OPINION:
Roger Goodell, the much-beleaguered NFL commissioner — the one who will probably go down as Most Tone Deaf football league chief in history, at least when it comes to respecting fans’ wishes — has reportedly asked for a $49.5 million annual salary for life in his recent contract negotiations.
Oh, and a private jet, too. Oh, and lifetime health benefits for his family.
All this comes in comparison to his current $30 million annual salary.
ESPN reported: “The committee will address Goodell’s salary and compensation package. The last written counterproposal from Goodell, which was around the first of August, was seeking about $49.5 million per year, as well as the lifetime use of a private jet and lifetime health insurance for his family, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.”
That’s all alleged; league officials released a statement denying the terms of the talk, which were initially reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen.
“The only element of the ESPN report that is true is that there is a regularly scheduled Compensation Committee conference call on Monday,” the NFL’s spokesman Joe Lockhart said, Bleacher Report noted. “There is no basis in fact for any of the other reporting. Those trying to peddle that nonsense are profoundly misinformed or deliberately trying to mislead.”
And yet — the peddling goes forth.
“That number for Roger just seems too much,” one unnamed owner said to ESPN’s Schefter and Mortensen, as Bleacher Report noted. “It’s offensive. It’s unseemly.”
Yes, it is. Particularly since the NFL has been lately losing some revenues and fans over the long-running political activism that’s been allowed to go forth on the field under Goodell’s watch — the activism that paints police as racist, and America as a nation of racism enablers.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has now allegedly threatened to sue league owners if Goodell’s cushy deal is approved — the cushy deal that the league denies even exists.
So in other words: Look for more NFL fireworks and politics.
“Roger is defiant,” one owner reportedly said to Schefter and Mortensen, Bleacher Report noted. “He’s not going to resign. He’s not going to take a pay cut. He can stand to show some humility but he won’t listen to staff.”
Interesting stuff.
But once again, the NFL is in the news, front and center on the sports pages, making waves throughout the media — for matters that have nothing to do with playing the game.
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