Why I don’t want to watch the NFL this year

I’m assuming that anyone who considers himself a fan of the NFL has had conversation with fellow fans about their personal stance on brain injuries and the NFL’s effort to curtail them.  I also assume that the half-informed decisions that adults make about what they do to their bodies can generally be accepted as a philosophical gray area.  There are no easy answers for addressing the NFL’s concussion problems, and the title of this post isn’t in reference to these issues. 

What does bother me about this episode and episodes prior (player conduct/Vick/Roethlisberger, steroids, Spygate) is the systematic resistance to transparency the NFL uses to address the issues.  When fans are shielded from information, we don’t get to meaningfully participate in the discussion.  In fact, the NFL is almost actively asking us to NOT take part in debating the value of artistic/strategic/competitive expression vs sacrifices in quality of life.  We cannot truly choose to “vote with our feet” unless we know and they know why we are or aren’t choosing to give the NFL our entertainment dollar.

Since I started caring about the NFL (approximately the same time as the start of the 24/7 media coverage era), I cannot think of a single issue where the NFL or Roger Goodell has stepped forward and said “This is our problem.  It’s not [player X’s] problem or [team Y’s] problem, but a problem within the culture of the entire league that we should correct.”  This culture of example-making casts the spotlight off the organization itself, in an effort to keep us, the players, the media from contemplating the value system of the organization itself.  Why have a debate over murky issues like player safety or what is or isn’t “cheating”?  It’s so much easier to vilify individuals such as Michael Vick, Bill Belichick, and Gregg Williams.  Of course our values are congruent when it comes to these guys! 

When it comes to Spygate and BountyGate, it’s also important to realize that the NFL sat on information for years before handing down punishments, and were preceded by attempts to handle the violations internally, with no media attention.  The punishments became public only after the Patriots/Saints tried to cover up their transgressions.  Both Spygate and Bountygate involve elaborate attempts by the teams to deceive the NFL, and I suspect this is what brought down the Goodell Hammer.  In any event, it makes me wonder how many other teams have gotten off lightly by coming clean to the commissioner. Obviously, a guy like this can only get a job as coveted as NFL Defensive Coordinator (not to mention NFL Head Coach) in an environment that at least tolerates if not supports the behavior. Again, weighting player safety vs winning is really tricky, so I don’t condemn the NFL for elevating this person in the face of this behavior.  But selling the idea that this guy operated in a vacuum, as a lone rebel, is preposterous.  Players move around the league.  Coaches copy things that work.  And Williams' shit worked (he was the highest-paid assistant coach in league in Washington, and Sean Payton took a pay cut to hire him).  

Why did we never follow up with guys like this?

Trevor Pryce, who played on the defensive line for the New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos, told The New York Times that bounty programs are common in the NFL, with players pledging cash to reward big plays in a game.

"It's pretty much standard operating procedure," the retired Pryce told the newspaper. "It made our special teams better. I know dudes who doubled their salary from it. Trust me, it happens in some form in any locker room. It's like a democracy, the inmates governing themselves."

Where were the journalists lining up to talk to Trevor Pryce after that quote?  Why not flesh that quote out a little bit?  Evidently no one came knocking, because he published an article 3 days later on an obscure NBC News website focused on African American issues.

Note that the article received 0 comments, 0 likes, 0 retweets.  The guy clearly had something to say, but he couldn’t find anyone to listen. 

Another example: 

@KawikaMitchell – former Saint, played exactly 1 game during the Williams tenure (in week 15, 2010), recorded a sack, and then, according to his wiki page, retired with 2 weeks left in the season.  That one game was his first in over a year after sustaining an injury in Buffalo, so it’s possible re-aggravation prompted his early “retirement”.  He appears to be working out for teams as a UFA this summer.

"Dominate""Swarm&Punish""Stomp their bitch ass"(homie)"Seek&Destroy""Punish them"U hear it on TV. Not just wordsMindset u need to play D
— Kawika Mitchell (@KawikaMitchell) March 5, 2012

Violent people play this Great but Violent game.Taught by people who enjoy the thinking side of the game as well as the Violence.
— Kawika Mitchell (@KawikaMitchell) March 5, 2012

Sucks fans are hearing about stuff that has always existed in football. Right or wrong, it's a matter of being in or out of a culture.
— Kawika Mitchell (@KawikaMitchell) April 5, 2012

Let’s be clear on this.  Kawika Mitchell played one game for Gregg Williams, presumably played decent (1 sack, 2 tackles in limited playing time) in a HUGE game (New Orleans was 10-3, Baltimore 9-4 going in to the game), promptly retired, said this stuff a year and a half later, and no one reached out to him?  Like Pryce, he seemed to want to say something.  He has a weekly radio spot in Orlando that he has plugged religiously on his twitter feed, and mentioned discussing bounties on his appearance.  He wants to talk, but apparently this guy doesn’t have something compelling enough to say in the national news media?

Plenty of former and current players weighed in on this issue, some appalled by bounty-hunting behavior, some confused by all the hubbub.  None got traction.  And that feels fishy as hell.  Is the NFL truly concerned with player safety?  With cheating?  With player conduct?  Or only their image?  Or money?  Does it matter? If the NFL’s values and my values are aligned, why are these guys who want to discuss institutional values and “culture” being held at arm’s length by media outlets? 

For me, it takes the fewest leaps in logic to conclude that the NFL values its own health and well-being (and profits) over any of these sticky subjects.  It certainly provides explanation for their behavior over the past decade.  Implementing league-wide measures to ensure player safety (reduced preseason games, extra bye weeks, mandatory mouthguards/helmets) is more costly and more damaging to brand equity than finding witches and burning them. 

Am I basing this at least somewhat on conjecture?  Sure.  I’m certain my arguments can be picked apart with proper diligence.  But this isn’t a court of law.  It’s business.  And when I can, I try to do business with organizations that have similar values to my own.  If the NFL wants my entertainment dollar, the impetus is on them to prove their values through transparency of process. 

Will I still watch football this season?  *Sigh* probably.  At the end of the day, it might worth the cognitive dissonance to watch such amazing displays of athleticism and gamesmanship.  But maybe I won’t.  Or maybe not as much.  I don’t know yet.  I just know I don’t like being a pawn, and I'm going to think twice any time the NFL asks me to open up my wallet.