Arena of Idiots

The 2011 offseason/lockout was a nightmare due to the inability of the NFL and NFLPA to see eye-to-eye on anything. The daily "they said, they said" and finger-pointing was nauseating and infuriating. The casual fan might not have been aware but the 2011 NFL season was in serious jeopardy. It was that looming possibility that finally got something done. There was some hope that the agreed-upon CBA that came out of that nightmarish offseason might ease the tensions between the league and the players but all it really did was make things worse. Much worse. The players probably felt like they got the short end of things and commissioner Roger Goodell decided to take greater advantage of powers that he already had. Basically, the league and players drew lines in the sand and decided to battle on everything. These are grown men that throw tantrums and inflammatory words at each other like children. Actually they don't even come close to acting with the maturity of children. They act more like the idiots in congress that are tasked with running this country. Debate, dialogue, empathy, compromise are among the steps or qualities that lead to progress in life, in government, and in the NFL. No one's doing that right now. The NFL and the NFLPA currently have nothing to say to each other. Certainly nothing nice. It's sad that supposed adults just want to bunker down on their side of the arena and lob shots at each other.

The most recent issue between the NFL and the NFLPA is over the interviewing of players implicated in the Al Jazeera documentary on sports doping. The NFL wants to interview Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Green Bay Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers at the start of training camp. Free agent defensive end Mike Neal is also involved but since he's not currently with a team no one seems to care about him. Peyton Manning was the big name among the players implicated in the report but he's retired now. In a case such as this, protocol calls for the NFL to coordinate with the NFLPA to arrange interviews. The NFL says that they have been ready to do the interviews for some time but the NFLPA is stalling. The NFLPA says that since statements made in the Al Jazeera report have since been re-canted the NFL must submit additional evidence supporting their investigation of the players. Typical NFL-NFLPA interaction. Everything is contentious. The funny thing about the NFL's path to where they are now on this issue is the pace at which they proceeded. On January 11, 2016 the league notified the players implicated that an investigation into the matter had been initiated. NFL Senior VP of labor policy and league affairs Adolpho Birch informed the players by letter that "with the their full and timely cooperation, the investigation would be conducted expeditiously and with minimal disruption." The NFL claims that they have been trying to arrange these critical interviews since early April. What did they do from January to April? There is nothing timely or expeditious about this ridiculous investigation. More often than not, the NFL, and especially commissioner Roger Goodell, seems to do things simply because they can without ever considering whether they should. The Al Jazeera report was found to be more nuisance than fact almost as soon as it came to light. The NFL should have been clued into that. Maybe Goodell and his little pack of clowns should bring in Ted Wells again. The NFL lost any credibility to investigate anything when they paid $2.5 million for Wells' crayon-stained report on that little issue of football deflation. While the NFL often comes across as the bully in this pathetic and constant squabble, the NFLPA is far from innocent. Perhaps it's because they agreed to a shitty CBA but NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith and the rest of the union decision-makers routinely make things even more difficult for themselves, the league, and the game. The more it happens, the worse it gets. At this rate, the next CBA negotiations will make the last one look like a skip through the park on a sunny day. Something has to change.

The problem that I have with all of these idiots is that they all want the same thing. And it's a very simple thing. Football on Sundays. And Mondays. And Thursdays. Actually, not Thursday but that's a personal cause for another day. Today's cause is the NFL and NFLPA getting along for the good of the game. If the leaders of the sport would only drop their personal issues and simply do their jobs they'd all be better for it. The group of people caught in the middle of it all are the ones that pay for it all. They also have no say at all. The fans. Roger Goodell too often says that he does what he does for the fans. The problem with that is that he has no clue what the fans want. The majority of fans want him out of the league and there's no way that he goes along with that. The NFL is the strongest, most profitable professional sports league around. The only weakness is the arena of idiots that currently run it. The NFL, and to a slightly lesser extent the NFLPA, take the fans for granted. That's a big mistake. If the fans don't trust the league they will stop following it. If the games each week are no longer fun because of all the garbage that surrounds it, the fans will find something else to do.