#goodell

[vintagepipemen]

US politician Charles Goodell smoking during an interview on public television, 1974.

[early-morning-rain]

American sniper's wife Taya Kyle: An open letter to the NFL

Dear NFL,

You were doing your part to bring people together and heal the world. That’s really how healing works. We heal by loving each other and leading by example; showing people what is possible when we love each other just as we are and not only recognize our differences but celebrate them and look at how we can use them together to make us jointly better than our separate parts. You were doing your part celebrating each other based on skills, talent and a joint vision without regard to color and religion.

You were doing your part and we were doing ours. We showed up cheering and groaning together to as one. We talked in the concession lines and commiserated and celebrated our team together. Did it ever occur to you that you and we were already a mix of backgrounds, races and religions? We were already living the dream you want, right in front of you.

Your desire to focus on division and anger has shattered what many people loved most about the sport. Football was really a metaphor for our ideal world -- different backgrounds, talents, political beliefs and histories as one big team with one big goal -- to do well, to win, TOGETHER.

You are asking us to abandon what we loved about togetherness and make choices of division. Will we stand with you? Will we stand with our flag? What does it mean? What does it mean if we buy a ticket or NFL gear? What does it mean if we don’t? It is the polar opposite of the easy togetherness we once loved in football.

It was simple – we loved you and you loved us – with all of our races, religions, different backgrounds and politics. Simplicity in a crazy world was pretty awesome.

You dear NFL, have taken that. You have lost me here.

If you ever want to get off your knees and get to work on building bridges, let me know....

You have a lot of strong guys, I am sure in the off season a lot of them could build some pretty big bridges if they care enough to do the hard work. That would involve getting off their knees and getting to work though. If I can do it while I raise two kids as their only parent and work through the greatest pain of my life, let’s see if they can do it for the issues they say they care so much about.

Go Longhorns and Sic ‘Em …

Sincerely,

Taya

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/09/26/american-snipers-wife-taya-kyle-open-letter-to-nfl.html

[phroyd]

Well Said and Accurate!

Phroyd

[preciouspatriots]

[vintagepipemen]

Senator Charles Goodell lighting up, 1975. 

[early-morning-rain]

[early-morning-rain]

FLASHBACK: NFL Banned Teams From Honoring Murdered Cops; Threatened Players Honoring 9/11

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attacked President Trump for showing a “lack of respect for the NFL” — regarding the president's recent comments criticizing players for not standing during the national anthem — because it violated the “constitutional rights of our players,” referring to the First Amendment.

This comes from the same commissioner who threatened NFL players who wanted to honor both 9/11 victims and five police officers who were murdered in Dallas.

The Dallas Cowboys wanted to pay tribute to the five Dallas officers who were murdered at a Black Lives Matter protest on July 7, 2016. The Cowboys had been wearing a special decal on their helmets that said “Arm in Arm” that specifically honored the police officers — that is, until the NFL stepped in and stopped it...

Even more disgusting was the NFL’s response last September to players who wanted to honor the thousands of Americans who were murdered by Islamic terrorists on 9/11.

“Avery Williamson, a starting linebacker for the Tennessee team, hoped to wear a pair of specially-designed cleats at his team’s home opener Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but he backed off when a league rep vowed to fine him for violating the league’s uniform code,” the New York Post reported.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/21473/flashback-nfl-banned-teams-honoring-murdered-cops-ryan-saavedra

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Hmmm. . . kinda puts the lie to Goodell’s claim that he can’t regulate players’ behavior nor violate their ‘freedom of expression,’ doesn’t it?!

[newstech24]

Goodell's Playbook: Why Diversity, Fueled by the Rooney Rule, is the NFL's Winning Formula

Ben BabyMar 31, 2026, 09:15 PM ET Close Ben Baby reports on the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He became part of the organization in July 2019. Before his tenure at ESPN, he held positions at several Texas newspapers, with his most recent role at The Dallas Morning News focusing on collegiate athletics. For ESPN.com, he delivers daily reports concerning the Bengals, alongside participating in…

Goodell's Playbook: Why Diversity, Fueled by the Rooney Rule, is the NFL's Winning Formula