The Hypocrisy and Idiocy of The NFL - A Follow Up To My Letter To Roger Goodell

Two days ago we wrote an open letter to Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, suggesting a way for he and the NFL to get themselves out of the terrible jam they have created by pissing off millions of Americans and millions of NFL fans. The root cause of this jam is the hypocrisy and infantile behavior of Goodell and many NFL players in disrespecting the American flag, the national anthem, the country, and the service men and women and police men and women that protect all of us.

As a result of their behavior:

• Social media is red hot with fans expressing their disgust at the players’ and Goodell’s disrespectful behavior.
• Fans are vowing not to buy NFL tickets and memorabilia, boycotting NFL sponsors, and not watching NFL games on TV any more.
• Fans that have purchased special and expensive NFL TV packages have been asking for and receiving refunds on their purchases.

A couple of observations and talking points:

• First and foremost, President Trump should have never entered the fray, this is a marketplace matter, it does not have anything to do with Federal government functions. Trump should have been focusing on much more important national matters including a potential nuclear war with North Korea, the mess in Syria, terrorism in general, the repeal of the disastrous Obama Care legislation, tax reform, and any number of other pressing matters.
• But having said that, Obama also should have also kept his nose out of non Federal government, trivial matters: he should not have taken time off as President to record a commercial for a comedian’s (George Lopez) TV show, he should not have wasted so much time prancing and primping around on daytime talk shows like The View, Ellen, and others, he should not have wasted so much time every March thinking that he was an expert in picking March Madness games and going on ESPN to brag about his picks (which were never any good.), etc. He should have been focusing on much more important national matters  including a potential nuclear war with North Korea, the mess in Syria, terrorism in general, the repeal of the disastrous Obama Care legislation, tax reform, and any number of other pressing matters.
• Goodell comes off as hyper hypocritical in this matter. When players wanted to mark up their sneakers to honor those that died on 9-11 he stopped them because it was not consistent with and was disrespectful of league uniform rules. When a player wanted to mark up his spikes to honor his mother, he stopped the gesture because it was not consistent with and was disrespectful of league uniform rules. When the Dallas Cowboys wanted to put a decal on their helmets to honor the five Dallas police officers that were murdered by a domestic terrorist, he stopped the gesture because it was not consistent with and was disrespectful of league uniform rules. But when a bunch of players disrespect the flag, the country and the national anthem, acts of defiance that are not consistent with league rules, he goes mute. When quarterback Colin Kaepernick comes to an NFL practice wearing socks that depicted all cops as pigs, surely inconsistent with NFL uniform rules, Goodell was silent. So hypocritical.
• In fact, he got himself in a snit by claiming that Trump disrespected the league. He needs to keep in mind that the NFL needs America, America does not need the NFL. His players and employees disrespect the flag and country and those that protect us and he’s upset because he thinks that the league got disrespected, give me a break.
• Last week, a New York Giants receiver, Odell Beckham, caught a touchdown pass and as part of his post score antics he got down on all four legs and acted like a male dog taking a piss on a bush. To my knowledge as of today, Goodell has not reprimanded or punished Beckham for such crass and disgusting behavior but he tolerates the disrespecting of the country, the anthem, and the flag.
• But probably the other biggest screw up by Goodell, besides his super hypocrisy, is that all of these player protests, supposedly against racism in America, are totally useless. These protests are an empty gesture of spoiled millionaire players taking a few minutes to execute an empty protest without any plans, initiatives, and sense of what it takes to actually make a positive difference in society. As a result, the issue they think  they are highlighting is getting lost because of the way Goodell let them go about it. If there is widespread racism in this country, and real data would dispute the widespread assertion of these players, they blew the opportunity to address it with their disrespectful behavior. The issue they protested, racism, is now an afterthought to the furor and disrespect they have incurred and for that I blame Goodell for letting the crazies run the asylum and not focusing their passion into a positive action that involved fans, sponsors, law enforcement, and politicians.
• No kid in south Chicago is any safer from the drug trade violence in the streets as a result of millionaire players not respecting the flag. No opioid drug addict in inner city Baltimore is more likely to get addiction treatment as a result of millionaire players not respecting the anthem. No inner city school kid in Washington DC is getting more than a mediocre education as a result of millionaire players not respecting those in the police and armed forces that have died and suffered protecting all of us. And no bridges between police organizations and local communities have been built as a result of millionaire players pissing like a dog.

I have provided a way out of the mess he created. I doubt he will ever read it or act on my suggestions. That is certainly his right. But I am done with the NFL for now. Not so much because I disagree with the players but what they did and how they did it was stupid and self defeating. And the hypocrisy of Roger Goodell in this whole mess is juvenile, and certainly not the mark of a great leader. Two things I hate in life is hypocrisy and stupidity, and the NFL and Goodell have certainly displayed both of them in this issue, causing the real purported issue, racism, to  get lost in the noise.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:


http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

An Open Letter To Roger Goodell and A Way Out Of The Current Mess He Created - Follow Up Discussion Tomorrow

September 26, 2017

Mr. Goodell:

It seems you have quite the problem on your hands given the now widespread habit of players not respecting the American flag or the national anthem at the start of NFL games this season. No doubt you know that this behavior has caused quite the discontent among your fan base as many in this country interpret the player's’ behavior as disrespecting the brave armed forces and police forces that protect our country and safeguard our towns, streets, and families.

I am assuming that you are also aware that the players’ behavior is resulting in formal and informal efforts getting underway to boycott NFL games, sales, and sponsors. Yes, you have quite the quandary to dig out from if the NFL and the NFL revenue stream is to be protected.

To be honest with you upfront, I too have a serious problem with both the players’ behavior and your behavior. I have had many friends and relatives who have served in this country’s armed forces and some who died in that service. I have many friends who are able, kind, and non-racist members of police forces that are being tarnished with this feeling that all police members are racists. In my opinion, the players’ pre-game behavior is a slap in the face of these other brave Americans. Your refusal to fine Colin Kaepernick for wearing socks at an NFL practice depicting all police officers as pigs while fining players for having a minor fashion discrepancy on the field is the height of hypocrisy. 

But whatever got us to this situation, the question now is how to get out of it so that all parties get what they want. And this letter is a suggestion to that end. You and the league are now stuck in a vortex that is not going to get any better if you and the league proceed in a business as usual manner. No good will come to the league and its owners, no good will come to those that are offended by the players’ behavior, and no good will come to protecting and advancing the protesting players intentions, which seem to be to combat racism is this country. 

My proposed solution attempts to break the league out of the muck and mire before it swallows you up while making positive contributions to humanity. The main components of this plan include the following aspects:

- The players that are protesting the American flag, the national anthem, and insulting all service members and police forces across the country will contribute to a fund to address society’s problems. If these millionaire players want to make a statement, let them back up that statement with the financial resources that they can surely afford. I propose that the protesting players put up $100 million for this effort.

- You have many, many rich corporate sponsors. I would suggest that as good societal presences that they also put up a contribution to this effort, with the intention of matching the $100 million put up by the protesting players.

- With this $200 million fund, call it the NFL Player Humanity Fund, the funds would be distributed to worthy and credible charity and activist organizations that would address the problems facing society, especially minority neighborhood problems across the country:

Some of the funds would be used by minority organizations to build bridges and relationships with local police forces, to build understanding and compassion between those in the community and those that police those communities. These efforts would help increase police training sensitivity awareness and build positive community outreach programs between all parties involved in a community’s safety.
Some of these funds would be used to protect the nation’s urban youth from the violence that many of these kids faces on city streets everyday with help going to organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, etc. that would provide a safe, constructive haven for urban youth.
Some of the funds would be used to help treat the drug addicted throughout the country and especially in urban areas, a plague that in some places is now more fatal than gun violence.
Some of the funds would be used to fund viable and accredited education institutions, especially in urban areas where city kids never seem to get the opportunity education-wise to break out of the cycle of poverty.
Some of the funds would be used to support those that have been injured in the line of duty of protecting the country, be it servicemen and women or police men and women, helping in their recovery from wounds and injuries or in the case of death, helping the families they left behind.

Once this fund is established, any player that continues to disrespect the flag and the anthem would be fined $1,000 per game, money that would go into the fund. That helps the fund grow to help others, puts some skin in the game for these wealthy players, and takes the fever out of the sore with fans who know that if a player continues to disrespect the flag and anthem at least some monetary support will go towards helping society.

Hopefully you get the idea. Players disrespecting the flag and country without a viable plan to fix what they protest come off to many Americans as spoiled rich brats who think a minute or two of disobedience in their million dollar careers actually accomplishes something. People upset with the players need to recognize that there are actual racism issues in this country that need to be addressed beyond a couple of minutes of protest. Kids in urban areas that are getting shot, drug addicted and under educated never have a chance at a better life that I am sure the protesting players and the protesting fans would want to see happen. And despite what  Kaepernick thinks and you condone, the vast majority of police officers in this country are not pigs.

You need to break this vicious cycle of everyone shouting at each other, accomplishing nothing. A program such as the NFL Humanity Fund would address the issues that fans, players, and the underprivileged in this country are facing and actually have a plan to get things done. It gives everyone something that is important to them and puts the league in a much better public relations position.

I am aware that the NFL and individual players already donate a large amount of funds and time to worthwhile efforts in communities across the country. However, most fans are not aware of that so the current player protests make them come off as selfish hypocrites. However, the players have upped the ante so to speak with their protests and disrespect and thus, the need to up the ante on combating racism and society’s problems have to be upped also.

I hope this proposal lands on an NFL desk of someone who is interested in breaking this cycle of yelling and protests, by both players and fans, that accomplish nothing. The NFL PLayer Humanity fund would get some good out of a bad situation that is getting worse. Ignore it at your own peril, die hard football fans like myself are not going to be patient forever, the volume of yelling that gets worse every week and accomplishes nothing is turning may of us off, many who just want to watch a football game and relax without all of the distractions that now surround the game for no good reason and which, most importantly,  accomplish nothing.

Sincerely,

Walter “Bruno” Korschek

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:




www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:


http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w