The Packers became the inevitable martyr in the dispute between the NFL and its own locked out officials. Credit US Presswire.

I think most NFL fans would love to forget about the last seven weeks with regards to the officiating debacle.  The phantom calls.  The no calls.  The seemingly hours of deliberations between officials, then still having to be corrected by some mythical person behind the veil representing the NFL.  It was enough to make a root canal seem like a fun day at the office.  But, no matter how painful the 2012 season has been thus far, all fans of the NFL should never ever forget the pain and grief the NFL put us and the players through.

That’s right, I said the NFL.  Not the refs.  Remember, the replacement refs were no where near the level of the pros.  The replacement refs were completely unaccustomed to the speed of the game that, for most of them, it was just 60 minutes of blurriness.  It’s not their fault they missed call after call and needed an extra person in the booth to call down when they really goofed up.  Thursday evening’s contest of the Browns vs. the Ravens had over 70 years of collective experience officiating that game.  You just can’t replace that.  The NFL brass tried.  They hid behind the refs by staying quiet.  After all, it’s the replacements who were making the bad calls.  In the heat of the moment, they were getting the boos.  All the NFL needed to do was stay silent long enough to make it seem like they were reviewing tapes and talking to officials, then release some bogus statement that reaffirmed what took place on the field and in a very coded way announced their own complacency to the B.S. taking place every week.  All the while raking in the millions with the hard earned cash of their consumers.

For what? $30 million?  That’s the total amount field officials wanted in extra compensation.  According to Sean Conboy of the Pittsburgh Magazine, that’s how much the NFL needed to fork over to end the labor dispute.  The NFL is a business that makes over $8 billion a year and is slated to make $27 billion in tv contracts alone between 2012 and 2020.  The $30 million is .1% of that $27 billion.  That’s one tenth of one percent.  Peanuts.  Yet Commish Rodger Goodell did not want to budge and actually asked for a 16% pay cut.

The problem with the starving artist slant is that… well… it only works for starving artists.  In fact, it never works for them either.  When you make as much money as the NFL does and are asking for pay cuts, don’t be surprised when that group laughs in your face and shoves a picket sign up your rear end.  Goodell tried to stick it to fans and players by using this rag tag bunch of replacement refs.  And in the end it only hurt the image and integrity of the NFL – the shield.

So it’s all said and done.  Why are we still talking about this?  Why should we not stop talking about it?  Because the NFL was one nationally televised unbelievably blown call away from getting away with it for another week.  And another and another, until the 2012 season would conclude in New Orleans.  The NFL was ready to sweep everything under the rug and tiptoe quietly into the 2012/13 offseason if they could get away with it.  Unfortunately for Goodell, no amount of spinning could do away with what everyone saw on national television Monday night in Seattle.  Enraged pundits and commentators spewed fire at how awful the NFL brass was at letting something like this to continue to happen.  Even ESPN’s Steve Young became emotional about the ‘game (he) loved.’  There were rumors of a ‘kneel-down’ as a protest from players.  God, wouldn’t that have been a sight to behold?  Goodell now became front and center – there was no more hiding behind the refs each week.  Goodell and the owners should continue to be front and center over the scrutiny into how this league is run from the business side.

Courtesy CBSSports.com

If the NFL knows what’s good for itself, Rodger Goodell will make Eagles CB Rodgers-Cromartie pay a hefty little fine for his hit on Steelers QB Byron Leftwich.  The hit, which can be seen here on NFL.com, is reminiscent of a certain Steelers linebacker knocking Colt McCoy into the 2012 season.

The hit is certainly a moment that could have been missed by The Replacements, but fortunately, the zebras were on top of it.  By definition the hit is unnecessary roughness – Cromartie leaves his feet and puts his shoulder right into the chin of Leftwich.  The hit was called a late hit, which is the wrong call, but at least a penalty was called.  It gave the Steelers a first down and extended the drive.  Thankfully, Leftwich didn’t really seem shaken up from the play.  I find that a little funny considering how easily he tends to break from season to season.

Back to the punishment that should happen.  Rodgers-Cromartie felt that this hit was clean.  Dude, you speared yourself right into Leftwich’s chin.  If you had any better aim, you would have gone helmet to helmet.  Intent vs. actual contact has been a point of contention for many players and fans around the league.  But, there’s no doubting that Cromartie ‘broke the rules’ by playing some chin music with Lefty.

Fine?  You betcha.  Let’s say in the realm of six figures.  Suspension?  Doubtful.  It’s Rodgers-Cromartie’s first offense and the rules are pretty well laid out as far as the severity goes.  Bottom line, Goodell can’t let a hit like this pass even if it is the preseason.  I know it’s a Steelers player who took the hit – so Steeler Nation’s opinion is a bit influenced, and we also have a jaded pass with ‘illegal hits.’  But I want to know – what do you think?

Even though Haslam wants to buy the team, the future of the Browns is still up in the air.

The Cleveland Browns were up for sale and a Steelers fan stepped in to take control of the team.  Business is business and loyalties lie where the dollar sign resides.  But, according to a Forbes article, Rodger Goodell is not so sure about this transaction.

According to Forbes, Goodell has sent a memo out to all 32 teams of the NFL expressing ‘concern over the buyer currently being an investor in the Pittsburgh Steelers.’  That buyer is James Haslam of the nationwide Flying J and Pilot stations.  Haslam also happens to have 1 of 22 stakes in the Steelers Corporation.  That’s a problem because the NFL won’t allow anyone have an investment in more than one team.  The Steelers will have to buy Haslam’s share, and it will probably have to come from profits of the team.  There are no details as to how much Haslma’s share in the team is and therefore how much the 21 other investors need to shell out.

All of this seems on the up and up, yet Goodell has issues with Haslam buying the team.  Why?  Is it because of his current share in the Steelers?  Is it because he doesn’t want the Steelers to have to buy out Haslam’s share?  Is it because he is worried about Haslam dispensing information about the Steelers to the Browns?  I’m going to guess the first and last questions are at the top of Goodell’s concerns.  I’m guessing he wants the stake in the Steelers to go away before any power over the Browns organization is granted to Haslam.  I would believe that he is also concerned that Haslam could use any and all information – off the field operations and on – to benefit the Browns against not only the Steelers but also the rest of the AFC North.  Now that wouldn’t be very fair now would it.  And why wouldn’t Haslam use learned information to his and his new team’s advantage?  He’s now charged to make this team better – wouldn’t you use any advantage you had… when millions of dollars are at stake?

With Goodell’s memo, it’s unclear if this deal will go through.  The owners will vote on the validity of the Haslam transaction.  If Goodell has swayed the masses, we could see a rejection on our hands.

‘Don’t stick your finger in the light socket, Johnny, you’re going to electrocute yourself……. I told you so.’

‘You’re going to get stung if you poke that hornets nest, Jimmy……. I told you so.’

‘You drive too fast around that curve, and this car is going to go right off that cliff….. I told y….’

These statements are pretty easy to define as cause and effect scenarios.  They are also followed by that dreaded ‘I told you so’ that usually some schmuck, who thinks he’s smarter than you, decides it’s the best time to point out the obvious outcome of the situation when you are in your most dire straights.  Usually it follows with a punch in the neck to that jag – but he’s only a jag because he was right.  With regards to the Steelers and this whole Bountygate thing, they can collectively fold their arms in front of their chest and tell the rest of the NFLPA, ‘We told you so.’

A year ago, the NFL, NFLPA and fans across the world were entrenched in a lockout that lasted four and a half months.  Does anyone really remember what even the sticking points were during this whole process?  It’s hard to forget that this was mainly about revenue sharing between owners and players, but it is easy to forget some of the minor details that resulted from both sides coming to terms to a new CBA.  One that tends to fall under the radar, even in a year when punishments were far from sparse, is that the Commissioner, Rodger Goodell, has unilateral control over doling out punishments to players.

The Steelers, as a unified team of athletes and members of the NFLPA, were the only players to refuse ratification of what became the new CBA.  Their sticking point?  There was no way in hell that they were going to agree to give Rodger Goodell the power to be judge, jury and executioner.  Most of the media and fans other than Steeler Nation all saw this as the Steelers just grandstanding and whining because some of their defensive players had a history of illegal hits and other offenses.  Far from it.  Could it be that the brilliant management tendencies of the front office trickled its way down to the Steelers’ locker room?  Because after the revelation of Bountygate and the fallout that has corresponded, that sure seems what actually took place back in late July 2011.

Appeals by all four Saints players were filed last week.  The NFLPA, on Thursday, filed two grievances against the NFL and the Commish.  Those grievances challenge the imposition of suspensions on the four players guilty of participating in the Saints’ bounty program by Commissioner Roger Goodell, and, more specifically, argue that Goodell should not be the person who presides over the appeals.  I haven’t seen the exact language of the CBA, so perhaps the players have a leg to stand on in their grievance.  The NFLPA knows that Goodell is going to stay cemented in his decision, so any appeal towards the punishments handed down is practically fruitless.  Especially, since Saints coach Sean Peyton was denied appeal .01 seconds after he filed his.  Ok, it wasn’t that quick, but an appeals process usually takes a few days of litigation.  Peyton was practically denied in 24 hours.  It doesn’t bode well for the players, and now they are wallowing in a situation that stems from all the way back to the dog days of summer in 2011.

It reminds me of a classic Homer’ism – ‘Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.’  Indeed, giving Goodell the power to hand out punishments and preside over all proceedings involving them seemed like a very light handed thing to give up when the NFLPA was looking to get more $$$ with a larger slice of the revenue pie.  Just don’t do anything illegal, and you’ll be fine.  That’s all well and good, until you get caught.  Yeah yeah, I know – where’s the evidence?  Well the NFL isn’t entirely full of morons.  There’s no way they would impose such huge penalties without some shred of evidence that isn’t concrete.  The players didn’t come out to defend their honor until only after the punishments came out.  Strange.  And, their whole ‘side’ smells somewhat fishy.  Now we’ve learned that Anthony Hargrove was told by Saints coaches to lie about the existence of the programs.  So, it’s hard to believe anybody who was involved.  Bottom line – a bunch of players got wrapped up and caught in a shady deal, they’re being punished for it, and now they don’t like that one man can have that much power.  Boo freakin’ hoo.

The NFLPA had their opportunity to keep the Commish out of the spanking department altogether – or at the very least denied unilateral power – and they blew it.  The Steelers were the only players to see the writing on the walls with a condition such as that and decided ‘thanks but no thanks.’  Unfortunately for the NFLPA, the Steelers didn’t count as a majority.  I seriously doubt the NFLPA is going to win their grievances.  If it’s within the contract, T.S. friends.  On top of all of that, it will set a huge precedence with what Goodell can and can’t do.  A full time ban (potential), two full season suspensions, and a handful of other multi-game suspensions…. what’s next?

‘You shouldn’t agree to allow the Commissioner of the NFL to have unilateral power over discipline…. we told you so.’   ~ Sincerely, The Pittsburgh Steelers