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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made a lame public appearance on Thursday in which it was made clear right off the bat that he wouldn’t be talking about the biggest news of the week – Colin Kaepernick’s workout this Saturday.
He did, however, have time to bash the media, which is just rich considering Goodell didn’t have the guts to talk about a guy who has been blackballed from the league for the last three years simply for kneeling during the national anthem in order to bring awareness to racism and social justice.
Goodell made an appearance Thursday at the Paley Center for Media’s International Council Summit where he talked with CBS’ James Brown, who was moderating the event.
Brown, according to Deadline, made it clear at the beginning that they wouldn’t be talking about Kaepernick, though Brown couldn’t even use his name, saying:
“I know there’s some pretty salient news, some important news that’s breaking in the world of the NFL,” Brown said, without naming Kaepernick. “Roger and I are going to stick to the topic here: ‘100 Seasons and Counting,’” the official name of the session. “It would take us all day to deal with what the breaking news is,” Brown said. “We’ll deal with that at the appropriate time and we only have 25 minutes.”
What a pile of complete and utter nonsense that was by Brown.
First, you can’t even say Kaepernick’s name? Like, what would happen if you did? Would Goodell get up and run away screaming with his hands over his ears?
Second, it wouldn’t take you all day to address the situation. It would likely take a few minutes as Goodell would tow some soulless line about a workout that has been a total mess since we all, including Kaepernick, found out about it earlier in the week.
Third, nobody cares about the “100 Seasons and Counting” blah fest. Talk about Kaepernick for a few of those boring 25 minutes.
But no, instead Goodell, who once said he’s “available to the media almost every day of my job,” continued to show that he is absolutely awful at handling any difficult situation. Goodell is making $31 million this year and he doesn’t even have the courage to talk about a man who has been doing all he can to try to get back in the league in which he once came so close to winning a Super Bowl?
How pathetic.
This scripted and safe appearance then took an even more embarrassing turn when this happened:
Brown read from an index card. “I’m very personally interested in this next topic, the evolution of sportswriters and journalism,” Brown said. “I really want to hear your answer to this one.” Goodell interjected with a chuckle, “I don’t know what’s coming.” Brown, nodding to the highly scripted nature of the session, advised, “You wrote it!”
So there was Goodell trying to play the “everyman” role and get a chuckle out of the crowd with the whole “Oh boy, where are we going with this wild (it wasn’t wild) topic!?” when in fact he knew exactly where it was going, as Brown broke down the third wall and let everyone in on this sham of an interview.
Gross.
Goodell then did use some of the precious 25 minutes to sound off on the media, saying:
“There’s so much out there, so many quote-unquote ‘journalists.’ I think it’s changed dramatically,” he said. “There’s no longer a focus on doing credible pieces that stand the test of time, that are sourced properly and backed up. It’s who gets there first. Who gets it out first, and it doesn’t matter if it’s right. Just get it out.”
Goodell didn’t mention any journalists or outlets by name. “That’s probably unpopular with a lot of people here, but I believe that,” he added. The new approaches are “difficult to manage at times, because you spend a lot of time trying to clean up things that, if they had just called, if we had just had the opportunity to give a different perspective, maybe they’d consider that. But there’s so much out there that they’ve got to go fast. Speed. You no longer have a deadline. It’s now. Somebody could be out there tweeting this right now. It’s the way of the world. You can’t fight it. You just have to learn how to manage it.”
Wow, how brave of the commish to attack journalists while not having the testicular fortitude to talk openly about the Kaepernick situation, a situation that has been the topic of discussion this week because of all the silly twists and turns it’s taken. The NFL has basically acted like a real-life version of that gif of the guy who’s carrying armfuls of stuff out to his car and then slips and spills it all everywhere.
Goodell has screwed up a lot of things during his stint as commissioner, and he showed his true colors again on Thursday. He’s deeply afraid of addressing any tough subject with any type of honesty so he just hides behind the protective shield, which this time was provided by Brown.
This whole appearance was embarrassing not only for the league, but for all the fans of the league who deserve better from a guy with so much power who obviously doesn’t care about anything besides the bottom line and making sure he doesn’t say anything of real value.
Goodell gonna Goodell.
Thursday’s biggest winner: Carmelo Anthony!
Melo is back! ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday night that the future Hall of Famer will be joining the Portland Trail Blazers on a non-guaranteed deal and he’ll join the team on a road trip on Saturday. Melo has been out of the league since being released by the Rockets early last season and it felt like we might never see him in the NBA again. But now he’s back and fans are pumped.
Quick hits: Jeopardy! showdown… Kyle Busch’s quick thinking pays off… Von Miller’s odd take on Drew Lock… And more!
– Jeopardy legend James Holzhauer squared off against Emma Boettcher, the woman who ended his run a few months ago, in the first round of the Tournament of Champions finale on Thursday night… and here’s how it went.
– NASCAR’s Kyle Busch found a smart way to win around $1,000 bet with other drivers while in NYC traffic.
– Von Miller thinks Drew Lock is destined for stardom because of the way he threw an incomplete pass.
– Steven Ruiz has everything a Cowboys fan needs to crush a Dak Prescott hater in a debate.
(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)
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