Commissioner Goodell's letter to the fans (Discusses CBA) (1 Viewer)

[SebaSaint]

Since it isn't a news story, I don't think copyright is an issue, I'm posting the whole thing as copied from the Saints official site:

Commissioner Goodell's Letter to NFL Fans
By NFL

Letter was sent to all fans in the NFL database

With one of the most exciting regular seasons now completed and the playoffs about to begin, let me first thank you and all NFL fans for your incredible support. Many fans have been asking me where we stand on signing a new collective bargaining agreement with the player's union. Let me update you and be clear at the outset:

I know we can and will reach an agreement.

My goal as Commissioner now is to help our teams and players find a solution that is fair to everyone and ensures that football becomes more popular, accessible, and fun. We want the next decade to be the best yet for our fans, and I'm ready to work day and night to make that happen.

We've come a long way. Compare where we are today with 10 years ago. From player accountability to player safety, more and better television coverage, upgrading the in-stadium experience, innovations like the RedZone channel, the Draft in prime time and playing the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, we are focused on doing what's best for the players, teams, and fans. My priority is and always will be the game and the fans who love our game.

The NFL is great because fans care deeply about it. Economic conditions, however, have changed dramatically inside and outside the NFL since 2006 when we negotiated the last CBA. A 10 percent unemployment rate hurts us all. Fans have limited budgets and rightly want the most for their money. I get it.

Yes, NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices and the NFL is no different. These are not easy negotiations, but the outcome can be positive. If both sides give a little, everyone, including fans, will get a lot and the game will improve through innovation.

Even in difficult economic times, a new CBA presents us with the opportunity to secure the future of our game. You may ask how will the NFL look under this vision?

A significant change would be to resolve fan complaints about preseason by modifying our 20-game format. Fans tell us they don't like the quality of the preseason games, and we're listening. An enhanced season of 18 regular season and two preseason games would not add a single game for the players collectively, but would give fans more meaningful, high-quality football.

Our emphasis on player health and safety is absolutely essential to the future of our game. We are strictly enforcing rules that protect players from unnecessarily dangerous play, especially involving hits to the head. We are changing the "play through it" culture to a "player-first" culture to ensure that if a player has a head injury, he doesn't play again until his health is certain. We are also addressing the potential wear-and-tear on players in the way they train in-season and off-season

It's not just the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league. That includes a new system that properly compensates proven veterans and retired players by shifting some of the outrageous sums paid to many unproven rookies. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated published a list of the 50 highest-paid American athletes that included five 2009 NFL rookies. Every other athlete on the list was a proven veteran. In 2009, NFL clubs contracted $1.2 billion to 256 drafted rookies with $585 million guaranteed before they had stepped on an NFL field.

Don't get me wrong: top draft choices will continue to be highly paid. All we're asking for is a return to common sense in paying our rookies. Other leagues have done this and we can too.

These improvements and more will lead to better football, plain and simple. A forward looking CBA that is fair to players and clubs will lead to a great future for the NFL and our fans.

My job is to represent the game - the fans, teams, players, coaches and business partners. Protecting the integrity of the game and ensuring it thrives is a responsibility I take very seriously.

This is about more than a labor agreement. It's about the future of the NFL. We have to improve and will be relentless in our quest. The commitment to our fans is to make the NFL experience even better in the years ahead. With a responsible CBA, we will fulfill that vision.

Happy New Year and enjoy the playoffs.

- Roger Goodell

 

[livefromDC]

Let me translate for you all.

With one of the most exciting regular seasons now completed and the playoffs about to begin, let me first thank you and all NFL fans for your incredible support. Many fans have been asking me where we stand on signing a new collective bargaining agreement with the player's union. Let me update you and be clear at the outset:

I know we can and will reach an agreement.

Meaning: You all love football!! Thanks for that! Since you guys are so crazy about football we will continue to squeeze every penny out of you that we can. However to do so, we have to produce games. So you're **** right we're trying to get this done!

My goal as Commissioner now is to help our teams and players find a solution that is fair to everyone and ensures that football becomes more popular, accessible, and fun. We want the next decade to be the best yet for our fans, and I'm ready to work day and night to make that happen.

Meaning: My goal as Commissioner is to help our "teams and players". By "teams and players", I mean owners. We want the next decade to be the best yet. By best yet, I mean the most profitable. I'm ready to work day and night to make that happen.

We've come a long way. Compare where we are today with 10 years ago. From player accountability to player safety, more and better television coverage, upgrading the in-stadium experience, innovations like the RedZone channel, the Draft in prime time and playing the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, we are focused on doing what's best for the players, teams, and fans. My priority is and always will be the game and the fans who love our game...

Meaning: Still remember Tagliabue? Oh, I'll change the game even moreso until the NFL doesn't even resemble the league it was when Tagliabue ran it.

The NFL is great because fans care deeply about it. Economic conditions, however, have changed dramatically inside and outside the NFL since 2006 when we negotiated the last CBA. A 10 percent unemployment rate hurts us all. Fans have limited budgets and rightly want the most for their money. I get it.

Meaning: We know times are hard, but hey YOU love football!! Which is why prices of tickets are going up exponentially and merchandise is even more expensive than it was 10 years ago. You spend money, I get it.

Yes, NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices and the NFL is no different. These are not easy negotiations, but the outcome can be positive. If both sides give a little, everyone, including fans, will get a lot and the game will improve through innovation.

Meaning: NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices. If both players and fans give a little, we get a lot.

...A significant change would be to resolve fan complaints about preseason by modifying our 20-game format. Fans tell us they don't like the quality of the preseason games, and we're listening. An enhanced season of 18 regular season and two preseason games would not add a single game for the players collectively, but would give fans more meaningful, high-quality football..

Meaning: Fans tell us they don't like the quality of the preseason games, and we're listening. Will we drop 2 preseason games? Yeah. Will we lose revenue? LOL, we're listening but we're not stupid! Instead of those 2 preseason games, we'll replace them with regular season games. The players "collectively" won't play anymore games, if we're counting practice squad guys players and guys who get cut in the large roster cuts that come in the last 2 weeks of preseason.

Our emphasis on player health and safety is absolutely essential to the future of our game. We are strictly enforcing rules that protect players from unnecessarily dangerous play, especially involving hits to the head. We are changing the "play through it" culture to a "player-first" culture to ensure that if a player has a head injury, he doesn't play again until his health is certain. We are also addressing the potential wear-and-tear on players in the way they train in-season and off-season...It's not just the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league.

Meaning: Is it brash and arrogant of me to suggest I care about player health while simultaneously making changes to the season that will undoubtedly lead to more injuries? Yeah. It's not the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league. Once again, by league I mean owners.

That includes a new system that properly compensates proven veterans and retired players by shifting some of the outrageous sums paid to many unproven rookies. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated published a list of the 50 highest-paid American athletes that included five 2009 NFL rookies. Every other athlete on the list was a proven veteran. In 2009, NFL clubs contracted $1.2 billion to 256 drafted rookies with $585 million guaranteed before they had stepped on an NFL field.

Don't get me wrong: top draft choices will continue to be highly paid. All we're asking for is a return to common sense in paying our rookies. Other leagues have done this and we can too.

Meaning:This is all true, however, if this was really important to me, I would have said this a long time ago. Now, its just a pawn in the chess game.

My job is to represent the game - the fans, teams, players, coaches and business partners. Protecting the integrity of the game and ensuring it thrives is a responsibility I take very seriously.

This is about more than a labor agreement. It's about the future of the NFL. We have to improve and will be relentless in our quest. The commitment to our fans is to make the NFL experience even better in the years ahead. With a responsible CBA, we will fulfill that vision.

Happy New Year and enjoy the playoffs.

- Roger Goodell

 

[bergeaux]

Let me translate for you all.


Meaning: You all love football!! Thanks for that! Since you guys are so crazy about football we will continue to squeeze every penny out of you that we can. However to do so, we have to produce games. So you're **** right we're trying to get this done!



Meaning: My goal as Commissioner is to help our "teams and players". By "teams and players", I mean owners. We want the next decade to be the best yet. By best yet, I mean the most profitable. I'm ready to work day and night to make that happen.


Meaning: Still remember Tagliabue? Oh, I'll change the game even moreso until the NFL doesn't even resemble the league it was when Tagliabue ran it.


Meaning: We know times are hard, but hey YOU love football!! Which is why prices of tickets are going up exponentially and merchandise is even more expensive than it was 10 years ago. You spend money, I get it.


Meaning: NFL players deserve to be paid well. Unfortunately, economic realities are forcing everyone to make tough choices. If both players and fans give a little, we get a lot.


Meaning: Fans tell us they don't like the quality of the preseason games, and we're listening. Will we drop 2 preseason games? Yeah. Will we lose revenue? LOL, we're listening but we're not stupid! Instead of those 2 preseason games, we'll replace them with regular season games. The players "collectively" won't play anymore games, if we're counting practice squad guys players and guys who get cut in the large roster cuts that come in the last 2 weeks of preseason.


Meaning: Is it brash and arrogant of me to suggest I care about player health while simultaneously making changes to the season that will undoubtedly lead to more injuries? Yeah. It's not the health of players that concerns us. We must ensure the health of the league. Once again, by league I mean owners.


Meaning:This is all true, however, if this was really important to me, I would have said this a long time ago. Now, its just a pawn in the chess game.

I think it can be translated even more simply into:

Please don't leave us if we don't come to an agreement. We are afraid of what happened to other sports after bad labor disagreements.

 

[TulsaSaint]

Let me translate for you all.

That's some good stuff. If I were you, I'd look into finding a way to get this published, because it absolutely hits the nail on the head.

Goodell is nothing but the mouthpiece of the owners. Seriously, you have to be a major turd to make me feel like guys who are making millions (the players) are being mistreated, but how can you think the players and fans are dumb enough to fall for an 18-game schedule that will raise the cost of season tickets and increase player injuries, while expecting players to make no additional money, perhaps even less money?

The guy is completely out of touch. The media has been all over this 18 game schedule and the inconsistent and overblown enforcement of "player safety" via prohibiting hitting, so he releases an open letter to the fans basically reiterating all the same tired crap he and the owners have been spouting for the last nine months.

You have the best product in professional sports. Revenues are through the roof, even during an economic crisis. The players are happy with their salaries. The only real problem that needed fixing was the rookie pay scale. Player safety, particularly from concussions, was a major issue too, but it was something to be addressed during the offseason, not in the middle of the regular season. And the league needed to do more to provide top medical care for retired players whose bodies and minds were destroyed by the lack of consideration for player safety that reigned in the 1970s and 1980s. In other words, things were going great, with only a few minor problems to be ironed out, things that were unlikely to cause any real friction between players, owners, and fans.

Instead, the owners' unparalleled greed may well wreck the most equitable, fan-friendly, successful professional sports league in the world. Who knows what kind of wholesale changes would go through before the end of a lockout? The end of revenue sharing? The abolition of the salary cap? You know the New York, Washington, and Dallas ownership would absolutely love that. The Giants would become the Yankees, and the Saints would become the Kansas City Royals or Milwaukee Brewers.

This whole situation is absolutely infuriating for me as a fan. I can't imagine how much it ticks off the players, whose very livelihoods are threatened. The owners have their fingers in plenty of business pies - they'd be fine if the league closed down tomorrow. For the players, especially young ones who have yet to sign a big contract (see Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, Jolonn Dunbar, etc.), this threatens the job they've spent most of their lives preparing to do.

 

[LKN H20Girl]

And what fans have ever said they wanted the Pro Bowl before the Superbowl? The way I see it, it punishes the playoff teams because they can't prepare for their "reward". Many take teammates along for helping them, they all take their families.

 

[DesertKajun]

I hope they also open sunday ticket up to all carriers soon or at least an online option.....

 

[kevinh]

And what fans have ever said they wanted the Pro Bowl before the Superbowl? The way I see it, it punishes the playoff teams because they can't prepare for their "reward". Many take teammates along for helping them, they all take their families.

That's one of those moves that's popular among NFL execs only, and he's forgotten that the fans could not possibly care less. Or maybe he doesn't care. The draft is almost the same way--prime time is kinda cool, but that's a move for them more than us. Shows you where his head's at.

 

[Surviving Saint]

I hope they also open sunday ticket up to all carriers soon or at least an online option.....

Won't happen. Direct Tv has a contract with he NFL and they pay millions or billions for it. Dish Network and cable either can't or won't compete.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

i hope he isn't getting his cues from David Stern and Bud Selig but it sure seems like it

 

[livefromDC]

That's some good stuff. If I were you, I'd look into finding a way to get this published, because it absolutely hits the nail on the head.

Goodell is nothing but the mouthpiece of the owners. Seriously, you have to be a major turd to make me feel like guys who are making millions (the players) are being mistreated, but how can you think the players and fans are dumb enough to fall for an 18-game schedule that will raise the cost of season tickets and increase player injuries, while expecting players to make no additional money, perhaps even less money?

The guy is completely out of touch. The media has been all over this 18 game schedule and the inconsistent and overblown enforcement of "player safety" via prohibiting hitting, so he releases an open letter to the fans basically reiterating all the same tired crap he and the owners have been spouting for the last nine months.

You have the best product in professional sports. Revenues are through the roof, even during an economic crisis. The players are happy with their salaries. The only real problem that needed fixing was the rookie pay scale. Player safety, particularly from concussions, was a major issue too, but it was something to be addressed during the offseason, not in the middle of the regular season. And the league needed to do more to provide top medical care for retired players whose bodies and minds were destroyed by the lack of consideration for player safety that reigned in the 1970s and 1980s. In other words, things were going great, with only a few minor problems to be ironed out, things that were unlikely to cause any real friction between players, owners, and fans.

Instead, the owners' unparalleled greed may well wreck the most equitable, fan-friendly, successful professional sports league in the world. Who knows what kind of wholesale changes would go through before the end of a lockout? The end of revenue sharing? The abolition of the salary cap? You know the New York, Washington, and Dallas ownership would absolutely love that. The Giants would become the Yankees, and the Saints would become the Kansas City Royals or Milwaukee Brewers.

This whole situation is absolutely infuriating for me as a fan. I can't imagine how much it ticks off the players, whose very livelihoods are threatened. The owners have their fingers in plenty of business pies - they'd be fine if the league closed down tomorrow. For the players, especially young ones who have yet to sign a big contract (see Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, Jolonn Dunbar, etc.), this threatens the job they've spent most of their lives preparing to do.

Right. Most fans though (and I've seen a few on here proving the point) think that the players are the one's causing the problem when in fact the owners opted oout of the agreement. Many fans also don't realize what a lock-out means either... no replacement players and no football.

If Goodell is listening to the fans, he has has selective hearing. The main complaint from fans are the prices to see the games. He only pulls out the things that he agrees with fans about and parades them around as if he's listening to all of our concerns. If a fan concern doesn't serve his purpose it goes ignored.

In the same letter where he talks about the economy and hard times, he goes on to talk about adding regular season games. Was the NFL paying attention this year when they had more games blacked out than they've had in ages? Did he think we wouldn't realize that he's talking about renegotiating the players' percentage of revenue so that it can go to the owners? If he really had his finger on the pulse of the fans he would have been discussing ways to make games more affordable and NOT ways to take money from the players to give to the owners. Think about it. All of this renegotiating the collective bargaining agreement comes to cutting player salaries, but no where in that letter does he explain how those cuts are going to benefit fans. That money is going to the owners pockets. And the owners are not talking about making ticket prices cheaper. So why make this letter at all? The court of public opinion. Goodell wants fans on the owners' side in this, but don't be fooled into believing that he has the fans' concerns at heart.