NFL TV Ratings; A Sign Of Things To Come?

Sunday for many people is a special day. Filled with family, friends, and possibly some yelling at the television. Football has been a large part of people’s Sunday traditions, but with things being the way they have been lately, many are wondering when the focus will return to actual football. It seems less has been made of the game, and more is being made about what President Trump has tweeted out about something or which players have decided to take a knee for the National Anthem.

Regardless of your personal feelings on these subjects it does come across as slightly foreboding when you couple that with the fact that across the whole board NFL’s TV ratings are down. Some might say that this is attributed to the ongoing spectacle sideshow that the NFL has turned into. Commissioner Goodell has not ended the stalemate with the player’s union about proper procedure for pre-game policy, and continually rides the fence on the issue. This has further dragged on with President Trump now taking to the keyboard to weigh in his two cents worth.

The cold hard facts remain though that viewer ratings are down for every game except for the … Read more at FryingPanSports

The NFL better come down very hard on the Patriots.

Goodell Pressed

Note: On NNR Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports & I discussed the Super Bowl game including issues around the Browns recent hires. The podcast is on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer reports that Browns GM Ray Farmer faces a multi-game suspension and loss of draft choices for texting and or calling coaches during games. That is an illegal use of technology under NFL Rules.

He is not an X’s and O’s guy. Based on his first two first round draft picks last year, I am not sure if he is a player evaluator either. He had a habit of calling or texting former QB coach Dowell Loggains. Based on how the QB position deteriorated over the season, Loggins clearly needed all the help he could get.

Now if the Browns can be punished like that for something as dumb as illegal texting, the penalty for Bill Belichick and the Pats should be 10 times that for Deflate-gate. But we all know it will not.

If a player had violated the rules, he would have faced suspension for the next game. Conveniently the NFL was not able to complete their investigation in the two weeks leading Read more at FryingPanSports

I am the Good. The NFL & NFLPA can cut up the Bad & Ugly.

Goodell Pressed

Note: On NNR today Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports & I held our noses as we discussed the Browns game with the Texans and other games of the weekend. The podcast is on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

Neither the NFL or NFLPA have a leg on which to stand in the argument over the Commissioner’s powers in personal conduct issues.

The NFL has been totally inconsistent in deciding penalties for players. I detailed the randomness of the penalties in my editorial Roger Goodell’s NFL Wheel of Misfortune!” (https://fryingpansports.com/roger-goodells-nfl-wheel-misfortune/).

One would assume that the power given to one man would result in consistent decisions. The fact is Roger Godell’s decisions appear to have been the result of throwing darts at a dart board filled with suspensions of various lengths.

Then there is the ridiculous claim by Goodell that he never saw the video of what Ray Rice did in the elevator. Local law enforcement said they sent the tape to the NFL. But it seems that there were two people with the same name and the tape went to the janitor rather than the head of security.

But the NFLPA is not without sin either. During negotiations for the most Read more at FryingPanSports

It was a nervous Roger Goodell that ended the owners’ meeting.

Goodell Pressed

Note: NNR preview of the NBA season with David Kay will be up on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/ tonight after 10 PM. Tomorrow after Moo at 5 PM Samantha and I will preview the Browns Steelers game on our podcast.

You could literally watch the beads of sweat form on the slightly challenged hair line of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell as he addressed the media after the fall owners’ meeting. His voice was irregular and he sucked on his bottled water often.

Goodell should be nervous. He has not been having a very good year. The Ray Rice debacle started his fall from grace. Then there was Tape-Gate. What everyone wanted to know was what did he know and when did he see the elevator tape. Then back to back came the Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson issues.

Instead of making a hard call on those problems, Goodell kicked the can down the street by putting both on double secret probation. By preventing them from playing while they go through the judicial process, Goodell has opened himself and the league up to more problems in the future. Even if they both are found guilty, the issue of double jeopardy will be brought up. Read more at FryingPanSports

Goodell: Some men are a little more Equal than others.

An owner of an NFL team died and went to heaven. There was a long line to get through the Pearly Gates. He went to Saint Peter and complained.

“I am a very important person. I can’t be waiting here in line to get in.”

“I am sorry sir, but you have to understand that here in Heaven, everyone is equal.”

When the owner got in it was time for lunch. Again there was a long line. Just as the he was ready to get his tray some guy in a suit with an NFL pin on his lapel jumped in front of him grabbed a tray and got his lunch. The owner was furious and complained to St. Peter.

“Well you have to forgive him. That is God and he thinks he is the NFL Commissioner.”

When a player or an owner for that matter makes a huge mistake, Commissioner Roger Goodell is more than ready to hand out suspensions and fines. What we saw on Friday was an admission that Goodell blew the suspension of Ray Rice and blew it badly.

That is not the biggest issue with which the NFL and the fans have to deal. It … Read more at FryingPanSports

Here is why the NFL is rushing to get the new drug testing deal done.

Goodell

                                                      Roger Goodell

Clearly fans of any team with a player that has been suspended are excited about the possibility of getting those players back. But understand that the NFL and NFLPA have been working on a new drug policy for more than 3 years. What is the rush go get it done now?

Let me say that I have no inside information about the issue but I do think I know what is going on. And we will know if I am right by what is in and is not in the new policy.

Here is what I believe is driving the NFL to try to get a new deal—As I said here several weeks ago, the new pressure on the NFL is the different results of the Gordon test.

I have a feeling that the NFLPA is pressuring the NFL to get this new deal done or it will explore the cancellation of the entire drug testing program because of unreliable test results. There is no excuse or explanation for a single urine sample yielding two so different results. That is a threat to the weed testing at a minimum or the entire testing policy at a maximum.

The … Read more at FryingPanSports