Will public opinion ever turn on Goodell?

[DCTransplant]

As more and more time passes since the original Bounty allegations, we Saints fans, who have paid attention, have become more and more certain that these allegations are vastly overblown, and that the "system" has not been fair to the Saints. And while we've seen a few journalists take the cause (Florio), for the most part this stuff seems to have faded into the background on the national scene.

I live in the Washington DC area, and when football fans here see me sporting my Saints gear, I pretty much get the same reaction: "ooo, tough offseason for your team"... If I ever say anything that suggests that I don't believe the accusations, I get looked at like some kind of freak conspiracy theorist. But there is no outrage any more, it's just something that happened and now it is over.

So when Goodell predictably upholds all of the penalties on Monday, does the story just sort of go away? Is the world so used to the corruption of big corporations that it does not even blink when 4 guys making millions get unjustly suspended and branded as something that they are not by the commissioner of the NFL? Not to mention the coaches?

I can see a scenario where that will be the case. But I see 2 things that will continue to try to shed light on this... 1) the Vilma lawsuit, and 2) Every home game in the Superdome this season with fans wearing their "Free Sean Payton" shirts and blasting Goodell and the unfair system with every sign and costume on TV.

So will any of this matter, or will the story just fade into tacit acceptance and apathy. I hope it won't and that one day Goodell will get what's coming to him, but the cynic in me is not so sure.

[King Stilts]

As a "freak" conspiracy theorist, I can tell you No. People will never listen to you no matter how much evidence you give them. Get used to the frustration.

[Gumerk]

I think, we as Who Dat's need to find a way to not let this go away_I know there's the power of e-mail and such, but I think we need a mass, tight-knit operation that has a priority of making sure our story never goes away and light is shed on it for its due time.

[guidomerkinsrules]

the media, and thus the public to a degree - prefer the fight/drama vs winners and losers
if goodell "lost" it would be a very complex process filled with minutiae - very, very few people follow that

think about it - last year we were all riveted to the owners vs players fight - but not many really paid much attention to the actual CBA (how many of us everyday saints fans still go, "wait the CBA lets goodell do what???" "wait, the cba does WHAT to how training camp works???")

99% of the time media/audience will opt for the easier drama

[_W_]

Just read the PFT comments on bounty related articles, there are always some idiots to say that our coachs admitted it..

So most fans will keep saying we're guilty but some are starting to change their mind.

[SaintRay]

I am a Saints fan through and through. I also travel alot for a living.

Most people in cities across the USA side with Goddell and believe he is doing the right thing. They believe the Saints did wrong. I discuss this plenty in my travels because people see me sporting the Saints logo and it leads into deeper discussions.

Saints fans know differently, but we can't expect others to feel for us right now. Afterall, if this were happening to the 49ers, Giants, Falcons, etc... we would view it as just another advantage for our team.

[daybreaker]

You can already tell public opinion is turning in our favor. The ESPN poll 2 weeks ago that ended up 50/50 on whether or not the bounty system was over-exaggerated? 2 months ago that would have had 80% people saying "No, it wasnt".

Go on PFT. 2 months ago, anyone trying to support the Saints would end up at like +20/-250... Now people are getting +250/-40 for saying Goodell has no real evidence.

Things are swinging our way because people are getting tired of Goodell saying "I have this piece of evidence, trust me" then having that evidence get leaked, and all it shows is bonuses.

[meily]

I think this will be a mark on his tenure...when its all said and done he will be remembered for being sued by a player for defamation of character and falsifying information to the public to justify using the New Orleans Saints as a sacrificial lame to push his "player safety" cause because the NFL was being sued by former players.......atleast that will always pop in my head when I think about Godells reign.

[Fontenot]

Fans of other teams want to believe the absolute worst about the Saints; that is human nature (we are no different) so that is not surprising.

I am surprised that Jerry jones was the only owner to publicly acknowledge how difficult this has been for us fans and to wish us well, & (as has been discussed in other threads )I believe some of the more powerful owners decided to throw Benson under the bus because of the law suit and most of the media decided to play along.

Goodell began his career in the NFl in the PR dept. He is the son of a Washington politician. He married a news anchor. He is a master at manipulating the media.

It will be years from now, but one day the SAints will be able to freely tell their stories after they retire from the NFL, and when they do, Goodell will be exposed. By that time the NFL as we know it now will not exist because of the law suit, and The players lawyers will already have proven that Goodell and the owners tried to bury Concussion evidence.

[El Caliente]

I don't think anyone ever liked him to begin with. From the moment he took over for Tags he was set up to be unliked. Tags was the greatest commish any sport had seen, and in came this guy that was nothing like him other than having a legal background.

[Fontenot]

Another example of Goodell hypocrisy: he destroyed evidence proving one very powerful owner's team participated in cheating, destroyed it and then told us to take his word for it that destroying the evidence was the right thing to do. Then with the Saints he is all about creating evidence (I e the TP interview) where there is none.

[Mile_High_Saint]

most people, except for saints fans of course, are idiots. You tell them something 100 times they will believe it as a fact. They will never question it just because it is burned into their memory.

[otistp]

I don't think public opinion is or ever has been very high for Goodell. That's an entirely different matter than support for the Saints. If you (the general "you", not aimed at anyone in particular) are waiting for fans of other teams to come to your side in any kind of meaningful number, it's almost certainly going to be a long wait. People aren't going to turn against Goodell because of the bounty situation outside of Saints fans. Most people don't care what's happening to other teams and if they do care, it's only because they enjoy that they are suffering.

Goodell's legacy isn't going to be about the case against the Saints. It's going to be about the game changes made to promote player safety. In a best case scenario, the changes all work and everyone looks back fondly at his tenure and at how the quality of life for players has improved after retirement. In a worst case scenario, the changes to the game drive the fans away in droves because it's no longer football. I'm sure it will fall somewhere in between the two and how far one way or another on the scale will determine whether he's considered a success or failure.

[SaintBrad]

complex drama doesn't sell. Proving Goodell is the bad guy and why, is far to complex. No ones going to do it. Florio does it because he went to law school and has a strong political biased belief that goes against Goodell in this particular circumstance.

Overall, its too complex. Freeman, King, etc will leave it alone and continue to paint the saints to be evil because that is simple drama, and simple drama sells, exception for fictional "books"

[26ISTHEMAN]

NFL fans as a whole don't like Goodell, but they like what he did to the Saints because it wasn't their team. I don't think they will ever change their minds about the Saints, and their opinions of Goodell, which are already negative, will continue.