Goodell talks safety

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell talks safety, balance as litigation mounts

Listen to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and it doesn't take long for professional football's top executive to talk about protecting "the shield" — the league's red, white and blue logo.

But as litigation mounts from former players over the long-term effects of repeated concussions in the shadow of the Saints' Bounty-gate scandal — off-the-books cash payments to New Orleans players that league investigators say targeted specific opposing players — Goodell finds himself trying to show that the league's shield protects the game's players as well.

When the league meetings wrapped up last week, it was clear that what professional football looks like in future years will not always resemble what it has been. Atlanta Falcons CEO Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL's competition committee which considers potential rules changes each year, and Goodell each offered up the term "culture change."

"There are statements and that was a statement," said Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier of the penalties handed down to the Saints, which included heavy fines as well as suspensions of head coach Sean Payton for a year and general manager Mickey Loomis for half a season. "There's no need for anyone else to make a statement. That was a statement ... that got everybody's attention."

In the days of VHS video, or perhaps even Beta, a stroll through almost any store with sports offerings would have revealed a "Crunchtime" video released in 1991 by NFL Films — a collection of the biggest hits from the previous NFL season, or seasons gone by. Other videos released in subsequent years showed hits that would now be subject to fines as well as suspensions.

And with possible suspensions still pending for several current or former Saints players named in the league's investigation, some in the league believe there is a need to find a balance between the physical play the NFL has long fostered and marketed with the the current legal
Saints coach Sean Payton, after Super Bowl XLIV, is appealing his one-year suspension by the NFL for a bounty systemthat was implemented by New Orleans. (Timothy A. Clary, AFP/Getty Images)
climate and growing concerns over players' long-term health following their careers in football.

"I am one who is very encouraged about the tape we watched this year and how you saw players change the way they played the game in certain areas that we will call 'defenseless player areas,' " McKay said. "I still hear people say every once in a while, 'Oh, you are making the game not tough.' It is a physical game. Anybody who says it is not tough literally just needs to go out there once and realize it is a tough game.

"I do think players have gotten the message and done a really good job of changing the way they tackle, the way they hit and conforming to the rules. To us, that is a cultural change."

Helmet-to-helmet contact continues to be the chief target of the rules makers. This year another type of play, the "crackback" block, was added to the "defenseless player" category. A crackback occurs when a receiver or tight end comes from more than 2 yards outside of the tackle to block a defensive player in the middle of the field.

No contact can now be made with the defensive player's head and neck on those kinds of blocks, whereas in previous years contact simply had to be made above the defensive player's waist.

"I think we have continued to make progress, and we obviously want to make more progress," Goodell said. "We are going to continue to look at rules that will make the game safer. ... But it is part of a culture change, and this is just part of the process. But I think the game is safer. I think our players appreciate it. I think our coaches appreciate it. And I know our fans appreciate it."

The Bountygate affair cuts deeply, however, even as the league and players union continue to publicly spar about how the players involved should be disciplined. Goodell issued a memorandum last month that requires each team's head coach to verify, in writing, that the team has no extra pay-for-play bonuses outside any bonuses players had written into their contracts.

It is a reaction to the fact that Saints officials were told by league officials to discontinue the practice, which escalated to targeting specific opposing players, yet the team continued to dish out the payments. Goodell has also said team officials were "not forthcoming" in the first round of the league's investigation.

"We are not going to allow cash payments to go between players, including club involvement or no club involvement," Goodell said. "That is impermissible. Our rules are quite clear.

"It is something that has zero tolerance in the NFL. It is not acceptable to hide the issues, continue to violate NFL policy and put our players at risk. That is going to be dealt with very harshly."

This article was written by Jeff Legwold appeared in the Denver Post.

Posted by Necesitamos Mas Football on 6:46 p. m.. Filed under noticias , principal , Roger Goodell . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0