Bill Belichick, Richard Sherman Put Roger Goodell In His Place
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Most NFL fans already know how they feel about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. An SI fan poll from 2014 - before all that DeflateGate nonsense, and just as the you-know-what was hitting the fan in the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson domestic violence cases - had 38 percent of fans saying Goodell should not keep his job. Surely, in the wake of the league's egregious mishandling of multiple controversies, that number has gone up.
A 2013 player poll conducted by USA Today found that only 39 percent of NFL players approved of Goodell, positing that the commissioner does not care about player safety as much as he may lead the public to believe. Now, if the words of one Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks are any indication, not only does Goodell not understand player safety, he doesn't understand players in general.
Sherman took issue with Goodell's new rule proposals regarding penalty flags in an interview with ESPN. Goodell suggests ejecting players who receive a second personal foul during a game.
The outspoken All-Pro cornerback may rub many people the wrong way - and the video on ESPN comes across as creatively edited - but he won't find many who disagree with his views on the much-maligned commissioner, whose idea falls flat when proposed to actual football players.
"I think [the proposal is] foolish, but it sounds like something somebody who's never played the game would say, something that they would suggest," Sherman said, "because [Goodell] doesn't understand. He's just a face. He's just a suit. He's never stepped foot on the field and understood how you could get a personal foul."
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Sherman's argument holds water; personal fouls are seldom committed intentionally, or while thinking clearly and rationally. They frequently happen in the heat of the moment or by instinct, a mentality that a never-was like Goodell could not possibly understand.
Meanwhile, the NFL Owners Meetings kicked off at 6 p.m. Sunday evening in Orlando, Fla. where Goodell spoke to team execs ... minus, at least, one coach. According to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, as Goodell's speech went on, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walked away from the banquet room. Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal tweeted that Belichick had "just strolled into the resort" where the meetings are taking place.
Goodell is giving a speech to head coaches, owners, etc. in a banquet room. Belichick is walking down the hall in the opposite direction.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) March 20, 2016
There's no way of knowing whether Belichick intentionally snubbed Goodell by avoiding the room where the commissioner gave his speech. But you can reasonably infer that arriving in time to attend Goodell's speech, or even stopping in to hear whatever he could, was not exactly a priority for the Patriots head coach.
In light of Sherman's direct blasts and Belichick's apparent silent disapproval, it's fairly certain that Goodell is no more popular with players or coaches than he is with the fans or the general public.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.