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The NFL appears interested in social justice reform, but Chargers tackle Russell Okung isn’t buying the talk from the league office. Okung attended the recent meeting in New York with other NFL players, owners, union and league representatives, but the lack of action since then may prompt him and others to skip next week’s scheduled meeting. "NFL officials appear unmotivated and don't share the same sense of urgency. Increasingly, the meetings appear unproductive at best and disingenuous at worst,” Okung said (via ESPN.com). “Furthermore, the ongoing disparagement of Colin Kaepernick is a factor needing remedy for the players and public...

As the NFL lurches toward another season of disappointing TV ratings, media executives once again are questioning whether there’s simply too much football. There seem to be dozens of reasons for the ratings downturn, from protests during the national anthem and the continued ratings strength of cable news networks to the concussion issue and weather-related problems. But one reason increasingly being discussed in media circles deals with NFL oversaturation, a topic that has irked network executives since the league launched NFL Network in 2003. So far this season, fans have been able to watch games on Thursday nights, Sunday mornings,...

The debate over NFL player protests during the national anthem has become so big within the league that it has delayed the completion of commissioner Roger Goodell's contract extension, league sources told ESPN. Goodell's deal is still expected to be completed and has been papered, sources told ESPN, but the process has been slowed while the overwhelming majority of the NFL's attention has been diverted to handling the anthem issue, which has affected TV ratings, merchandise sales and the country's feelings about football. Had the issue not existed, Goodell's contract might have been completed at last week's owners meeting in...

When the first half of the 21st century is way back enough for a history to be written unencumbered by agenda, President Barack Obama will be remembered as the worst thing that ever happened to the Democrat Party. And to the NFL.* If you think that is a stretch, hear me out… Thanks to George W. Bush’s terrible second term, two unbelievably awful Republican opponents in John McCain and Mitt Romney, not to mention the charisma and impressive political skills as the most leftwing senator in the country, Barry O won two national elections and did so by impressive margins....

Over two short press appearances, the NFL commish could not stop repeating the same two wordsWithout a doubt this is already an NFL season Roger Goodell can't wait to drop kick into distant memory. As players' political activism increasingly encroaches onto the playing field, ratings are getting blitzed. Over the first six weeks, NFL ratings are down 7.5 percent as compared to last season, per Nielsen. They're down 18.7 percent from the 2015 season. (Commenting last year on the decline, Goodell punted, blaming the presidential election for America's fading interest.) Faced with such awful stats, it's incontrovertible that if Goodell...

Like many Americans, I find it distressing to see multi-millionaire athletes kneeling during the playing of our national anthem before professional football games. In my lifetime, football has been a big part of our image as Americans. In my working-class Cleveland, Ohio family, Sunday football was always a big event. One of my cousins was married to Lenny Dawson who would become a Hall of Fame quarterback. It was a rare Sunday during football season when we weren’t gathered around our TV or radio for the Cleveland Browns or the Kansas City Chiefs game (both if possible). As we watched...

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had a press conference today, and said the following: NBC News ✔@NBCNews NFL Commissioner Goodell: “What we’re trying to do is stay out of politics. We're not looking to get into politics" 2:20 PM - Oct 18, 2017 (snip) Katie Pavlich ✔@KatiePavlich Roger Goodell is a coward. Enforce the NFL anthem policy or not, sitting in the middle by saying people "should" stand is pathetic 2:23 PM - Oct 18, 2017 427 Replies 1,111 Retweets 3,429 likes It’s almost like Goodell’s playing politics by reacting that way!

National Football League (NFL) owners, executives, players and union leaders announced Tuesday that they’re making plans to “utilize our platform” to effectuate “social change.” The NFL and NFL Players Association released a joint statement after a meeting Monday that discussed, among other things, players’ National Anthem protests at games. The statement declares their joint plans to use the NFL’s platform to change society and “address inequalities in our communities.” […] On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell used his platform to promote Senate legislation. Goodell and Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin issued a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he thinks NFL players should stop protesting during the national anthem and instead speak out against domestic violence. The Republican former presidential hopeful sent a letter Monday to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith saying he believes players are showing disrespect for the flag and veterans. Players should drop the “divisive political sideshow” and speak out against domestic violence instead, the governor wrote. NFL league meetings Tuesday offer an opportunity to strongly condemn domestic violence, Walker added. “My request is simple: stand for the American flag and the national anthem...

You've probably heard many misinformed reasons online why the NFL owners are squishy on allowing players to protest during the playing of our national anthem. Aside from the unpredictable, mediocre play coming from players who have yet one more unrelated distraction occupying valuable time during the week all the way up to kickoff, it comes down to two reasons....

The wife of National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell has admitted running a secret Twitter account to clap back at his critics during the anthem kneeling controversy. Jane Skinner Goodell on Thursday admitted to running the now-deleted Twitter account @forargument under the name 'Jones smith', using it to clap back at unflattering NFL coverage.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday issued a memo to all 32 teams addressing the issue of players not standing for the national anthem before games. In the memo, Goodell stated that the league believes that "everyone should stand for the national anthem" and "our country, and our fans expect that of us." "It only took Roger, what, two or three weeks of public humiliation to finally get the message?" Newt Gingrich said on "Fox & Friends," noting that President Donald Trump has been a fierce critic of NFL players who refuse to stand for the national anthem, and the...

NFL boss Roger Goodell says all players should stand for the national anthem In a letter to the league’s 32 teams concerning players’ protests against police brutality, Goodell urged them to ‘move past this controversy’ and ‘honor our flag’ All NFL players should stand during the national anthem, the football league’s boss, Roger Goodell, said on Tuesday, as the controversy over protests against police brutality by players and their dispute with Donald Trump rumbled on. In a letter to the NFL’s 32 teams, Goodell said a plan was under way to “move past” the debacle. “Like many of our fans,...

"It certainly was my takeaway that the commissioner was looking for a way for the protests to end," Smith said Friday when asked about his 30-minute conversation with Goodell, while declining to offer specifics about what was discussed. Goodell declined to comment, but a league source did not dispute Smith's account. "Knowing the league the way I know the league, they are first and foremost concerned about the impact on their business," Smith said. "That's always their first concern. I mean, who are we kidding?" Nobody was kidding when many of the NFL's highest-profile owners, including Robert Kraft of the...

In news that will shock only those who have spent the last week living in caves, the NFL’s favorability has taken a massive nosedive this week. The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released this week shows that the league’s favorability has fallen from 30 percent on September 21 to a low of 17 percent only a week later. The poll takers said that this month’s numbers are the lowest favorability ratings the poll has ever measured since it first began polling on the question. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trump voters expressed an even harsher view. On September 21, 25 percent of Trump voters approved...

New York Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas said Thursday that he was among 20 to 25 players and owners who met Tuesday with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in New York to discuss player protests of the national anthem last week that were heavily criticized by President Trump. “Now, there was nothing ironed out; there was just a whole bunch of opinions being thrown out,” said Casillas, who attended the meeting with Giants’ co-owner John Mara. “I liked it because you got to see the opinions from the owners, and you got to see some of the opinions from the players as...

What say you now, Roger Goodell, Team Owners & Players? If you folks have any brains at all, you will all go public ordering and instructing all of your employees, the football players, that they will immediately stand with their right hands covering their heart,s "no locking of arms while standing", as the American flag is displayed and the National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner" before game time. And, Roger Goodell and all thirty team owners and all players will publicly and verbally apologize to all the American people, and most importantly with humble, dignified, manner, apologize to POTUS, Donald...

The NFL, for its part, was not all that eager to continue the back-and-forth with Trump. “He’s exercising his freedom to speak,” league spokesman Joe Lockhart said on a conference call with reporters, “and I’m exercising my freedom not to react.”

President Trump told a gathering of the Republican Party’s richest donors at a Manhattan fundraiser that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could have stopped players’ protests during the national anthem by suspending former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick when he first took a knee last year. “All Goodell had to do was say there’s rules and you can’t do it, suspend him for a couple games, you would never have had this,” Trump said, citing an attendee. “Now you have this whole thing going and it’s a very dangerous thing ‘cause we cannot let anyone disrespect our country like that.” Kaepernick began...

Roger Goodell is a loathsome hypocritical dirtbag. It turns out that there are specific rules for decorum prior to NFL games. From WaPo: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league’s game operations manual, according to a league source. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking....