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Recently when I think of the National Football League and Commissioner Goodell a certain scene from the movie Gladiator plays in my mind. I see Goodell riding into the NFL empire in all his glory as did Commodus into Rome and thinking “ He enters Rome like a conquering hero. But what has he conquered?” Well it becomes more and more apparent, that Goodell has conquered some of the FUN. The NFL acronym no longer stands for the National Football League in the minds of many fans, but has morphed into the No Fun League.
Something even more deplorable than fining OCHO CINCO for any of his various celebratory antics or fining T.O. for his always entertaining comments has recently occurred, the NFL actively preventing donations to Gridiron Greats, a nonprofit that helps retired players. According to the AP, Captain Morgan was planning to make $10,000 donations to the Gridiron Greats for every time a player appeared on camera in the iconic “Captain’s” pose.
"The issue is that players are specifically prohibited under our policies from wearing, displaying, promoting or otherwise conveying their support of a commercially identified product during a game while they're on the field," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Yahoo! Sports. (AP). Translation, the NFL wants ALL the control, and more importantly wants to be compensated for all advertisement.
Granted, Captain Morgan may not have followed all of the procedures and regulations set by the NFL and endorsement of an alcoholic libations by players may not be the best “role model” for young fans (god-forbid have to talk to their children about alcohol, that is if they don’t already do because of all the beer and liquor commercials crunched between NFL games) , but dare I say lighten up NFL. Most fans know or should know that the NFL is notorious for not taking care of its retired players, but if you don’t take a few minutes and check it out. You may be thinking don’t they get paid a bazillion dollars a year and if they don’t have the money to pay for necessary medical procedures and treatments then shame on them. But many of the retirees in need played before the days of monopoly money contracts and have serious need for the NFL and NFLPA to step up take care of those players whose back the league was built on.
Now I am not a proponent of NFL players endorsing alcohol, nor am I am fan of the NFL denying needed donations to support Gridiron Greats, so I guess I don’t have a rhetorical horse in that race. But I do hope that this controversy does not focus on the Commissioner versus the Captain, but can expose issues and needs plaguing countless Gridiron Greats of the past.
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