OPINION:
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hasn’t got anything right on any subject, with any player, on any team (“Roger Goodell gets one right,” Web, May 24). Everything he touches turns into an extended, drama-filled catastrophe.
Two years of league-wide distractions about the national anthem and “the Commish” is still nowhere to be found. The only voice of reason and discipline came from Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, who eliminated any chance of such drama from his organization by laying down the law. Players must “stand during the anthem, toe on the line,” he said. The response from the NFL executive? Mr. Jones is now forbidden from speaking about the anthem.
So we have freedom of speech for disloyal, inappropriate conduct during our national anthem, and no freedom of speech for leaders protecting their organizational brand. This is the definition of dyslexia and a classic example of the behavior of a sociopath. Mr. Goodell knows right from wrong, good from bad, but he’s compelled to do the wrong thing or nothing at all.
Leadership actually has a requisite pattern. It means we know and understand our responsibilities, fall in line and function responsibly within our parameters. Mr. Goodell’s brand of leadership means nobody has a clue what the parameters or consequences are, and no matter how you function you are guilty in the event he chooses to single you out. The parameters are secret and for him to decide on an ever-changing basis. Lower the bar today, raise it tomorrow and simply ignore it the day after that.
NFL-team owners (most of them, anyway) chose to renew the contract for this sociopath — and the NFLPA falls right in line, both blind and silent. They deserve to get what’s coming. Did someone say strike?
STEPHEN MOUNGELIS
Mt. Airy, Md.
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