POWER STRUGGLE
Patrick Creighton: Roger Goodell wants Jerry Jones’ blood, and every other owner should take note
Feb 28, 2018, 12:33 pm
Roger Goodell keeps pushing the limits of his power. NFL.COM
This is the biggest rivalry in the NFL and it’s not ever playing one single down on a field.
For all intents and purposed, Roger Goodell has already won. He forced his six-game suspension on Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott even though the NFL’s own investigator recommended that no suspension was warranted. He even apparently assured Jerry Jones no such suspension was coming, and then threw the book at Elliott anyway.
Roger won a second time also, with the Compensation Committee. That committee, headed by Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank and also with Texans’ owner Bob McNair on it, pushed through a new contract for Roger 18 months before his existing one expires.
Yet that isn’t good enough for Roger Goodell; now he wants to go for the kill shot. He wants to force Jerry Jones to reimburse the league for the monies it spent on the Ezekiel Elliott lawsuit
Of course, Jerry Jones was quite vocal about his unhappiness with the Elliott suspension. The NFL’s lead investigator, the only person to interview all of the witnesses and principals, recommended that no suspension be levied, that the witness was unreliable and her story was riddled with holes. NFL special counsel Lisa Friel threw that investigator’s report in the trash and recommended to Goodell six games, and BAM! That’s what happened.
Remember, facts matter not in the NFL. Two appellate courts have now ruled the CBA gives Goodell broad powers to do as he wishes, facts and logic be damned.
Elliott’s grievances and subsequent court cases were backed by Elliott, and the NFLPA, not Jerry Jones. However, Roger wants Jerry to foot the league’s bill anyway.
Roger further wants to hit Jerry in the pocket for the league having to defend itself against Jones’ threatened lawsuit. If you are wondering how the league incurs fees for defending a lawsuit that never actually happened, so am I, and so is Jerry Jones.
You may recall that when Jerry was all hot and bothered over Goodell’s proposed new deal, the Compensation Committee made a deal with Jerry. Back on November 23, according to Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, Jones and any owner would be allowed to speak regarding Goodell’s contract at the December 13 meeting in Irving, TX. Essentially in exchange, Jones would send a letter to Arthur Blank formally stating he was standing down on his threat to sue to block Goodell’s extension.
On Dec. 6, one week before that meeting, Goodell’s new contract was signed, as the Compensation Committee flipped Jerry off and made those proposed Dec. 13 discussions irrelevant.
Hence, the league got its deal done with Goodell, Roger got paid, Jerry got the shaft, and no lawsuit actually happened. Yet Goodell wants to force Jerry to pay up for the defense of a non-existent lawsuit.
Why is Goodell feeling so froggy? Apparently, the members of the Compensation Committee are encouraging Roger to go ahead hand Jones a bill for over $2 million.
Did Jerry finance Elliott’s grievance and lawsuit? No. Did Jerry sue the NFL? No. So why is Roger looking to hit Jerry for the costs? He believes he can, he believes he has enough backing owners and he really wants to neuter Jerry Jones for all the verbal trouble he caused last season.
Jones, of course, is contesting the bill, and rightly so. This is the part where every other owner should take a good hard look in the mirror – something they failed to do when Goodell dropped the hammer on Tom Brady, Bob Kraft & the Patriots (also without any credible evidence) – they have given Roger Goodell far more power than they should have.
As much as it is fair to point out the NFLPA negotiated poorly in allowing Roger Goodell to be judge, jury, executioner, and then appellate judge to hear the cases he has resolved – the owners have done the exact same thing.
That’s right. Jones’ challenge to Goodell’s demand for claw back will be heard by Roger Goodell. In the real world, we call that conflict of interest, but in the NFL it is called business as usual.
Goodell isn’t satisfied simply with beating Jerry Jones -- once one of the most powerful and influential owners in the league but now lacking friends -- he wants to whip him into complete submission. He reportedly has the backing of enough owners (and the entire Compensation Committee) to push through.
Keep in mind, one of the owners who is putting the screws to Jones is McNair. It’s quite ironic since when McNair found himself in hot water with the players and media over his “inmates running the prison” comment, the one and only owner who came to his defense publicly was Jerry Jones.
Right now, it looks like Jerry doesn’t have many friends among his fellow owners, many of whom he has made much richer men. Every other owner should be watching, because they could find themselves the next one to be suddenly friendless and writing very large checks.
Goodell wants blood, even though he doesn’t deserve it, and shouldn’t actually have a claim to it. He’s probably going to get it anyway.
Patrick Creighton is the host of “Nate & Creight” heard weekdays 1-3p on SportsMap 94.1 FM, and “Sports & Shenanigans” heard Sundays 12-5p Sundays on SB Nation Radio. Follow him on Twitter at @pcreighton1
How 3 major x-factors could tip the scales in Texans-Colts: Week 1
Sep 5, 2024, 7:27 pm
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.