With NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at Jets training camp yesterday, things "got a bit uncomfortable" when last week's CTE report came up at a team fan forum, according to Andy Vasquez of the Bergen RECORD. While sitting next to Goodell, Jets rookie S Jamal Adams said that he "wasn't worried" about CTE and would "prefer to die on the football field over anywhere else." The No. 6 overall pick in the Draft, Adams said he can "speak for a lot of other guys that play the game." Adams: "We live and breathe it and this is what we're so passionate about. Literally, I would -- if I had a perfect place to die, I would die on the field." Vasquez notes this took place in front of "about 200 Jets fans," and several of them "interrupted Adams with applause." Asked about the applause, Goodell said, "They love the game. But I don't think anyone took it as directly as that." Goodell also "downplayed the study, and touted several NFL rule changes he says have made the game safer." Jets RB Matt Forte said that he is "concerned" over the CTE study, but added that the game has "gotten safer in his 10-year career" (Bergen RECORD, 8/1). In N.Y., Ben Shpigel notes the crowd’s reaction to Adams’ comment "created an uncomfortable moment just minutes after Goodell alluded to a changing culture of the NFL." As for the moments directly after Adams' comments, Goodell "betrayed no emotion" and "tried to play them down" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/1). In Newark, Darryl Slater writes the moment was "painfully awkward." Slater: "Dying on the football field would also mean dying young" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/1). ESPN.com's Rich Cimini: "It was an awkward moment, compounded by an odd reaction from the audience" (ESPN.com, 8/1).
THE REAL ISSUE: ESPN's Dan le Batard said of Goodell downplaying the CTE study, "Is Goodell trying to convince us that that sport is safe, that playing football will make you actually live longer than the average human being because I think he’s skewing those numbers" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 8/1). ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said of Goodell, “Clearly it's not the appropriate comment for the Commissioner to make. Unlike Jamal Adams in his 20s, Commissioner Goodell is considerably older, wiser, more educated, etc. He should know better than that, no question about it. There's a few things that the NFL should know better than to say and do in this day and age" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 8/1). ESPN's Elle Duncan said other teams likely will use Adams' comments as an example when training rookies. Duncan: "You clip this tape and you show it to your rookie kids, this is why they go through media training, to avoid landmines like that" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 8/1). ESPN's Josina Anderson noted the Jets' approach is to have coach Todd Bowles "talk about it" and not have Adams speak on it ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 8/1). ESPN's Le Batard said of Adams' comments, “A lot of players have that attitude. I talked to a lot of players when they are young who said, ‘I will trade five years off my life for a Super Bowl, that is how much I care’" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 8/1).
NOTHING TO SEE HERE: In N.Y., Gary Myers writes the "good news" for the Jets and Owner Woody Johnson's checkbook is Goodell is "not suspicious" of the team tanking for the upcoming season. Goodell: “I don’t think any team tanks. I really don’t.” Myers: "Jets to Goodell: Tank you very much." Even if it "looks like the Jets are tanking, and smells like the Jets are tanking, Goodell doesn’t believe the Jets are tanking." Goodell: "Teams, depending on where you are, go through transitions." Goodell went on to say that the NFL "won’t consider a draft lottery system to prevent teams from tanking" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/1). In Newark, Connor Hughes writes the Jets have "become a punchline to countless jokes lately thanks to their rather unique offseason approach" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/1). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Mark Cannizzaro notes yesterday was the third day of Jets training camp and Johnson has "not yet been to a practice or even inside the building." But "maybe it’s best that way, because the further away from his team and the men he hired to make football decisions for him the better." An impatient owner has "no chance of changing the Jets culture" (N.Y. POST, 8/1).
