ATENEARS Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 A MESSAGE FROM ROGER GOODELL With one of the most exciting regular seasons now completed and the playoffs about to begin, let me first thank you and all NFL fans for your incredible support. Many fans have been asking me where we stand on signing a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union. Let me update you and be clear at the outset: I know we can and will reach an agreement. My goal as Commissioner now is to help our teams and players find a solution that is fair to everyone and ensures that football becomes more popular, accessible, and fun. We want the next decade to be the best yet for our fans, and I'm ready to work day and night to make that happen. We've come a long way. Compare where we are today with 10 years ago. From player accountability to player safety, more and better television coverage, upgrading the in-stadium experience, innovations like the RedZone channel, the Draft in prime time and playing the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, we are focused on doing what's best for the players, teams, and fans. My priority is and always will be the game and the fans who love our game. The NFL is great because fans care deeply about it. Economic conditions, however, have changed dramatically inside and outside the NFL since 2006 when we negotiated the last CBA. A 10 percent unemployment rate hurts us all. Fans have limited budgets and rightly want the most for their money. I get it. Yes, NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices and the NFL is no different. These are not easy negotiations, but the outcome can be positive. If both sides give a little, everyone, including fans, will get a lot and the game will improve through innovation. Even in difficult economic times, a new CBA presents us with the opportunity to secure the future of our game. You may ask how will the NFL look under this vision? A significant change would be to resolve fan complaints about preseason by modifying our 20-game format. Fans tell us they don't like the quality of the preseason games, and we're listening. An enhanced season of 18 regular season and two preseason games would not add a single game for the players collectively, but would give fans more meaningful, high-quality football. Our emphasis on player health and safety is absolutely essential to the future of our game. We are strictly enforcing rules that protect players from unnecessarily dangerous play, especially involving hits to the head. We are changing the "play through it" culture to a "player-first" culture to ensure that if a player has a head injury, he doesn't play again until his health is certain. We are also addressing the potential wear-and-tear on players in the way they train in-season and off-season. It's not just the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league. That includes a new system that properly compensates proven veterans and retired players by shifting some of the outrageous sums paid to many unproven rookies. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated published a list of the 50 highest-paid American athletes that included five 2009 NFL rookies. Every other athlete on the list was a proven veteran. In 2009, NFL clubs contracted $1.2 billion to 256 drafted rookies with $585 million guaranteed before they had stepped on an NFL field. Don't get me wrong: top draft choices will continue to be highly paid. All we're asking for is a return to common sense in paying our rookies. Other leagues have done this and we can too. These improvements and more will lead to better football, plain and simple. A forward looking CBA that is fair to players and clubs will lead to a great future for the NFL and our fans. My job is to represent the game — the fans, teams, players, coaches and business partners. Protecting the integrity of the game and ensuring it thrives is a responsibility I take very seriously. This is about more than a labor agreement. It's about the future of the NFL. We have to improve and will be relentless in our quest. The commitment to our fans is to make the NFL experience even better in the years ahead. With a responsible CBA, we will fulfill that vision. Happy New Year and enjoy the playoffs. -- Roger Goodell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squintz Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Still don't trust this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Buffalo Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 A MESSAGE FROM ROGER GOODELL With one of the most exciting regular seasons now completed and the playoffs about to begin, let me first thank you and all NFL fans for your incredible support. Many fans have been asking me where we stand on signing a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union. Let me update you and be clear at the outset: I know we can and will reach an agreement. My goal as Commissioner now is to help our teams and players find a solution that is fair to everyone and ensures that football becomes more popular, accessible, and fun. We want the next decade to be the best yet for our fans, and I'm ready to work day and night to make that happen. We've come a long way. Compare where we are today with 10 years ago. From player accountability to player safety, more and better television coverage, upgrading the in-stadium experience, innovations like the RedZone channel, the Draft in prime time and playing the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, we are focused on doing what's best for the players, teams, and fans. My priority is and always will be the game and the fans who love our game. The NFL is great because fans care deeply about it. Economic conditions, however, have changed dramatically inside and outside the NFL since 2006 when we negotiated the last CBA. A 10 percent unemployment rate hurts us all. Fans have limited budgets and rightly want the most for their money. I get it. Yes, NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices and the NFL is no different. These are not easy negotiations, but the outcome can be positive. If both sides give a little, everyone, including fans, will get a lot and the game will improve through innovation. Even in difficult economic times, a new CBA presents us with the opportunity to secure the future of our game. You may ask how will the NFL look under this vision? A significant change would be to resolve fan complaints about preseason by modifying our 20-game format. Fans tell us they don't like the quality of the preseason games, and we're listening. An enhanced season of 18 regular season and two preseason games would not add a single game for the players collectively, but would give fans more meaningful, high-quality football. Our emphasis on player health and safety is absolutely essential to the future of our game. We are strictly enforcing rules that protect players from unnecessarily dangerous play, especially involving hits to the head. We are changing the "play through it" culture to a "player-first" culture to ensure that if a player has a head injury, he doesn't play again until his health is certain. We are also addressing the potential wear-and-tear on players in the way they train in-season and off-season. It's not just the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league. That includes a new system that properly compensates proven veterans and retired players by shifting some of the outrageous sums paid to many unproven rookies. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated published a list of the 50 highest-paid American athletes that included five 2009 NFL rookies. Every other athlete on the list was a proven veteran. In 2009, NFL clubs contracted $1.2 billion to 256 drafted rookies with $585 million guaranteed before they had stepped on an NFL field. Don't get me wrong: top draft choices will continue to be highly paid. All we're asking for is a return to common sense in paying our rookies. Other leagues have done this and we can too. These improvements and more will lead to better football, plain and simple. A forward looking CBA that is fair to players and clubs will lead to a great future for the NFL and our fans. My job is to represent the game — the fans, teams, players, coaches and business partners. Protecting the integrity of the game and ensuring it thrives is a responsibility I take very seriously. This is about more than a labor agreement. It's about the future of the NFL. We have to improve and will be relentless in our quest. The commitment to our fans is to make the NFL experience even better in the years ahead. With a responsible CBA, we will fulfill that vision. Happy New Year and enjoy the playoffs. -- Roger Goodell What I get from this article is that both sides meet in the middle apparently means that here is our side, deal with it. I can understand player safety, and I can understand a cap on how much a certain draft pick can be paid. I do. But a 18 game regular season is just going to players to have shorter careers. Plus all I got from this is fine for head hits to lengthen the now shorter career due to an 18 game season. Fines will bring in a small amount for the league, but adding two games and getting rid of two preseason games will give the league and owners many more millions of dollors, on top of that a cap saves the onwers tens of millions of dollars each year. Pretty much the owners feel like they are giving up too much money and want to make a little extra on top of it while physically depleting it's work force. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bringbackbrownie2 Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Godell (sp) Blows. He is a pawn of big NFL money and has no balls or sense of doing the right thing. plenty of people hate on Goodell but he looks like a saint compared to Stern and Selig... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRREBEL Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 after reading this I have started going on the oprah board. http://www.oprah.com/community/mb_list_landing.jspa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gips Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Oh yeah roger, the nfl really needs to tighten its belt in this bad economy or its going to go belly up, seriously why dont the nfl try to be more fan friendly and remove the blackout bullshit????? I had to miss the second vs the bengals game on the sunday ticket because of a blackout... I live well over 200 miles from Cincinnati but my dtv local is with 50 miles so i get blacked out because of fairweather bungal fans.. I had tickets to this game but opted out by week 3 due to seeing mangenius had not learned anything and wasnt going anywhere but never expected a blackout in cincy at the time... The blackout rule is bullshit and needs to fixed as does the hypocritic rooney rule, there are winners and losers in this sport and punishing the fans and the losing teams does not make fans like the nfl assholes any better nor does it help the struggling clubs it just makes us realize how greedy this league is and how much this leagues owners have lost passion for the game.. I ussually get a chunky discount for the sunday ticket but this year im going to demand a pro-rated refund for any games i cant watch due to blackout if i get the ticket at all this year and that depends on if there is a season at all.. I get the ticket so i can see all the browns games that i dont attend and its not right.. Just a couple more of the growing rants of the nfls garbage anti-fan policy making and excessive greed over passion for the sport that these morons exhibit more frequently with every passing season.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BROWNandORANGE Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 plenty of people hate on Goodell but he looks like a saint compared to Selig... What has Selig ever done wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns57 Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 I couldn't agree more. The scam the NFL and Directv have going is a shame. I pay for the Sunday Ticket but the anti-competitive nature of the agreement is the problem not the blackout rules. I watched the 2nd Cincinnati game with no problem here in Columbus and every game. They are either on the Ticket or on the local station. I have had it for 11 years and lived in Dayton, Cinci, and Columbus and never once had a problem. Other than that I think Goddell is doing a great job. Holding players more accountable, trying to improve player safety, increase the season (for fans and for revenue)and trying to create a structure that doesn't have everybody overpaying for their young talent. If I was in his position I would be doing the exact same thing. That is good leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATENEARS Posted January 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 If the NFL goes to the 18-game format, does that mean that all previous Super Bowl Titles will be cast aside and the Championship count starts all over, like the Steeler fems believe happened in 1970? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
585Dawg Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 When are people going to finally realize that the NFL is a BUSINESS.. It is one the biggest money making CORPORATIONS in the world! Same with collegiate sports.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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