If the NFL Is Really Just Trying to Do Some Good, Why the Strong Man Routine From Goodell?

Maybe the NFL is really just trying to give sports fans a nice distraction with the draft. But if that's the case, why is Roger Goodell threatening discipline for raising legitimate issues with the plan?

In times like these, in moments of complete uncertainty and helplessness, sometimes you need to suspend cynicism and force yourself to believe the Powers That Be are really trying to do some good.

Understandably, for some this is more difficult than ever. Bills and stimulus packages are being shoved through. People are holding court, dispensing advice and warnings and messages of peace. We need it to be genuine and so, in the blessed few moments of good head space, we talk ourselves into thinking that maybe it is.

In sports, it’s interesting to see the NFL off on its own orbit—separate from baseball, basketball and hockey—and how the league justifies its calculus in doing so. It has carved out an advantage over other leagues in that the portions of its calendar that don’t include live games are nearly as popular as the games themselves. Despite the travel restrictions, internal objections and optical hurdles, the league went ahead with free agency as scheduled. Commissioner Roger Goodell felt that it helped “our world emerge stronger and more unified.” Maybe, for a few minutes, people argued about Tom Brady’s future in Tampa Bay instead of the empty aisles at the grocery store. I have personally heard people attest to that.

And now, he’s announced that the league will push ahead with the draft as scheduled. There will obviously be no live event. Draftees will not get a commissioner hug, or even a cautious elbow bump. Team facilities are closed. General managers have vocalized their concerns and hoped that the league would move the event back, but, in a memo sent out Thursday, Goodell said that there was no way of guaranteeing that a later date would be any safer.

He also added: “I also believe that the Draft can serve a very positive purpose for our clubs, our fans, and the country at large, and many of you have agreed.”

The message would have been well and good (and consistent) had the commissioner not also included that "public discussion of issues relating to the Draft serves no useful purpose and is grounds for disciplinary action." If so many had agreed, why threaten those who want to voice their issues? Why swerve into dictatorial waters when there are people whose livelihoods depend on the outcome of this event that are worried about so many of the procedural aspects of this? How are you going to get player reactions safely? Is the technology good enough to optimize a cluster of socially distant personnel executives who need to be on the same page at a moment’s notice? What about the recommendation of the NFL’s Physicians Society? Is there some way a team is going to unearth an unfair advantage? (In this league? Are you kidding?)

If it was just about putting on a show for the emotionally and physically exhausted masses, why the strong man routine?

There were moments last week when I had to admit that I wasn’t thinking about a pandemic for a few seconds. It was a little bit of a glide to imagine where Cam Newton might play next year, how the Buccaneers’ offense was going to look and how tightly Jon Gruden needed to be confined in order to prevent himself from picking up the phone and offering Brady $300 million per season to come play for the Raiders in Las Vegas.

Was that hit of normalcy enough to continue suspending the cynicism as we barrel lightspeed ahead into the draft? Can we believe that the league is really trying to do us some good, even if our very definition of the word is scrambled right now? 

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