How Dallas Cowboys should respond to Roger Goodell
There’s only one way for the Dallas Cowboys to respond to commissioner Roger Goodell’s questionable 6-game suspension of running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The Dallas Cowboys have to, once again, shelf second-year star running back Ezekiel Elliott in the wake of what appears to be a highly questionable domestic violence accusation. As it seems one that Elliott’s legal options are finally exhausted, this ascending franchise and it’s monstrous fan base can finally respond.
But how the team responds is what really counts the most.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has occupied this position since August of 2006 and has made it his personal mission to rid the NFL of any and all player transgressions off the field. Not one to fully understand the dynamic of success that his league currently enjoys, it seems like power and control is what the Goodell administration is all about moving forward.
This includes placing his image over common sense, as we’ve now become fully aware of during the first half of the 2017 NFL regular season.
So, how do the Dallas Cowboys respond to Goodell’s legislative show-boating from his castle in New York?
There’s only one way.
Remember the movie ‘Major League’ from 1988?
Upon learning that the fictitious owner of the Cleveland Indians intended to move the team to Miami, regardless of how the team finished, there was a famous line spoken by a key character in the movie. Tom Berenger played the veteran catcher named Jake Taylor. His reply to the devious plot was as classic as it gets. After stating that there was only one thing left to do, teammate Eddie Harris, played by Chelcie Ross, followed with, ”What’s that?”
"”Win the whole bleeping thing,” replied Taylor."
The point is this: Make a victim out of a group of people and you’d better watch out. The only motivators that are greater than injustice are hunger and thirst, period. All other wishes and desires need only to step aside.
Goodell’s mistake is compounded by his lack of understanding of where the NFL is right now. It’s been a rough season, at least to this point, and now he’s going after perhaps the most important player on, by far, the most popular team in the country. He’s also taking on arguably the most influential owner who just happens to own the most lucrative sports franchise in the world who just happens to be his employer.
It would never cross my mind to upset one or more billionaires who actually pay me tens of millions of completely wasted dollars each year. I’d be even more hesitant if I knew that I was making a mistake in simply trying to make some kind of baseless point built around the excessive privilege that I had leveraged in a collective bargaining agreement that will soon be turned upside down.
In other words, know the temperature of the water you’re about to jump in. Just because the water’s not bubbling doesn’t mean that it’s not way to warm for comfort – or employment, in this case.
Interesting it will be to see exactly how Cowboys Nation responds in terms of both attendance at AT&T Stadium and also those television ratings that those NFL owners hold so very dear. Both of those intangibles aren’t looking good and Great Britain could care less about having an NFL team in the United Kingdom.
Roger, do the math that I know you’re capable of doing.
It was rumored over the last several weeks that the NFL and the NFLPA were possibly negotiating some kind of settlement in the Elliott case. This should have been spearheaded by Goodell himself given that a key member of his own panel recommended no suspension for Elliott.
But Goodell didn’t listen to the message or bother to read the tea leaves in this case.
Something tells me that, well before Elliott returns to action on Christmas Eve when the Dallas Cowboys return to action against the Seattle Seahawks, Goodell will realize his mistake – but don’t expect that ego to fix anything.
Next: Dallas Cowboys 2017 Rookie Class - Midseason grades
For the Cowboys, as a team, there’s really only one thing to do.
Win the whole … well, you get it.