way they've responded has maybe not been the best way to handle it" ("The Jim Rome Show," CBS Sports Network, 8/17).

BACK IT UP: ESPN’s Jemele Hill said the NFL is “once again exerting power in (a) place they don’t have any.” ESPN's Tim Hasselbeck: “Here’s the thing though: (The league) may have the power though, that’s the problem ... (and) the union is in a tricky spot because they’re trying to say to the guys, ‘Hey guys listen, you going in to talk is bad for everybody that’s going to follow you’” (“His & Hers,” ESPN2, 8/17). ESPN’s Field Yates said, "This is a significant step the NFL is taking and an unpredictable turn in (a) bizarre story from start to finish.” ESPN’s Phil Savage: “If all of a sudden anytime someone raises their hand and says, ‘Hey, this player did this,’ and that’s going to spark an investigation and if you don’t answer questions you’re going to be suspended (then) this opens Pandora’s box from a players’ standpoint" (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN, 8/17). In Tampa, Tom Jones writes just because Goodell has such power, it "doesn't mean he has to use it." He "doesn't always have to flex his muscles," as some occasions "call for common sense, smart business and prudent restraint." Jones: "Goodell is incapable of such things. His ego is too large, his hunger for power too great" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 8/18).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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