Schefter:BB may be fined but not suspended

$500,000 fine and a first round draft choice.

While I doubt it would have any legal success.
I'de love to see someone sue the NFL on behalf of all season ticket holders who purchased tickets(perhaps PSL) and paid full prices on parking,etc
all while watching a VASTLY reduced product of entertainment.

It should be bad press for the NFL and hopefully will even spill over onto the sponsors of this inferior brand of football.

It's too bad the NFL doesn't realize,
It took many years for them to build the credibility they have now.
They seem more than willing to destroy that in a few short weeks :bricks:

If the NFL keeps this up it's Not For Long for me.
I'll just watch college football and have sunday's free.

signbabybrady said:

Deus, please stop this is a ridiculous notion. You are basically saying that is Goodells fault for this not being over becuase he could go behind the backs of the people that pay him and cave to the Ref's demands. This is on the owners of the NFL and as the paid rep of the owners it is on Goodell as well but the owners are the true culprits in this one. One could argue the Refs are a culprit too but thats not the topic of this thread.

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I'm not saying that. I'm saying that the claim "Goodell has less to dow with this than Kraft" (12:41 post) is inaccurate.

Deus Irae said:

I'm not saying that. I'm saying that the claim "Goodell has less to dow with this than Kraft" (12:41 post) is inaccurate.

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How is it inaccurate?

signbabybrady said:

Deus, please stop this is a ridiculous notion. You are basically saying that is Goodells fault for this not being over becuase he could go behind the backs of the people that pay him and cave to the Ref's demands. This is on the owners of the NFL and as the paid rep of the owners it is on Goodell as well but the owners are the true culprits in this one. One could argue the Refs are a culprit too but thats not the topic of this thread.

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I'm not sure what's so hard to understand here - Goodell is the Comish of the NFL, he's the Boss, the Cheese, The Man - He makes the decisions, he hands down the punishment, etc. The owners have all signed off and have agreed to give him that autonomy and control.

The owners are like a Board of Directors, they can fire and hire the Comish - But like a good board of directors, they don't get involved in the day to day operations. They meet a few times a year and hash out new rules and programs, and have a few different commitees with "experts" that give them advice on new idea's and proposals, etc.

Now, Kraft can go behind Goodell's back and call a meeting with the ref's, get an agreement, then call together an emergency meeting of the owners (You try and get 32 Billionaires together on a moment’s notice) and then hope that they all agree to the terms immediately (That'll never happen with 32 different personalities and agenda's) and then tell Goodell what they have done.

Or they can let the guy they pay $10 Million a year to run their league to sort it out for them, which is exactly what they are doing.

And as a side note: Who’s to say the owners told Goodell not to pay a single $$ more to the ref's and there was no way they were getting any more in benefits and retirement pay? Rodger may be doing EXACTLY what he was TOLD to do by the owners.

ScottieC said:

I'm not sure what's so hard to understand here - Goodell is the Comish of the NFL, he's the Boss, the Cheese, The Man - He makes the decisions, he hands down the punishment, etc. The owners have all signed off and have agreed to give him that autonomy and control.

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I'm not so sure what's so hard for you to understand here - Goodell is not the boss, the owners of the teams that collectively make up the NFL are and they are the ones that pay him to do a job for them.

ScottieC said:

I'm not sure what's so hard to understand here - Goodell is the Comish of the NFL, he's the Boss, the Cheese, The Man - He makes the decisions, he hands down the punishment, etc. The owners have all signed off and have agreed to give him that autonomy and control.

The owners are like a Board of Directors, they can fire and hire the Comish - But like a good board of directors, they don't get involved in the day to day operations. They meet a few times a year and hash out new rules and programs, and have a few different commitees with "experts" that give them advice on new idea's and proposals, etc.

Now, Kraft can go behind Goodell's back and call a meeting with the ref's, get an agreement, then call together an emergency meeting of the owners (You try and get 32 Billionaires together on a moment’s notice) and then hope that they all agree to the terms immediately (That'll never happen with 32 different personalities and agenda's) and then tell Goodell what they have done.

Or they can let the guy they pay $10 Million a year to run their league to sort it out for them, which is exactly what they are doing.

And as a side note: Who’s to say the owners told Goodell not to pay a single $$ more to the ref's and there was no way they were getting any more in benefits and retirement pay? Rodger may be doing EXACTLY what he was TOLD to do by the owners.

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So in the same post you claim Goodell has complete autonomy and then say he may be doing what the owners tell him to do?

Goodell in his capacity as Commissioner has a fiduciary duty to the owners. Not to mention whatever is written into his contract in regards to labor negotiations. He is effectively barred from going to the refs and signing a deal that is contrary to what the owners want.

Anyone trying to dance around this reality with semantics and vague arguments isn't fooling anyone (not talking about you here Scottie).

signbabybrady said:

I'm not so sure what's so hard for you to understand here - Goodell is not the boss, the owners of the teams that collectively make up the NFL are and they are the ones that pay him to do a job for them.

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Did you just read that paragraph?

Yes, Goodell is in fact the Boss of the NFL. If you don't comprehend that, I cannot help you and this argument is done.

The owners are Billionaires and Business men that have empowered Goodell to handle their business and for some it's a small part of the overall wealth.

I understand that as a WHOLE the owners do in fact OWN the league, yes you are correct - But they are not the bosses, they are the bosses of their own franchises, not the entity as a whole - Rodger is that.

TyronePoole said:

So in the same post you claim Goodell has complete autonomy and then say he may be doing what the owners tell him to do?

Goodell in his capacity as Commissioner has a fiduciary duty to the owners. Not to mention whatever is written into his contract in regards to labor negotiations. He is effectively barred from going to the refs and signing a deal that is contrary to what the owners want.

Anyone trying to dance around this reality with semantics and vague arguments isn't fooling anyone (not talking about you here Scottie).

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Yes, it's plausible that he is doing what they have instructed him to do, I don't know that, and will never know that - But it makes for an interesting story.

He's the boss, but he's accountable to his board of directors. He does not have to ask the owners how to punish Bill, or the Saints, but he probably does want to talk to that group about cutting a Multi-Million $$ deal with the refs...ya know or he may not have a job when his contract is up.

ScottieC said:

I understand that as a WHOLE the owners do in fact OWN the league, yes you are correct - But they are not the bosses, they are the bosses of their own franchises, not the entity as a whole - Rodger is that.

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The owners hired Roger and they can fire him.

If the owners said to Roger today "Ok, this ref thing is making a mockery of the league and we want it settled by Thursday", it would be settled by Thursday, regardless of whether or not Roger thought it was a good idea.

Mazz is on right now calling for the suspension of BB..not sure if that's been mentioned yet.

ScottieC said:

...he probably does want to talk to that group about cutting a Multi-Million $$ deal with the refs...ya know or he may not have a job when his contract is up.

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Which is why perhaps the anger over officiating should be relayed to Robert Kraft and the other owners. Goodell doesn't care about fan discontent with officiating unless the owners make him care.

Contact Robert Kraft and tell him you do not like HIS replacement officials, rather than telling him that Goodell needs to solve this. The owners are getting a pass, relative to Goodell.

ScottieC said:

Yes, it's plausible that he is doing what they have instructed him to do, I don't know that, and will never know that - But it makes for an interesting story.

He's the boss, but he's accountable to his board of directors. He does not have to ask the owners how to punish Bill, or the Saints,

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i agree with this, it has nothing to do with the financial health of the league or the revenue stream of the owners and it's expressly an authority delegated to him.

but he probably does want to talk to that group about cutting a Multi-Million $$ deal with the refs...ya know or he may not have a job when his contract is up.

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No, he has a legal responsibility to heed the instructions of ownership when negotiating labor agreements. He cannot unilaterally sign a major agreement that runs contrary to their wishes unless he wants to be fired and sued.

PatsWSB47 said:

Mazz is on right now calling for the suspension of BB right now..nnot sure if that's been mentioned yet.

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What a f&*&* clown. He probably is mad there's some drama taking away from his precious red sucks.

Why doesn't the NFL take all the fine $$ from the weekend's games, and pay the real refs to come back to work already?? It's shocking that they continue to let this go on....

As far as BB getting fined....ridiculous....he wasn't being aggressive in any way shape or form...just trying to get someone's attention from behind. Of course that won't matter to Goodell...the fine will be outrageous no doubt.

PatsWSB47 said:

Mazz is on right now calling for the suspension of BB..not sure if that's been mentioned yet.

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Mazz is a complete baffoon!!

ScottieC said:

Yes, it's plausible that he is doing what they have instructed him to do, I don't know that, and will never know that - But it makes for an interesting story.

He's the boss, but he's accountable to his board of directors. He does not have to ask the owners how to punish Bill, or the Saints, but he probably does want to talk to that group about cutting a Multi-Million $$ deal with the refs...ya know or he may not have a job when his contract is up.

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Its obviously plausible that he is doing what the owners instruct him to do. Is it plausible the owners had no explicit instructions for this instance? Yes its plausible but not likely. But you not what is not plausible that he would go out and do something that the owners dont want him to do and then the owners would let the product suffer for 3 weeks without getting him back in line or outright replacing him.

PatsWSB47 said:

Mazz is on right now calling for the suspension of BB right now..nnot sure if that's been mentioned yet.

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Mazz comes from a baseball world where touching the umps is a no-no. He's wrong, and he has no business talking about stuff he has no clue about.

Cowher was fined $7500 for stuffing a picture in the pocket of a ref back in the day. Mazz needs to stick to baseball.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

Which is why perhaps the anger over officiating should be relayed to Robert Kraft and the other owners. Goodell doesn't care about fan discontent with officiating unless the owners make him care.

Contact Robert Kraft and tell him you do not like HIS replacement officials, rather than telling him that Goodell needs to solve this. The owners are getting a pass, relative to Goodell.

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Yea, I have no problem with that. Sounds good.

Let me know how it works out for ya.