On Players’ Free Speech, #NFL Commish Roger Goodell Is a Star-Spangled Hypocrite

On Players’ Free Speech, #NFL Commish Roger Goodell Is a Star-Spangled Hypocrite

On Players’ Free Speech, #NFL Commish Roger Goodell Is a Star-Spangled Hypocrite

While people are literally clinging to life in Puerto Rico and other areas hit hard by natural disasters, last night, the only team owner who had the cajones to express his disapproval for protests during our national anthem, jumped aboard the Cupcake Train, allowing his players to stage their own political protest against Donald Trump who, yes, should probably have kept his trap shut. Albeit it BEFORE the anthem, behold the Dallas Cowboys ahead of Monday night’s game in Arizona:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-2sandcWIU

Were those boos I heard? Why, yes they were. Because that’s what fans fork over their hard-earned money to watch, right? A political wrestling match between an already annoyingly politicized NFL and a president who overstepped his bounds. Imagine a couple of waitresses proselytizing whilst serving you hot wings. Would that go over well? Would you ever return?

Patriots game, Sept 7, 2017, post-DeflateGate: Fans are fed up with Commissioner Goodell and his selective punishment of players, and are not shy about expressing it. (Photo Credit: SportsNet.ca)

While the feud with Trump is new, the kneeling is not. The NFL, in all its self-unawareness, has allowed its bad apples to ruin the game way before Trump entered the picture, and isn’t that ironic given they’re supposedly protesting bad apples in law enforcement? But THAT political speech is A-OK with NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, and there will be no punishment of any kind, even though the player contracts state otherwise with regard to optics. But is Goodell REALLY committed to allowing players to speak freely while at work? In a word: No.

Here are five glaring examples of Goodell’s flaming-haired hypocrisy:

  • The NFL forbid the Dallas Cowboys from donning a helmet decal memorializing the five LEOs killed by a Black Lives Matter terrorist.
  • The league prohibited Titan’s linebacker, Avery Williamson, from honoring 9/11 victims. All he wanted to do was wear cleats that read “9-11-01” and “Never Forget” on the attack’s 15th anniversary.
  • The Steelers’ William Gay was fined for wearing purple cleats to raise awareness for domestic violence, which Goodell SAYS he supports.
  • Player Robert Griffin III was fined $10,000 for wearing an “Operation Patience” t-shirt during a press conference. Why? Because it was manufactured by Reebok; players are required to wear only Nike.
  • Griffin III was also dinged for wearing a shirt that said “Know Jesus, Know Peace.” A Castro shirt of unknown manufacture and derogatory socks, though? No problem.

And finally, I think we all remember the flack Tim Tebow took for kneeling in prayer on the field. He was lambasted, from one end of the country to the other, from the very same schizophrenic bigots now screeching about free speech and anthem protests, while cheering speech-stomping in Berkeley.

Notice any common theme? Hint: none of this is Leftist dogma that pushes “social justice,” the Left’s favorite buzz phrase. And as it turns out, seems many fans, if the reports of sparsely-filled stands and plummeting ratings are any indication, are tiring of their values being spat on by the very overpaid, history-challenged, thin-skinned brats whose salaries their support pays.

Raise your hand if you’re a free speech hypocrite (Roger Goodell; Photo Credit: OneNewsPage.com)

No, despite Goodell’s assertions otherwise, he does not welcome free speech in the NFL; he welcomes only speech of which he approves. And while no one has a right to free speech in their workplace—the repeated misrepresentations of the first amendment’s application to work spaces by those who should know better have made my head explode!—Goodell has applied his “commitment” to free speech selectively: by overtly taking sides. He’s the ultimate Social Justice Warrior, a man who’s allowed his players to disrespect paying customers, our nation, and those who’ve fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy. But then, it’s easy to choose sides when you’re sitting in a mansion, raking in millions of greenbacks a year, where there really are no consequences for ignoring, and profoundly insulting, your own fan base.

And that includes dedicated employees who love both the game and their country:

“I waited until the national anthem ended, I took off my shirt, threw my Bills hat on the ground, walked out,” Nikischer said.

Nikischer wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post that on Sunday he was “pushed to my limit today and had to quit. I can not work in a place where multi millionaires cry that they are oppressed.”

How is this behavior, as outlined in player contracts, NOT detrimental to the ball clubs, Mr. Goodell? HMM???

Unfortunately for those of us just needing a weekly escape from everyday life, if Goodell doesn’t catch a clue, his highly-politicized, activist-controlled NFL—filled with gutless owners afraid of being labeled “racist” by the very players they coddle—will go the way of Mizzou football:

…and that would be a sad day for American culture.

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14 Comments
  • Joseph says:

    One thing I notice rather consistantly about people like Goodell, Jones, etc…is that they face few or no repercussions (at least at this point) for their actions. That seems to be one aspect of leftists: They are protected from the results of their actions by masks, money, academia and popularity. Oh, and also by that pesky (sarc.) Constitution that they so despise.

    • Jodi Giddings says:

      That’s so true. And it’s precisely why they keep pushing the bar forward. There’s no limit. Well, unless you want to wear 9/11 cleats.

  • Joe Miller says:

    The market will determine how this turns out. The market always gets its way.

  • GWB says:

    Jerry Jones has always been a putz. The Cowboys stopped being America’s Team when Landry retired.

    This? This is just icing on the cake.

  • Skillyboo says:

    Until Kaepernick started this phony outrage the alt left MSM had worked hard at destroying the NFL. Now they have glommed onto the National Anthem protest using it to achieve their goal. And what will be their next target when they achieve this one, one can’t even imagine. We are being led by the nose and don’t even realize we are helping them.

    • Jodi Giddings says:

      Exactly right. And the NBA and MLB on teetering on the edge of joining in. They’re what Stalin called “useful idiots.” And if they had any knowledge of world history, they’d see they’re being used to dismantle America.

  • Scott says:

    Good post Jodi, though the one part i don’t understand is when you said “and a president who overstepped his bounds”. While I agree that the President should not have gotten into a pissing match, his original comments, at a campaign rally, were not overstepping at all, IMO… he gave an opinion, which all of us are entitled to. Could he have phrased it better, maybe by comparing the NFL to sports like NHL, or Nascar, who don’t put up with such crap? sure, and should he have let it drop after initially stirring them up, yes… But I still don’t see how that’s overstepping..

    • Jodi Giddings says:

      Hi Scott, thanks so much for the comment!

      Let me see if I can explain: The First Amendment restrains the government from interfering with speech (congress shall make no law, etc). Now while I AGREE with what President Trump said, he nevertheless advocated for a private company to fire its employees because he doesn’t like their speech. That’s an overstep. He should have just left it as “disgraceful behavior,” or whatever, if he felt like he needed to weigh in. But when he called for their jobs to be taken away, he stepped over the line.

      I hope that makes sense. 😉

      • qScott says:

        Jodi,
        I guess that it’s a difference in perception. I agree with what you say about a situation where the President advocates for a company to fire it’s employees that would be an overstep, but for me, at a rally, to say ” wouldn’t it be nice if they just said you’re fired”, falls short of “advocating”, that he wasn’t actually “calling” for their jobs, more suggesting that if it was his decision, that’s the way he’d go… again, I am a big believer in time / place.. If it had been in a press conference, or some situation where the entire purpose was to address this issue, I’d probably feel differently, but at a rally, where he’s trying to fire up the crowd…. I just see it differently…
        But as always, thanks for a great thought provoking post, and for taking the time to address questions.

      • GWB says:

        I don’t think he legally overstepped. He politically overstepped. (And, arguably, overstepped in a cultural manner – just not something the POTUS needs to be talking about.)

  • Scott says:

    Sorry, fat fingers.. here it is under my name
    Jodi,
    I guess that it’s a difference in perception. I agree with what you say about a situation where the President advocates for a company to fire it’s employees that would be an overstep, but for me, at a rally, to say ” wouldn’t it be nice if they just said you’re fired”, falls short of “advocating”, that he wasn’t actually “calling” for their jobs, more suggesting that if it was his decision, that’s the way he’d go… again, I am a big believer in time / place.. If it had been in a press conference, or some situation where the entire purpose was to address this issue, I’d probably feel differently, but at a rally, where he’s trying to fire up the crowd…. I just see it differently…
    But as always, thanks for a great thought provoking post, and for taking the time to address questions.

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