There are reports that the NFL went into overtime to improve its offering to the NFL Referee Association in their on-going lockout and now there seems to be a deal in place that can have the usual officials in place as soon as this Sunday.
The public outcry following the debacle that was the final play of the Monday Night Football game surely helped speed up the process as well. Following the game, numerous players hit the send button on their Twitter accounts with some less than pleasant things to say in regards to the outcome of not only this game, but all games to this point. Members of the Packers, understandably, were maybe the biggest users of the 1st amendment. In addition to that, the number to the NFL league offices had been leaked. An estimated 70,000 voicemails of disgust and distain had been left for Commissioner Roger Goodell to peruse through.
While this IS a black eye for the league as a whole, no one is more to blame than Goodell.
The biggest picture of all, is what happens to Goodell going forward. Many people feel as though he has insulted our intelligence with his explanation of the ruling to the public. His creditability and reputation as an authority figure has taken a major hit in the last month, starting with the overruling of his Bounty-Gate suspension reversal. Having his brick wall rammed through for the second time in a month, has to leave a gaping hole in his reputation (not that he hasn’t already had one). But this one may be impossible to come back from.
I believe have reached a point where we may need to see a new Commissioner in the NFL. I understand that everything can’t be perfect and we will sometimes not like what we get, but there have been more than a few instances that have led to questioning of Roger Goodell. More often than not, Goodell has been criticized with abusing his power, as evidenced with the Bounty-Gate suspensions mentioned earlier.
Sports fans aren’t always the smartest, but when they know something, they KNOW it. We knew this experiment with replacement officials wouldn’t end well, and it was a matter of time before the major punch was landed. Monday night was the uppercut, and now Goodell and his reputation are on a standing 8-count.
Will he continue to fight?