The NFL’s time is not right, the league has been facing a barrage of lawsuits, ranging from the Cleveland Browns situation in which quarterback Deshaun Watson faces multiple accusations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior to the Jon Gruden lawsuit wherein former Raiders HC has filed a lawsuit against the league claiming that it intentionally leaked emails and attempted to destroy his career on purpose. The league faced a setback when it attempted to shut the suit down by getting it dismissed but the courts denied such an appeal. Then there is the cherry on top, the lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins HC Brian Flores who is suing the league and all 32 teams for racial discrimination in hiring practices.
The case in question today is the ongoing investigation into the Washington Commanders organization. The league has been investigating the workplace of the team as women working there have described the environment there as toxic and filled with rampant sexual harassment. The team owner Daniel Snyder himself is in a ton of trouble as he has been accused of misbehaving with women on numerous occasions and now along with the league, a Congressional committee has also begun to look into the owner and the team. The league commissioner was also invited to testify in front of Congress which he accepted as opposed to Daniel Snyder who denied appearing before them.
“I’m not familiar with that issue”: Roger Goodell on Dave Portnoy being banned from attending NFL games
Roger Goodell has been accused of silencing his critics on numerous occasions, the one that stands out prominently is Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports. Dave was banned from attending NFL games in 2015, technically his company was after they staged a protest at the NFL headquarters following the suspension of Tom Brady over the infamous ‘Deflategate’ scandal. To make matters worse, the Commissioner had Portnoy removed from Super Bowl LIII in February of 2019.
NFL in 2020 in an attempt to do its part towards donating to COVID-19 relief efforts during the 2020 NFL draft put up an auction bid, the winner of which would get a chance to sit down and watch a game with Commissioner Roger Goodell. Dave Portnoy won that by paying $250,000 yet he never got a chance to do so as the league claimed he failed a background check.
During the course of the hearings before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Commissioner Goodell responded to Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican statesman from Ohio’s question regarding Portnoy.
“Why did you ban Dave Portnoy from NFL games?” the representative asked, the Commissioner responds by stating, “Congressman, I am not familiar with that issue, I’m happy to check with my staff, but I’m not aware of that.” Rep. Jim Jordan condescendingly responds by stating, ” Really, I think we’re all aware of that.”
Rep. Jim Jordan received a lot of flak for his question which appeared to be irrelevant in this situation and moreover the Commissioner also received some backlash as there was no way he could have been kept in the dark about this. Take a look at how NFL fans reacted to this question.
Because no one else is familiar with the issue or even cares about it.
But thank God a Congressman does care about a press pass status for a football game.
— Stef Fanski 🇺🇦 (@Oh__Cleveland) June 22, 2022Free Press is important after all right? But only when someone else is on the hot seat, when it’s your turn then suppress the matter and silence the ones attempting to shed light upon it.
We need intelligence tests for people before they run in an election.
— The Brian Gutekunst Fanclub 🇺🇦 (@OffDclock) June 22, 2022Absolutely. Why is this not a pre-requisite already?
I mean, as someone who is literally spending taxpayer $ to question RG, you’d think you’d have MUCH bigger issues to address
— thatUpperhand (@thatupperhand) June 22, 2022Portnoy established a sports and pop culture blog which kind of brings it under the media category but in this context unless Portnoy paid that $250,000 to Rep. Jim Jordan, it does not make sense as to why this popped up.
When your defender is Jim Jordan you’re failing at life
— RunTheJoules (@FLScottIN) June 23, 2022LeBron James left Cleveland because Rep. Jim Jordan is the man representing them.
@stoolpresidente didn’t think Tom Brady cheated during #Deflategate, and didn’t like the NFL’s response. We all know Brady did indeed cheat, just as OJ was guilty. I mean, there was also Spygate a few years earlier.
NFL didn’t like his protest in their lobby. Live with it.
— Groggy, from The North 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@GregJoh56007260) June 22, 2022Do we now? Some mysteries are well just mysteries.
Ugh. I feel so sorry for you Ohioans who didn’t vote for this waste of a human
— Lori Barnett (@GigHarborLola) June 22, 2022Ouch.
Right here is the NFLs problem. I surely stopped watching games a couple years ago because of this arrogance. Money hungry bastards.
— Shayne Kinder (@qtipsk) June 22, 2022The league operates for revenue, it comes as no surprise the network rights, advertising rights, and players’ salaries are all going to the sky.
Geez, waste of time and money makes sense but oxygen, that’s kind of harsh.
What are your thoughts on this entire situation surrounding Goodell and Portnoy? Did Jim Jordan make a sensible decision by asking this question or was it completely necessary?
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