THE MMQB's Peter King wrote he thinks the NFL "is interested" in the NFLPA "seriously engaging in a deal to chip away" at Commissioner Roger Goodell's disciplinary power. That could be why the NFLPA "isn't being aggressive in seeking that right now; the union knows it has the upper hand publicly with Goodell under attack" (MMQB.SI.com, 8/29).
TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE: In Pittsburgh, Joe Starkey wrote NFL owners "need to stop stealing" fans' money with preseason games that "amount to nothing more than legalized extortion" and consumer fraud. Fans' "numbness" to preseason games "doesn't make the thievery more right or the topic less relevant." Starkey: "If you're a season-ticket holder, NFL owners are ... Stealing. Your. Money" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 8/30).
A GROWING PROBLEM? In Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote "evidence is everywhere" that the NFL "has an alcohol problem." The "growing sense of drunkenness in NFL stadiums is not a football problem," as recent studies have "shown a dramatic increase in alcohol consumption" in the U.S. The "central question facing the NFL" is how long to "sell beer, and when to stop worrying about high profit margins." However, the league "can't go too far in stigmatizing alcohol," as Bud Light renewed its sponsorship deal through Super Bowl LVI for $1.4B (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8/28).
