Jerry Jones is Going To Try and Take Down the NFL

[Mojouw]

https://deadspin.com/report-jerry-jones-is-at-war-with-the-other-owners-ove-1820265765

This sad old bastard is trying to burn it all down to get his way.

Odd that he wanted Goodell to come down like the hammer of god on the Pats and Brady, but not on his team?

Hypocritical POS.

[AtlantaDan]

https://deadspin.com/report-jerry-jones-is-at-war-with-the-other-owners-ove-1820265765

This sad old bastard is trying to burn it all down to get his way.

Odd that he wanted Goodell to come down like the hammer of god on the Pats and Brady, but not on his team?

Hypocritical POS.

LOL - Jerry Jones hires Harvey Weinstein's lawyer to sue the league and other owners :pop2:

Jones told the six owners on the league’s compensation committee last week that he had hired David Boies, the high-profile lawyer under fire in the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment case (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/business/weinstein-lawyer-david-boies.html), according to the people, who declined to be speak publicly about internal league matters....

Jones said in a conference call last Thursday with the six owners — those of the Chiefs, Falcons, Giants, Patriots, Steelers and Texans — that legal papers were drawn up and would be served this Friday if the committee did not scrap its current plans to extend Goodell’s contract.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/sports/jerry-jones-nfl-roger-goodell-david-boies.html?action=click&contentCollection=sports&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/sports/jerry-jones-nfl-roger-goodell-david-boies.html?action=click&contentCollection=sports&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront)

Interesting that the owners' committee is a split between next generation of old guard ownership (Giants, Steelers, Chiefs) and new money owners (Pats, Texans, Falcons) who one might think would be allies of Jones

Boies is a brilliant litigator who skates on the ethical edge

Weinstein Work Pulls Lawyer Back Into an Ethical Debate

David Boies may be best known for taking on nationally prominent political cases before the Supreme Court, including Bush v. Gore and the fight to legalize gay marriage.

But it’s his role as a hard-nosed litigator representing corporations and executives that has earned him lavish payouts but created potential ethical issues — so much so, it has forced his firm to step away from several cases.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/business/weinstein-lawyer-david-boies.html

Video of Jones discussing legal strategy


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_5IZ3CZ248

[43Hitman]

https://deadspin.com/report-jerry-jones-is-at-war-with-the-other-owners-ove-1820265765

This sad old bastard is trying to burn it all down to get his way.

Odd that he wanted Goodell to come down like the hammer of god on the Pats and Brady, but not on his team?

Hypocritical POS.

Even more reasons to hate the Cowgirls. God what a shit show Jerry's become.

[DesertSteel]

How awesome it will be when the Cowboys flame out in the first round of the playoffs again!

[tube517]

Skeletor is angry!!!

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/017/507/1-13-Skeletor-Orgasm.png

This should calm him down.

http://www.eurweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Jerry-Jones.jpg

[43Hitman]

Skeletor is angry!!!

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/017/507/1-13-Skeletor-Orgasm.png

This should calm him down.

http://www.eurweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Jerry-Jones.jpg

Eww, he still has the same expression he always has.. That's creepy as hell.

[Drazo85]

Even more reasons to hate the Cowgirls. God what a shit show Jerry's become.Become? He's always been shit show. His only "success" was when Jimmy Johnson selected and coached his shity franchise. God how I hate Cowboys and their fans, they're obnoxious!

[43Hitman]

Become? He's always been shit show. His only "success" was when Jimmy Johnson selected and coached his shity franchise. God how I hate Cowboys and their fans, they're obnoxious!

You know what's funny is my son's God Father is a Cowboys fan and my best friend. :lol: We can actually have good football conversations though, and I respect him much more than any other Cowboy fan, he stuck with them and still claimed them when they got shitty after Jimmy Johnson left. For the record he hates Jerrry Jones too.

[st33lersguy]

Become? He's always been shit show. His only "success" was when Jimmy Johnson selected and coached his shity franchise. God how I hate Cowboys and their fans, they're obnoxious!

Yeah, Jimmy Johnson ran that show, then good ole Jerry boy muscled Jimmy out because he was jealous that he wasn't getting more credit for the team's success

[vasteeler]

Fuck Jerry Jones

[Drazo85]

I'm not American, nor I have ever visited States, but it's pretty easy and obvious that almost all cowboys fans are delusional to say at least. You Americans are proud nation and you have every right to be as proud as anyone, but in the end of the day your pricks are same like the ones we are having here. And not to forget, fuck Jerry Jones.

[43Hitman]

I'm not American, nor I have ever visited States, but it's pretty easy and obvious that almost all cowboys fans are delusional to say at least. You Americans are proud nation and you have every right to be as proud as anyone, but in the end of the day your pricks are same like the ones we are having here. And not to forget, fuck Jerry Jones.
:lol: :drink: True, some just stand taller while others seem to have been fucking around corners. Lmao!

[ALLD]

I have to agree with Jones and any method to get rid of Goodell is good for the NFL. He also wanted to start new NFLPA contract negotiations now instead of waiting until it is about to expire. I could care less if the players strike or not. It would be the end of the NFL if they did.

[AtlantaDan]

I have to agree with Jones and any method to get rid of Goodell is good for the NFL. He also wanted to start new NFLPA contract negotiations now instead of waiting until it is about to expire. I could care less if the players strike or not. It would be the end of the NFL if they did.

Any method? Be careful what you wish for.

This linked ESPN article provides some more background on the palace intrigue

Sources said, though, that Jones has lost potential support because he has his own candidate to replace Goodell. Sources said they did not know the identity of the candidate.

"Then Jerry will be completely in control of the league," one source said. "It's turning off some owners."

http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/21342623/jerry-jones-dallas-cowboys-threatens-sue-nfl-roger-goodell

The Goodell-Jones fight is like a Pats-Ravens playoff game where I root for the meteor

[teegre]

This is like a custody case where the absentee/neglectful father all of a sudden wants to take custody from the drugged-up mother.

[Born2Steel]

I like how they put it on the radio this morning. "So now we have to choose sides between Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell? It's like Clinton/Trump all over again".

[AtlantaDan]

God how I hate Cowboys

Apparently a number of NFL owners agree

There has been growing sentiment that Jones has become too powerful over the past few years, and that his forcefulness in pushing through franchise relocations to Los Angeles and Las Vegas served as a breaking point. Five members of the compensation committee (Hunt, Kraft, Mara, McNair and Rooney) also served on the league’s six-man Los Angeles committee.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/08/jerry-jones-cowboys-lawsuit-nfl-owners-roger-goodell-contract

[Moose]

This is like a custody case where the absentee/neglectful father all of a sudden wants to take custody from the drugged-up mother.

LOL ! I love your comparison.....right on ! I'd love to see Goodell hit the road though. Time for a change. I hate Dallas too, no idea how they got the "America's " team title....I sure in the hell didn't vote. Ought to be an interesting battle of the almighty dollar.

[43Hitman]

LOL ! I love your comparison.....right on ! I'd love to see Goodell hit the road though. Time for a change. I hate Dallas too, no idea how they got the "America's " team title....I sure in the hell didn't vote. Ought to be an interesting battle of the almighty dollar.

The NFL tried to moniker the Steelers as "America's Team" in the 70's but they politely declined. Dallas gladly accepted.

[steelreserve]

He's trying to get rid of Goodell and people are up in arms about it.

Apparently I have stumbled into the Bizarro Steelers Message Board. I don't get it.

[43Hitman]

He's trying to get rid of Goodell and people are up in arms about it.

Apparently I have stumbled into the Bizarro Steelers Message Board. I don't get it.
I think it's because we see through Jerry's BS and know he just going to put in one of his patsies in there as Commish and then he'll have complete control.

[steelreserve]

I think it's because we see through Jerry's BS and know he just going to put in one of his patsies in there as Commish and then he'll have complete control.

I mean ... it's already about as bad as it gets.

Much as I dislike the "idea" of Jerry Jones, there is so much bullshit clogging up the way the NFL is run, I think THAT is going to crash the ship all by itself unless there's a drastic change from the status quo, and soon. At least Jones is willing to try to cut through it. Even if it is all out of self-interest, I honestly think that the current state of affairs is such a toxic shit pit that he might accidentally make it better just by doing ANYTHING. It certainly can't get much worse.

[ALLD]

I mean ... it's already about as bad as it gets.

Much as I dislike the "idea" of Jerry Jones, there is so much bullshit clogging up the way the NFL is run, I think THAT is going to crash the ship all by itself unless there's a drastic change from the status quo, and soon. At least Jones is willing to try to cut through it. Even if it is all out of self-interest, I honestly think that the current state of affairs is such a toxic shit pit that he might accidentally make it better just by doing ANYTHING. It certainly can't get much worse.

You mean how the Cleveland Browns draft?

[Mojouw]

He's trying to get rid of Goodell and people are up in arms about it.

Apparently I have stumbled into the Bizarro Steelers Message Board. I don't get it.

While I am not against getting rid of Goodell, I am really against replacing him with a sock puppet totally controlled by Jerry Jones. At least now, Jones has to pretend to listen to the Commish and others occasionally.

Jerry Jones as the sole person of power in the league, make no mistake about it -- that is what he wants, will be the downfall of the NFL.

Look what "Commish" Jones would have done:
1. Locked the players out and done everything he could to break the back of the players union in the last CBA
2. No problem banishing players and stripping draft picks from his rivals, but does not want the same punishment applied to his team.
3. One of the worst advocates for player safety. I'm sure Jones' only question about concussions would be how big of a bonus he would have to give Prescott to play through one.

[AtlantaDan]

I mean ... it's already about as bad as it gets.

Much as I dislike the "idea" of Jerry Jones, there is so much bullshit clogging up the way the NFL is run, I think THAT is going to crash the ship all by itself unless there's a drastic change from the status quo, and soon. At least Jones is willing to try to cut through it. Even if it is all out of self-interest, I honestly think that the current state of affairs is such a toxic shit pit that he might accidentally make it better just by doing ANYTHING. It certainly can't get much worse.

Like this?

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if we didn't have a salary cap. - Jerry Jones

[Butch]

http://www.steelersuniverse.com/forums/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Moose http://www.steelersuniverse.com/forums/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.steelersuniverse.com/forums/showthread.php?p=614508#post614508) LOL ! I love your comparison.....right on ! I'd love to see Goodell hit the road though. Time for a change. I hate Dallas too, no idea how they got the "America's " team title....I sure in the hell didn't vote. Ought to be an interesting battle of the almighty dollar.

The NFL tried to moniker the Steelers as "America's Team" in the 70's but they politely declined. Dallas gladly accepted.

The year was '79 if I am not mistaken and just after the Steelers beat the cowboys for a 2nd time in the Super Bowl. It wasn't the NFL but rather NFL Films that came up with the moniker. When they came to us Chief said "We are not America's team we are Pittsburgh's team". So they went to Tex Schram and he was thrilled by it.

[st33lersguy]

Two giant assholes going to battle, I hope there is a scenario where both lose. Maybe Gotohell beats Jerruh boy then loses down the line

It's kind of like that episode of Trailer Park Boys when Sam "The Caveman" Losco challenged Jim Lahey to try and become Trailer Park Supervisor

Or kind of like Terrell Suggs going up against the Burfdefect and you hope Suggs knocks Burfdefect out

[fansince'76]

Sources said, though, that Jones has lost potential support because he has his own candidate to replace Goodell. Sources said they did not know the identity of the candidate.

"Then Jerry will be completely in control of the league," one source said. "It's turning off some owners."

Yeah, like he and Kraft don't basically call all the shots already anyway, especially with the "old guard" owners like Dan Rooney out of the picture...


He's trying to get rid of Goodell and people are up in arms about it.

Apparently I have stumbled into the Bizarro Steelers Message Board. I don't get it.

Hear, hear! Long past time for a change. I do hope this is the catalyst for that change to finally be made, but by the same token, I don't want a handpicked stooge of Jones' either.

[T&B fan]

I like how they put it on the radio this morning. "So now we have to choose sides between Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell? It's like Clinton/Trump all over again".

post of the day

[86WARD]

In this case, is it Goodell that is bad or the CBA that gave him all this power?

[AtlantaDan]

In this case, is it Goodell that is bad or the CBA that gave him all this power?

Goodell is the owners enforcer and the 2011 CBA is just a reflection of the NFL traditionally taking a more aggressive position with the players than other major sports (no guaranteed contracts, hiring replacement players to break the 1987 strike).

Former Cowboys GM Tex Schramm summed it up - “You guys are cattle and we’re the ranchers, and ranchers can always get more cattle.”

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/10/27/bob-mcnair-houston-texans-owners-inmate-comments

But sometimes you hire the wrong sheriff - Goodell has been making bad decisions since his response to Spygate. As others have posted, the owners were fine with that as long as the money tree kept delivering a bigger crop each year.

Now that is starting to look shaky with the TV ratings having declined for several seasons, for reasons that the broadcasters claim are due to factors such as too much product to watch through the Thursday night money grab. So now Goodell's flaws are less tolerable.

Add to that the arrogance of Jerry Jones trying to increase his power compared to the other owners (his attorney sent a letter in the past few days accusing Falcons owner Arthur Blank of lying to the other owners about the status of negotiating Goodell's new contract) at the same time one of Jerry's players got caught up in the league's domestic violence headache while the players are fed up and the pot is boiling over.

For years, the league has screwed up multiple things and won. And because for so long defeat didn’t seem possible, the upper echelons of football power are simply not equipped for losing.

Earlier this week, Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short, was asked what the next short will be; he said it would be the NFL (https://twitter.com/readDanwrite/status/928282006236160006).

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/11/10/16632030/football-roger-goodell-jerry-owners-nflpa-national-anthem-ratings-controversy

[steelreserve]

Look what "Commish" Jones would have done:
1. Locked the players out and done everything he could to break the back of the players union in the last CBA
2. No problem banishing players and stripping draft picks from his rivals, but does not want the same punishment applied to his team.
3. One of the worst advocates for player safety. I'm sure Jones' only question about concussions would be how big of a bonus he would have to give Prescott to play through one.

I mean ... aside from #2, which as soon as there was even a HINT of would get shut down by the rest of the owners, I don't see how any of those could have been handled worse; in fact, they're largely responsible for the current shit state of affairs.

I don't care even a little bit about who gets what in the constant fight over money between the players and owners. No, it's not some grand reflection on society where the noble underdog players are trying to throw off the yoke of the greedy evil overlords. 99% of it is just scumbag agents and lawyers who would stab their own mother in the back over a carton of cigarettes, trying to screw each other, and the result of the money part is always the same anyway. Call me when the players aren't making millions or when the franchises are going under. In the meantime, the biggest products of the CBA have been more rules rules rules getting in the way of the product on the field, and stupid shit like the player conduct policy that would be dubious in the best case, but an unmitigated disaster when enforced and administered by an idiot.

It would be great to have someone who is a non-advocate for player safety. Because "player safety" in its present definition is exactly the opposite of what those two words mean. All the "player safety" advocacy has resulted mainly in a big PR smokescreen. More rules rules rules that, with a few exceptions, don't improve player safety at all, but put on a show so it LOOKS like they're trying. But it sure does wreck the game, though. The horrendously bungled #1 and #3 on your list are how we got to Lawyerball and why the league has turned into a borderline-unwatchable train wreck that's quickly becoming more reality TV show than sporting event.

Under the current way of thinking, I don't see that doing anything but continuing. I understand that Jones brings his own special brand of bullshit to the table, but I would be shocked if anything was worse for business, worse for the players, or most importantly worse for the fans, than this is.




Like this?

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if we didn't have a salary cap. - Jerry Jones


... and actually, it wouldn't. I know, I know. omg small market, Rooneys aren't billionaires, Steelers could never compete.

First, remember that the Rooneys aren't even the majority owners of the team anymore. They run the day-to-day operations, but the Steelers actually have billionaire investor owners like everyone else, who are every bit as rich and well-connected as Jerry Jones. Even the Browns do. Having access to near-unlimited funding is pretty much table stakes for owning a team these days, and very few of the original constrained-by-budget "football family" franchises exist anymore. Even in that case, it's easy enough to find a billionaire partner to bring on board and bankroll it. So that's not really a thing.

"But what about baseball?" Well, what about it? You'd think with no salary cap, it would be all Yankees, Mets and Dodgers, wouldn't you? Actually it's got as much if not more balance than other leagues in terms of winning by "small-market" teams and teams that were built through the draft or through clever moves. How else do you keep seeing teams like the Royals, Astros, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Indians, Rays etc. in the World Series. And the mid-market teams like the Giants and Cardinals and stuff having continued success. Like literally every year this happens.

The salary cap is a bogeyman. Smart, well-run teams always have a shot at a championship, and I'd say watching that happen is a damn sight more exciting than the current state of affairs, where every game is "hmm, let's guess who's NOT going to fuck up this week, roll the dice!" and the championship is Insert Team vs. Insert Team. In the 1990s, who dominated the AFC? The Steelers and the Bills. Should've been the Jets, Raiders and Patriots, right? The lack of a salary cap didn't stop us from competing, being too stupid to try and get a quarterback was the only thing that kept us from winning multiple championships. Otherwise, we were well-run and that's why we got where we did. Same deal if the cap was relaxed or went away now.



In this case, is it Goodell that is bad or the CBA that gave him all this power?

Both, duh. They gave complete power to an idiot.

[Mojouw]

[QUOTE=steelreserve;614664]I mean ... aside from #2, which as soon as there was even a HINT of would get shut down by the rest of the owners, I don't see how any of those could have been handled worse; in fact, they're largely responsible for the current shit state of affairs.

I don't care even a little bit about who gets what in the constant fight over money between the players and owners. No, it's not some grand reflection on society where the noble underdog players are trying to throw off the yoke of the greedy evil overlords. 99% of it is just scumbag agents and lawyers who would stab their own mother in the back over a carton of cigarettes, trying to screw each other, and the result of the money part is always the same anyway. Call me when the players aren't making millions or when the franchises are going under. In the meantime, the biggest products of the CBA have been more rules rules rules getting in the way of the product on the field, and stupid shit like the player conduct policy that would be dubious in the best case, but an unmitigated disaster when enforced and administered by an idiot.

It would be great to have someone who is a non-advocate for player safety. Because "player safety" in its present definition is exactly the opposite of what those two words mean. All the "player safety" advocacy has resulted mainly in a big PR smokescreen. More rules rules rules that, with a few exceptions, don't improve player safety at all, but put on a show so it LOOKS like they're trying. But it sure does wreck the game, though. The horrendously bungled #1 and #3 on your list are how we got to Lawyerball and why the league has turned into a borderline-unwatchable train wreck that's quickly becoming more reality TV show than sporting event.

Under the current way of thinking, I don't see that doing anything but continuing. I understand that Jones brings his own special brand of bullshit to the table, but I would be shocked if anything was worse for business, worse for the players, or most importantly worse for the fans, than this is.QUOTE]

Here is the thing, I could care less about who gets what piece of the pie between the owners and the players. But I do know that we need to look at other sports. For instance, the NBA and MLB have almost zero player protest issues. Why? Are their players less politically active? Less angry overs social issues? Likely not. But NBA and MLB owners have not screwed the players over on every labor issue for the past 2 decades. The league office and the players unions in those sports have a working relationship - not a constantly adversarial one. So issues regarding protests were communicated in a unified voice and it was made clear to the players that they should knock it off.

Combine that with the arbitrary and random discipline that comes out of the league office and not surprisingly a bunch of guys on non-guaranteed contracts (the only major American sport to do so...) have zero interest in working with the league on anything. While we can argue that Goodell is a bad commissioner (Lord knows that he is), there should be no argument that a league run by proxy by Jerry Jones would be a catastrophe.

Lawyer-ball is not the problem with the NFL. The problem with the NFL is over-saturation. Thursday Night Football is a terrible idea and needs to go away. Sunday night football might as well. Does the NFL have too many rules? Possible. But much of that is a response to fan complaints that "Derrrr. Da REfs miss calls and now my team Looses all da games!!! Derrrrrrr!!!!" far more than player safety. Take that and the constant braying from sports media that "How can all these calls not get made perfectly?". You would think that every game hinges on a flag. It doesn't. Not if you actually watch the games - but most don't. And for some reason, the NFL knee-jerk responds to them.

The reason why the CBA is so bad and bad for everyone is that the league and the NFLPA have a broken relationship and refuse to compromise to work towards the greater mutual good. Why? Owners like Jerry Jones, Bob Kraft, Jerry Richardson, and Snyder have replaced the "old guard" owners who certainly wanted to make money but also were willing to make compromises towards the greater long-term good. On the other side, the players are short-sighted and poorly led by agents and no-nothing NFLPA reps.

TL;DR -- the current state of affairs in the NFL is not good but Jerry Jones as the puppet-master behind the commish's office would NEVER solve anything towards the long-term success and growth of the NFL.

[Mojouw]

One other thing:

The relative competitive nature of "pre-salary cap" football is missing one thing - free agency. 1992 was the start of unrestricted free agency (scrapping of the old Plan B system) . Only 2 short years later (1994) the current cap system came online.

Can you imagine what the league would look like with unrestricted free agency without a cap? C'mon. That'd be a non-sense realm.

Any major sports league without a cap has always devolved into "haves" and "have nots". There is no way to achieve parity and the "worst to first" vibe that the NFL wants (and needs to survive btw) outside of a cap.

[steelreserve]

Here is the thing, I could care less about who gets what piece of the pie between the owners and the players. But I do know that we need to look at other sports. For instance, the NBA and MLB have almost zero player protest issues. Why? Are their players less politically active? Less angry overs social issues? Likely not. But NBA and MLB owners have not screwed the players over on every labor issue for the past 2 decades. The league office and the players unions in those sports have a working relationship - not a constantly adversarial one. So issues regarding protests were communicated in a unified voice and it was made clear to the players that they should knock it off.

Combine that with the arbitrary and random discipline that comes out of the league office and not surprisingly a bunch of guys on non-guaranteed contracts (the only major American sport to do so...) have zero interest in working with the league on anything. While we can argue that Goodell is a bad commissioner (Lord knows that he is), there should be no argument that a league run by proxy by Jerry Jones would be a catastrophe.

Lawyer-ball is not the problem with the NFL. The problem with the NFL is over-saturation. Thursday Night Football is a terrible idea and needs to go away. Sunday night football might as well. Does the NFL have too many rules? Possible. But much of that is a response to fan complaints that "Derrrr. Da REfs miss calls and now my team Looses all da games!!! Derrrrrrr!!!!" far more than player safety. Take that and the constant braying from sports media that "How can all these calls not get made perfectly?". You would think that every game hinges on a flag. It doesn't. Not if you actually watch the games - but most don't. And for some reason, the NFL knee-jerk responds to them.

The reason why the CBA is so bad and bad for everyone is that the league and the NFLPA have a broken relationship and refuse to compromise to work towards the greater mutual good. Why? Owners like Jerry Jones, Bob Kraft, Jerry Richardson, and Snyder have replaced the "old guard" owners who certainly wanted to make money but also were willing to make compromises towards the greater long-term good. On the other side, the players are short-sighted and poorly led by agents and no-nothing NFLPA reps.

TL;DR -- the current state of affairs in the NFL is not good but Jerry Jones as the puppet-master behind the commish's office would NEVER solve anything towards the long-term success and growth of the NFL.


Well, I don't see anyone else trying to change the current state of things, so Jones is what I've got to work with. When it comes down to it, do we really think he'll get rid of the commissioner and then everyone else will go "OK Jerry, now go ahead and do whatever you want! We won't hold a search or vote on it or anything, just ... you do you!" I mean, it's common knowledge that he's not the most well-liked guy among the owners and there's no reason anyone has to go along with him. A temporary alliance like this for one common goal might actually come to some good, and tbh worrying about Jerry Jones becoming the undisputed king of the league is a bit far-fetched.

As far as labor relations, protests, and so on go ... well, there's plenty of political bullshit spouting from the NBA, just not that one particular protest. I really think the kneeling thing is just more prominent in the NFL because it was an NFL player who started it and it became a thing there, and never really was a thing in other leagues.

Labor relations in the NBA have been a mess though; they had a lockout that lasted half a season just a few years ago and the fighting is as bad as anywhere else. Some of that is probably mitigated by the fact that on average, even the scrubs at the end of the bench are making as much as the top 15% of NFL players, and with 12 guys to a team it's a lot easier for everyone to be friends with everyone else, have honest discussions with each other or with the coach, and generally it's probably a more pleasant atmosphere. The real difference, though, is that the commissioner is much less of an idiot.

Goodell just runs around knee-jerking to every sensationalist story that the media comes up with. They put out The Narrative and he unwittingly goes along with it. Player safety? Button-mashing that leaves neither the fans nor the players happy. The image of the league? Button-mashing that pisses off the players and draws the fans' attention to the negative. Politics on the field? Dicking around and allowing 50 different unofficial ways of dealing with it, until the fans are pissed off and the players are pissed off too. Meanwhile, the same shit happens in the NBA, and you get a short, no-nonsense response: "here's our policy, maybe we'll review it in the offseason, thanks for your concern but we're in charge, not you." And generally the other leagues come to smarter conclusions because they aren't chasing every single smokestack that the media throws up on the horizon.

So the short version of that is that while yes, the other leagues have better labor relations, that's partly because they have smarter people in charge. And from Goodell, you cannot go anywhere but up. And I don't think, once that's done, that everyone is going to just get behind Jerry Jones because he kicked out the dumb ape in the suit. He's in for a rude awakening if he thinks that.

I totally agree with dumping the Thursday night games, by the way, they are crap to watch and just way over the limit of football fatigue as a potential viewer.

[Mojouw]

Well, I don't see anyone else trying to change the current state of things, so Jones is what I've got to work with. When it comes down to it, do we really think he'll get rid of the commissioner and then everyone else will go "OK Jerry, now go ahead and do whatever you want! We won't hold a search or vote on it or anything, just ... you do you!" I mean, it's common knowledge that he's not the most well-liked guy among the owners and there's no reason anyone has to go along with him. A temporary alliance like this for one common goal might actually come to some good, and tbh worrying about Jerry Jones becoming the undisputed king of the league is a bit far-fetched.

As far as labor relations, protests, and so on go ... well, there's plenty of political bullshit spouting from the NBA, just not that one particular protest. I really think the kneeling thing is just more prominent in the NFL because it was an NFL player who started it and it became a thing there, and never really was a thing in other leagues.

Labor relations in the NBA have been a mess though; they had a lockout that lasted half a season just a few years ago and the fighting is as bad as anywhere else. Some of that is probably mitigated by the fact that on average, even the scrubs at the end of the bench are making as much as the top 15% of NFL players, and with 12 guys to a team it's a lot easier for everyone to be friends with everyone else, have honest discussions with each other or with the coach, and generally it's probably a more pleasant atmosphere. The real difference, though, is that the commissioner is much less of an idiot.

Goodell just runs around knee-jerking to every sensationalist story that the media comes up with. They put out The Narrative and he unwittingly goes along with it. Player safety? Button-mashing that leaves neither the fans nor the players happy. The image of the league? Button-mashing that pisses off the players and draws the fans' attention to the negative. Politics on the field? Dicking around and allowing 50 different unofficial ways of dealing with it, until the fans are pissed off and the players are pissed off too. Meanwhile, the same shit happens in the NBA, and you get a short, no-nonsense response: "here's our policy, maybe we'll review it in the offseason, thanks for your concern but we're in charge, not you." And generally the other leagues come to smarter conclusions because they aren't chasing every single smokestack that the media throws up on the horizon.

So the short version of that is that while yes, the other leagues have better labor relations, that's partly because they have smarter people in charge. And from Goodell, you cannot go anywhere but up. And I don't think, once that's done, that everyone is going to just get behind Jerry Jones because he kicked out the dumb ape in the suit. He's in for a rude awakening if he thinks that.

I totally agree with dumping the Thursday night games, by the way, they are crap to watch and just way over the limit of football fatigue as a potential viewer.

I think that we agree on almost everything and your take is really close to where I am at with things.

I just feel that the other leagues run "smoother" because they have labor peace - for the most part. After the last NBA lock-out things have been generally good. The NBA has no anthem protests because the league office banned them and the players agreed because the two sides actually talk and work together. Guaranteed contracts help!

Look at last night's TNF game. The Seahawks players are convinced they suffered multiple serious injuries because they had to play 2 games in 4 days. The players don't want it. Know who does? Money centric owners led by Jerry Jones. This dude is bad for the league. Every decision he has made since he came into power as an owner has been short-sighted, profit driven, and made with no regard to long-term consequences. He wanted Goodell because he thought he could control him! Now he doesn't? The dude is a joke.

I also agree that the NFL is a PR knee-jerk reaction nightmare. While a change in leadership would almost certainly be justified, giving one terrible owner that much influence would be very very bad.

[steelreserve]

One other thing:

The relative competitive nature of "pre-salary cap" football is missing one thing - free agency. 1992 was the start of unrestricted free agency (scrapping of the old Plan B system) . Only 2 short years later (1994) the current cap system came online.

Can you imagine what the league would look like with unrestricted free agency without a cap? C'mon. That'd be a non-sense realm.

Any major sports league without a cap has always devolved into "haves" and "have nots". There is no way to achieve parity and the "worst to first" vibe that the NFL wants (and needs to survive btw) outside of a cap.

They'll never actually get rid of the cap. Even if a few owners saw an opportunity to buy a championship, the current arrangement is WAY too good to get rid of. I mean, every team has a guaranteed operating profit built in, without even counting any of the local add-on opportunities they can grab for themselves.

But I don't think it'd be as bad as people are worried about. The Yankees don't win every year; they don't even make the playoffs.

[AtlantaDan]

Another detailed article on the Jones/Goodell/Owners fight

This isn’t just Jones taking control of a process that once omitted him and, he believed, overpaid the commissioner. It is perhaps the NFL’s most powerful owner questioning the wisdom and intentions of his fellow owners — a declaration of war....

“The whole room is kind of sick of listening to him,” said one league official who frequently attends owners’ meetings. “He talks more than he’s ever talked. I don’t know what he’s doing right now.”...

“Once the suspension happened with Ezekiel Elliott, Jerry changed,” said an NFL source familiar with the league’s inner workings. “He has been disruptive since that point in time.”

Another influential league figure described Jones’s behavior more starkly.

“He’s just out of control,” the person said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/the-nfl-is-reeling-and-the-jerry-jones-roger-goodell-rift-doesnt-help/2017/11/10/2f60432a-c62b-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html?utm_term=.13929121ebbb

Part of this is a rich guy being a bully. But another part of this refusal to shut up or listen to anyone else may be Jones now being 75 years old and entering the Grandpa Simpson get off my lawn stage of his life.

[Born2Steel]

Another detailed article on the Jones/Goodell/Owners fight

This isn’t just Jones taking control of a process that once omitted him and, he believed, overpaid the commissioner. It is perhaps the NFL’s most powerful owner questioning the wisdom and intentions of his fellow owners — a declaration of war....

“The whole room is kind of sick of listening to him,” said one league official who frequently attends owners’ meetings. “He talks more than he’s ever talked. I don’t know what he’s doing right now.”...

“Once the suspension happened with Ezekiel Elliott, Jerry changed,” said an NFL source familiar with the league’s inner workings. “He has been disruptive since that point in time.”

Another influential league figure described Jones’s behavior more starkly.

“He’s just out of control,” the person said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/the-nfl-is-reeling-and-the-jerry-jones-roger-goodell-rift-doesnt-help/2017/11/10/2f60432a-c62b-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html?utm_term=.13929121ebbb

Part of this is a rich guy being a bully. But another part of this refusal to shut up or listen to anyone else may be Jones now being 75 years old and entering the Grandpa Simpson get off my lawn stage of his life.

Exactly. I work with many doctors, and most are great people. However a few are total bullies. It's a combination of being rich, a position of power,(to believe you can cut on someone and improve them takes some amount of big ego), and years upon years of everyone doing what you say.(from patients to employees, to clinic staff, even other docs). BUT, most doctors, once they 'retire', will return just to remind everyone they still hold authority over most of you.

Non-related...I hope this doesn't end up killing Romo's job as an in-game analyst. He's actually good at that and I enjoy his insights. Family has pull.

[AtlantaDan]

Non-related...I hope this doesn't end up killing Romo's job as an in-game analyst. He's actually good at that and I enjoy his insights. Family has pull.

I think Romo will be fine - not his fault his ex-boss is a jerk. Pete Rozelle and the other owners loathed Al Davis and it did not hurt Madden

[Born2Steel]

I think Romo will be fine - not his fault his ex-boss is a jerk. Pete Rozelle and the other owners loathed Al Davis and it did not hurt Madden

I was thinking Romo was married to the Jones' family.

[AtlantaDan]

I was thinking Romo was married to the Jones' family.

Nope - after he got tired of Carrie Underwood and Jessica Simpson he married Candice Crawford (2008 Miss Missouri USA)

[Born2Steel]

Nope - after he got tired of Carrie Underwood and Jessica Simpson he married Candice Crawford (2008 Miss Missouri USA)

I honestly do not keep up with the Kards or anyone, so I was thinking Romo had married a grand-daughter of Jerry Jones.(For whatever reason I thought that) That's why I thought there might be family issues if Jones continues his coup. Anyway, it's a win for the broadcast booth, IMO.

[BlackAndGold]

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