The Crystal Ball Sinners and Saints

For those tuning in for my promised love letter about the Pittsburgh Pirates, you're going to have to cool your heels. I've decided to push that tome until the season officially ends, hopefully with 82 or more wins and possibly, if I dare dream, a post season berth. I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but if you're going to dream, dream big. In the meantime, as we weave ever closer to the opening of the NFL season, if feels like the right time to chime in on the New Orleans Saints and Bountygate.

Without getting into too many details, as the story has been played and replayed dozens of times by now, from 2009 through 2011, the Saints defense ran a bounty program, with cash awards going to players who injured or knocked out opposing players during a game. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams ran the program, keeping track of which players performed and gave detailed instructions on which players his defense would face were playing with injuries and encouraging his charges to target those players and where. The NFL severely punished the Saints for this program, suspending general manager Mickey Loomis for 6 games, assistant coach Joe Vitt for 6 games, head coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season, and suspending Williams, who had moved on to the St. Louis Rams, indefinitely. The NFL also suspended 4 players central to program for various amounts of games, the most severe being a one season suspension for Jonathan Vilma.

Now, like most I was unnerved by the story. I found it troubling that players would willingly try to injure their fellow brethren. Everyone knows how short the average NFL career is, and how fierce the competition is to even garner a spot on a team. Why a player would willingly, and enthusiastically, aim to deprive another man, just like themselves, of the ability to make a living playing football just felt cannibalistic. I still have trouble wrapping my head around why a player would look to inflict career threatening damage when the same thing could happen to them on every play.

But what really bothered me was how everyone, from former players and coaches and every self righteous media wag came out of the woodwork to vilify the Saints. The most annoying of course, had to be former player Warren Sapp who went on a sanctimonious tirade against Gregg Williams. Please. I'm sure not only has Sapp heard the kind of things Williams said in a locker room, I'd be willing to bet Sapp has said some of the same things about taking out opposing players. What felt the most disingenuous about the witch hunt was that each and every person who went after the Saints owed their fame, fortune and current occupation to the NFL, and the violence upon it was built. Except, of course, for the fans. While we do not make a living off of football, we do provide everyone involved with a living, and therefore are just as culpable

Fans spewed righteous indignation and shock over the Saints bounty program. But I ask were you really that surprised something like this happened in a profession built around physical violence? We really cannot be that naive. After all, we created this monster with our appetite for our modern era gladiator games.

These men are paid to go out and slam into each other for a living. So injuries are bound to happen. Yes, I know, there’s a difference from an injury occurring from normal play and from one inflicted intentionally, but they're still paid to hit each other. And we’ve all seen at least one game where these men trained to dispense violence start getting too into it and fights break out amongst players. Heck, that happens at training camps between teammates. It happened frequently this year in Steelers training camp. Too much emotion, testosterone and strength is involved. Once they get angry, well you know those combatants want to hurt each other. The will is there to do such things from the start. It does not take too much to push them further into unsettling territory.

Yes, you might say, these players are wired for violence, but to take money in exchange for injury, that's just terrible. In regards to incentivizing such behavior, the bounty program had nothing to do with money and everything to do with recognition. For many players, the amounts of money they would reap from the injuries inflicted are minor compared to what they make in their weekly paychecks. This scandal was never about the money, it was about the award. They were out to be shining stars in a program set up by their coach, a man they've been taught to listen to and work to please and impress since Pee Wee League football. They’re human, just like everyone else. And all humans like to be awarded, recognized, and given praise and trophies for a job well done. That’s what those bounty payments really were, awards and recognition. They get to be the star of the locker room because they flattened Favre or wiped out Warner.

I know the thought that they would try to intentionally injure members of their fraternity of players is terrible, and I couldn't agree more. But people do it in less violent ways every day. Think about where you work, have you not seen a coworker screw over some intentionally? Have you not seen someone let another employee take the fall for their own benefit, backstabbed someone in order to get a promotion, took credit for someone else’s work for their own gain? Come on, the recession was created by people working extra hard to screw others out of their money, and then walking away scot-free with cash falling out of their pockets as others lost jobs and homes left and right. We do this sort of behavior to each other every single day. The difference here is these men were doing it with their bodies while others do it with pens and psychological ploys. That’s it. So if we behave this way in office settings, why the shock that players would do the same thing in their office setting?

There’s no reason to be shocked that players would have bounties out on each other. That’s been part of the NFL since its inception. Have you ever watched old NFL Films interviews? The players featured talk openly about bounties put out on opponents. Some are even proud their play was so special that other teams targeted them. Have you ever read Breaker Boys? They talk about bounties being put on players right in the book. That book is about the NFL in the 1920s! Bounties are nothing new in the NFL. The only thing new is our reaction to it, which considering what we continually learn regarding player safety and the long term effects of engaging in the game of football, is not surprising. What these men did does not make this a scandal. What we as fans and consumers now know regarding safety, long term disability and brain damage does.

Roger Goodell has worked hard the last few seasons in an effort to make what’s behind the curtain more palatable to the general public and instituted changes to make the game safer. That sounds good, right? If you make the game safer, then there’s less chance of tragedies like Junior Seau and Dave Duerson occurring and we can go back to spending our Fall Sundays in a chicken wing and beer induced stupor as we consume 12+ hours of NFL entertainment. Everyone’s happy.

But are they? Fans now seemingly are openly questioning the game and whether it’s such a good idea to put people through this kind of punishment in the name of entertainment, even if they do it voluntarily.

The NFL is finding itself at an odd crossroads, where people are starting to lose their taste for the bloodlust of the game, one of the core elements of football. I wonder if this is something Roman emperors discovered during gladiator matches near the end of the Roman Empire. If so, perhaps we have larger issues as a society than the well being and safety of those participating in one of our favorite entertainment venues.

But like Caesar who doesn’t see Brutus behind him, Heir Goodell will desperately fight to keep us slaked with thirst for the violence while assuring us that don’t worry, those guys out there are fine. Don’t look behind the curtain anymore, we got this covered. Nothing to see back there. Unfortunately, Brutus keeps pulling back the curtain.

So in retaliation for the Saints playing the part of Brutus this year, and to make sure no rogue outfit such as Gregg Williams and his Saints defense kills the golden goose, Goodell brought the hammer down on New Orleans with a vengeance and authority I haven’t seen since Thor smacked Captain America’s shield in The Avengers.

The public reasoning for the harsh sanctions meted upon the Saints were to uphold the integrity of the game, to change the culture of violence and reckless abandon in the NFL and of course, to insure the safety of the players. But I don't buy that for one minute.

I refuse to be fed the same bowl of gruel from Roger Goodell and his mission to change the NFL culture to make the game safer for the players. This public relations ploy to paint Goodell as an enlightened being pulling the Neanderthals into modern times feels too much like a convenient construct. While the safety edicts and increased penalization for dangerous hits are good for the players and eventually the overall health of the game, let’s not kid ourselves. Goodell is not instituting these changes because of some altruistic nature and personal desire for player safety. He makes these moves because it's currently what is best for the business of the NFL.

And to make sure the business of the NFL stays healthy, Goodell punished New Orleans, all in the name of safety. But I believe he did it for three very different reasons.

Retribution - Goodell slammed New Orleans for making his “player safety” schpiel look like so much clap trap and publicly making Goodell look like a fool. There were rumors about the Saints' bounty program long before the story came to light. Goodell asked the team and coaching staff if this were true, and they all said no. After the story broke, it made the NFL and Goodell look bad for having such behavior occur under their noses. So Goodell pounded the Saints for embarrassing him personally and the league professionally. Goodell did the same thing to Michael Vick when he lied about his gambling and dog fighting ring.

The Saints and their bounty program exposed an ugly side of the NFL, and gave the league and Goodell a black eye. In return, Goodell metaphorically kneecapped New Orleans.

Money - By exposing his player safety campaign as nothing but a fraud created to keep customers, I mean fans, who are wavering because of the effects long term violence is having on former players. You can’t make a violent game completely safe, especially when played by violent people.

Goodell's big talk about player health and safety is nothing more than a smoke screen created to justify an 18 game season and increase profits, and the only way to do that is to show that the added impact of 2 additional games will not adversely impact the safety and health of the players. I have no idea how he’ll be able to show that with any reasonable medical study. Perhaps if he had Dr. Nick leading his medical team, he might pull it off.

If Goodell were serious about the issue of player safety, far more expansive changes would be enacted and more consistent punishments meted out. I cannot take seriously this supposed player safety campaign Goodell and the league have embarked upon until the league starts mandating concussion reducing helmets, mouth pieces, increased padding, researching ways to build better gear and becoming consistent on penalties and punishments for all violators, not just those who hit or injure certain stars.

Worse, Goodell is hurting his own cause by maintaining that replacement referees are just as good as the regulars currently locked out. We have already seen more than a few questionable calls this preseason, and once the games become real, more bad officiating will follow. If Goodell was truly concerned about player safety, he would reinstate the professionals who know what to look for and what to call, not scrubs who's resume highlights to date include high school football games and the Lingerie Bowl. But it's never been about safety, it's about expanding the ability to make money.

Plus, he’s trying to avoid losing money. Every day more former players are joining lawsuits against the league regarding long term physical damage, poor retirement benefits and accusations that the NFL knew more about concussion damage and kept it from players. Sure, the NFL could lose a ton of money to these lawsuits, but the money lost there is peanuts to what Goodell is truly afraid of losing, which is paying customers. This leads us into our last point

Staving off Lawsuits and Keeping Fans - By claiming to be concerned about player safety now, and claiming the NFL is just now learning more about the long term affects of concussions, Goodell is hoping to thwart the efforts of former players and their ever growing number of lawsuits. Goodell needs to show more than ever his perceived interest in player safety before this becomes terribly expensive. If his predecessors would have shown real interest in taking care of infirm former players instead of throwing them token money or poor health care plans, perhaps they wouldn’t be so vindictive right now.

The more that turn against their former employer, the more fans begin to wonder if this is such a good entertainment venue to be so invested in and support. They start to question the morality and decency of rooting for men to physically destroy each other for their own pleasure. And if enough of them turn away from the sport, then that is tremendous lost revenue as well as loss of status amongst North American professional sports. Less fans in attendance and less viewers means less tickets, less concessions, less merchandise sold and less people tuning in. Fewer viewers means advertisers will now pay less for advertising, which will be the real blow to the NFL piggy bank.

And right there is what Goodell is desperately trying to fight, losing what he already has. This issue of concussions in the NFL is not new. It’s been questioned by journalists and former players for years now. But it’s only recently that the fan base has started openly, and loudly, questioning the NFL’s policies on the matter, which also until recently the NFL had been able to brush off the subject and make vague statements regarding their concern and how they are working to improve safety.

Goodell’s problem is that if too many people question without actual action by the league, fans will walk away and spend their entertainment dollar elsewhere. He cannot have that and be the only NFL commissioner to fail in growing the game.

His hand has been forced. I do not believe he truly cares about player safety other than how it may impact the bottom line. Yes, the strides he has made are good, but he could still make so many more before this season even begins. And he could have instituted these changes on day one of his tenure as commissioner, but he waited until the very public storm regarding this issue burst open over his head.

As fans, our hands are forced as well. The conundrum we face is that we love the taste of the sausage the NFL provides (exciting sporting events and entertainment) but now we have seen how its made (on the blood and future health of those who play) and the mess it creates when you make it (lost lives of Junior Seau, Dave Duerson, Mike Webster and many others who died young and often by their own hands). Now we are beginning to question whether we’re even hungry anymore once we find out that the cost is much higher than the price at the till.

Goodell will do anything to help us keep our appetite, and he has been coddling and soothing us like a parent to a child with a stomach ache, assuring us that it hurts now, but it will pass, and don’t worry, we’ll make the sausage different next time and it will taste even better. Considering the ratings and pomp and circumstance surrounding the draft this year, the build up of hype throughout the pre-season to the season opener, the increased merchandise and ticket sales and the further explosion of pick em pools and fantasy football, it looks Goodell's concerns are merely minor annoyances since obviously there haven’t been enough lost appetites that true changes in NFL player safety and culture may be affected. For now.