Salon.com > Roger Goodell

Can football change?

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:45:00 +0000

For an organization facing at least one existential crisis, the NFL is thriving.

Time magazine’s cover story (Subscription required) looks at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s mission to maintain the game’s popularity and wild profitability despite evidence that for many players its lasting impact is immense suffering and early death. The latest freak tragedy came last weekend when Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend before committing suicide. Though Belcher’s death has not been convincingly tied to the NFL’s greater problem of tackle-related concussions, it’s not a becoming association for a sport desperate to rehabilitate its image. Belcher was the fourth player or former player to commit suicide in eight months.

Football has always been a dangerous assault but after decades the status quo is under assault. Time:

The NFL is being sued by some 4,000 ex-players, plus nearly 1,500 of their spouses and children, who allege that the league “deliberately ignored and actively concealed” information about concussions for decades.

Are fans responsible for Jovan Belcher?

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:12:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote about how football wasn’t good for me and I was trying to quit. Since my rant I’ve managed to avoid a lot of football; I’ve missed my favorite player, Lesean McCoy, getting severely concussed in garbage time of a meaningless game, I have no idea how Peyton Manning is doing in Denver, and I only have a vague understanding of what’s happening under center in San Francisco. Last week I backslid a bit when I watched three quarters of the Eagles’ Monday night game against the Carolina Panthers; I justified this lapse by telling myself that it was OK because at this point Eagles’ games bear almost no resemblance to actual professional football.

Sadly, this weekend there was a terrible and all too serious reminder of why I’m cutting football out of my life for the time being.

I’m not going to focus on what happened in Kansas City beyond saying that if you cannot see this weekend’s awful events fitting into a larger pattern of football-associated tragedies (Chris Henry and Junior Seau came to mind very quickly) then you are being willfully blind.

Blown call sparks NFL outcry

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:42:00 +0000

After three weeks of bumbling and griping, it looks like a disastrous game outcome, rather than a grievous personal injury, may force action in the NFL's referee crisis.

Evidence that football causes brain damage is forcing the sport into something resembling an existential crisis. But as some observers wonder whether the NFL is morally defensible, the league has locked out the referees in a labor dispute, sidelining the people most responsible for the players’ safety on the field. Instead the first three weeks of the season have been overseen by a rag-tag bunch of borderline amateur officials who are satisfying nobody.

This has led to some comic moments. Mark Emmons of the San Jose Mercury News writes:

Some replacements have embarrassed themselves even without a whistle. One was yanked hours before the New Orleans-Carolina game last week because his Facebook page revealed his unabashed Saints fandom. Philadelphia running back LeSean McCoy said another official told him he needed him to play well for his fantasy team.