The NFL Annual Meeting concluded, but not before Commissioner Goodell made it clear what Michael would have to do to return to the playing field:

“I’m not going to make a judgment until I know all the facts on Michael Vick. I think it’s clear he’s paid a price, but to a large extent he’s going to have to demonstrate to the larger community — not just to the NFL community and to me — that he has remorse for what he did and that he recognizes mistakes that he made. Everyone makes mistakes, but he has to show that genuine remorse in his ability to be a positive influence to correct the things that he did wrong publicly.”

How hard can that be? All Michael has to do is say he deeply regrets what he did (publicly, duh) and maybe make a few smart (common sense) public relations decisions and he’s good to go. I’m sorry, I don’t sympathize with Michael’s situation. He’s been in prison for almost two years. Yes, he’s paid his debt to society and yes he deserves another chance to get his life together. But does that mean he’s entitled to the privileges — and I emphasize privileges — of employment in the National Football League again? I don’t think so. Commissioner Goodell said “everyone makes mistakes.” That is true. I certainly make my fair share of them. But, not everyone tortures and kills dogs for fun. I guess there are varying levels of mistakes that need to be taken into consideration here. The Commissioner also said he needs to know all the facts about Michael before making a judgment. Like he doesn’t know them already? The facts have been pretty well documented for the entire world to read. I don’t know what other facts he could be talking about.

Essentially, there will be two sides here — those that think dogs are “just animals” and those who support animal rights. Obviously, I am of the latter. Maybe Michael is a changed man. Maybe he is truly sorry for what he did. I can’t express enough how I hope that’s true. But that doesn’t mean he should have his hand stamped for re-entry into the league again just because he says he’s sorry. If the Commissioner is really sincere about enforcing the type of behavior he not only expects, but demands, from NFL players, he’ll make an example of Michael’s situation and “revoke his membership” permanently. Sounds harsh, doesn’t it? Well, the punishment should fit the crime.

Source: USA Today, Photo: Newscom

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Commissioner to Reinstate Michael Vick?

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants a longer regular season. And he’s ready to propose a 17 or 18 game schedule to team owners in May that could take effect as soon as 2011. Of course, there are several obstacles to hurdle, like a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union. But, the Commissioner discussed the possibility this week at the NFL Annual Meeting:

“It’s possible that we could vote in May, but we want to have core discussions on this. Anytime you have change, there is some reluctance. But it’s clear we don’t need four preseason games anymore. I think the quality of NFL programming, that every one of our network partners would say, if they have the chance to have more regular-season programming, they’d be interested in it. A key point is the fans also recognize players they want to see are not in those preseason games; that’s why they are not attractive. They want to see those players play.”

I completely agree with reducing the preseason. There is no need for four preseason games and the majority of fans don’t want to spend their money watching a lot of players who won’t even make the team anyway. That’s why you end up with half empty stadiums. But extending the regular season by one or two games doesn’t make any sense to me, either. Sure, from a financial perspective it makes more money for the league and the networks who broadcast the games. But in considering the players’ health, I don’t like it. Have you seen an injury report late in a 16-game season? I don’t think the players can afford one or two more regular season games.

Source: NFL.com, Photo: Newscom

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Commissioner Wants Longer Season

The NFL announced its 2009 Kickoff Weekend primetime television schedule today — including a Monday night “AFL 50th” doubleheader — and the Thanksgiving Day national TV tripleheader.

In a tradition that began in 2004, the Super Bowl champion annually hosts the NFL Thursday night season kickoff the following year. This September 10 at 8:30 PM ET on NBC, the Super Bowl XLIII champion Pittsburgh Steelers will host the AFC South champion Tennessee Titans, who had an NFL-best 13-3 record last season. The Sunday night primetime game (8:30 PM ET) on NBC will feature a division matchup as the Green Bay Packers host the Chicago Bears. Green Bay and Chicago have won seven of the past eight NFC North titles. On Monday night, September 14, ESPN will host a Monday Night Football doubleheader that will be part of the NFL’s celebration of the 50th anniversary season of the American Football League. The four clubs competing that night began playing in the inaugural 1960 AFL season. The first game (7:00 PM ET) will send the Buffalo Bills to Foxboro to visit the New England Patriots, the decade’s winningest team (102-42 since 2000). The MNF nightcap (10:15 PM ET) will be an AFC West battle as the Oakland Raiders host the three-time defending AFC West champion San Diego Chargers.

Continuing an innovation introduced in 2006, the NFL will serve up three nationally-televised games on Thanksgiving Day. The early game (FOX, 12:30 PM ET) will be an NFC North meeting of the Green Bay Packers at the Detroit Lions. The second game (CBS, 4:15 PM ET) features the Oakland Raiders visiting the Dallas Cowboys in the Raiders’ first Thanksgiving game since 1970. The Thanksgiving primetime game will be at 8:20 PM ET on NFL Network with the defending NFC East champion New York Giants visiting the Denver Broncos, marking the first Thanksgiving contest in Denver since 1963.

The announcement of the Kickoff Weekend and Thanksgiving Day games was made today by National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell at the NFL Annual Meeting in Dana Point, California. The rest of the 2009 regular-season schedule will be completed and announced in April.

Source: NFL Media

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NFL Announces 2009 Primetime Kickoff Weekend and Thanksgiving Day Games

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held his Annual Meeting presser today. Here is the complete transcript of the wide variety of topics and his answers:

Reviving proposal on reseeding playoffs

RG: Well, I don’t know if it’s reviving it. The focus that I said to the Competition Committee is: what are the alternatives that we have to make sure that every game we play is as competitive as possible? And that we give our teams incentive to win. That’s what we’ve been focused on. The reseeding is something that we’ve talked about for several years, as you know. I think the debate was good. The debate was really with a focus towards – whatever perspective you came from — it was about the fans. It was about what’s in the best interest of the fans. I think the playoff side of it was really focused on postseason, and I’m really focused to a large extent on how we make the regular season the most competitive we can.

Were the integrity-of-the-game proposals discussed?

RG: They were. What happened is we went over this in the coach and owner session yesterday. The coaches and the owners felt so strongly about it that they moved to put a resolution behind it just to reinforce their commitment to this. They were all adopted and I think the commitment of the ownership and the coaches was very strong. It was 32-0.

Labor negotiations and the CBA and Bill Ford.

RG: Well, I think there are two things. Obviously Bill’s been involved with the NFL for a long time, and I think he obviously understands the dynamics that go on with the labor negotiation in the NFL. But he also, with his recent experience with Ford Motor Company and their labor negotiation, understands the dynamics from a broader industry standpoint. I’ve often mentioned to him that I thought it’d be great if we could get his input – his perspective on how we should be addressing some of the difficult issues that we have. And he’s willing to do so, which is great.

Progress with Matt Walsh

RG: I haven’t checked since I spoke to you all on Monday, but I assume I would know if we’ve made progress.

Ravens and Redskins hiring coaches who’ve never been coordinators before

RG: I think it’s great that we have that kind of diversity. There are great coaches not only in our league but obviously on the college level. I think the more exposure they get, the more opportunities they get, the better our coaches become. So the reality that they have to be a coordinator before they become a head coach – that’s clearly not the case. I think obviously the more experience – the more opportunities you have to be in that leadership position – probably the better prepared you are to do that job.

Integrity of the game issues – immediately in effect?

RG: Yes. Absolutely.

Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick’s statements on Tuesday

RG: We gave a report when we started the session. It is a special session which you all may be familiar with – it’s the commissioner and a very select number of our staff, along with the head coaches and the principal owner – and it’s an important session for us because we recognize the importance of the coaches in our business. We did a report that started with the integrity of the game, and we had a very lengthy discussion about this. We also gave a brief report on the whole Patriots matter, and Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick stood up and made comments, which I think were appreciated by the membership. They were sincere, and I think they were very effective.

Coaches wanting to expand rosters

RG: I think coaches would have rosters that, literally – it used to be 120 or 130. There were no limits on it. I think it’s just trying to keep the game competitive, and make sure that everybody’s operating at the same level – that 80 was sufficient — that we’ve been at 80. Yes, we’ve had exemptions from NFL Europa players, but that 80 was sufficient for what we were trying to do from a competitive standpoint and from a business standpoint.

Limit on number of coaches

RG: There have been owners that have raised that point, yes. But they’re not a union, so that’s not something that you can just dictate. We’re looking at how each of our teams operates and how they can put together the most competitive franchises. Coaches are certainly one aspect of that.

Is there a concern that the most important position in the game – quarterback – won’t have a breeding ground like there’s been in the past?

RG: I don’t think so. The reality is they get great experience by being in training camp also. There are a number of coaches who felt, I’d rather have them in my training camp where I can work with them. We have OTAs, we have opportunities to work with them, to understand the system better, and that that was valuable time for them. So I don’t believe that at all. Obviously, there’s also value in getting playing time. So there are two sides to that, but I think most of all the coaches feel pretty good about that.

Passing a rule on the number of coaches

RG: I think there are some labor issues. I can check on it for you.

Possibility of taking legal action against Matt Walsh

RG: I guess I would not take anything off the table. We feel that the best way to do this is try to address the concerns that he has and try to reach an agreement that he feels that he’s comfortable with. As you know, nothing prevents him from coming out and talking now. We would love to have him do that. We hope to get a resolution to this soon. If for some reason we believe that he’s just not going to do that, we would certainly consider other alternatives.

Letting the Matt Walsh matter go

RG: I don’t like anyone putting out accusations about the league or any of our clubs like that. That being said, it’s hard for me to read between the lines but it’s been portrayed as if he’s said that he has evidence, I would like to see that. I’ve said from the beginning of this incident that if there’s new information that comes to the public or to me, I have the right to reopen this issue and I will. But the reality is that we haven’t gotten any new facts here for seven months. If it’s just taping of defensive signals, we know that. The Patriots have admitted to that. He seems to imply that he has something different. That is something I would be concerned with if it was true. So I would like to see the evidence.

Would you be the one to say, ‘That’s enough?’

RG: I presume I would be and at some point I will run out of patience, because I think it’s unfortunate. I think the last time he was a Patriots employee was back in early 2000. So, we’re talking about six or seven years since he’s left the league. He’s certainly made it known publicly that he has something. I would like to see him present that.

Deadline for a lawsuit

RG: I am not threatening a lawsuit. Somebody raised the issue. I don’t know if we can get much softer than we have with respect to our ability to want to negotiate and to meet his demands. But at some point I will lose patience with that.

Pursuing the matter further

RG: I believe it’s important that if somebody has made an accusation like this, it is important to get to the bottom of it. And so I am going to aggressively pursue it as long as I think there is some information there or I think I can get to the bottom of it.

A couple weeks ago it seemed an agreement with Walsh was imminent and now it’s not. Does that indicate anything to you?

RG: I am trying not to read into this. I also understand that part of this is lawyers debating various issues. It would be irresponsible to read anything into it. I like to have facts and get the information. Until I know more it would be inappropriate for me to try to make a judgment about what it means or doesn’t mean.

Would the Patriots be willing to say that they would not sue Walsh?

RG: They already have. He wants certain conditions. They have agreed to certain aspects of it and I don’t want to get into the middle of it, but they are willing to have him to come forward.

CBA – Timeline when you say ‘that’s it’

RG: I don’t. It would be based on what transpires here over the next several weeks. I am still optimistic that we are going to have an agreement and I am going to stay with that until I lose hope.

NFL Network discussions with Time Warner/Comcast

RG: There have been no discussions. From our standpoint, we are still fully committed to it. We believe that the NFL Network is important for us strategically going forward. We will be patient. We have tremendous resolve in the ownership to continue this. I am optimistic that we will get those agreements at some point. As you can see, it’s a difficult negotiation.

Would you be willing to compromise?

RG: Absolutely. We’ve been willing to compromise. We have compromised. One of the things we feel that’s important is that this is available to the broadest possible audience. When you’re taken back into a sports tier, which is limited to a very small audience, and they want to charge the people in that sports tier what we think is an excessive amount of money, well beyond what we’re charging the cable operators, we think that’s wrong for our fans. And so we are not going to compromise on that point.

If there was a game of the Patriots-Giants magnitude on NFLN, would you consider airing it over the other networks again?

RG: No. That was a very unique circumstance. It was the last game of the year. It was a team that was going for an undefeated season, that had never been done before, at 16-0. There was such a tremendous amount of interest from an audience that reached 35 million people on the simulcast. I don’t anticipate or intend to do that again.

How much labor was discussed here

RG: We had a lot of dialogue. It was a very important issue to us. We spent the better part of Monday on it. We came back to certain elements yesterday. It’s certainly a priority for us right now. We’re intensely focused on it right now.

With labor issues, how much does that hurt the non-CBA relationship?

RG: The objective is to get a labor agreement, one that works for both parties. That’s what we’re working towards. Obviously as part of planning we have to look at various alternatives. The reality is, and I think the union understands this, and we certainly understand this, you can grow your business better if you’re in partnership. That’s what having labor peace helps you do. That’s one of the things we clearly understand. I believe the union fully agrees with that. That’s what we’re going to continue to try to do.

Next March – deadline – uncapped year?

RG: Next year we would still have a capped year in ‘09. We would have an uncapped year in 2010. The deadline two years ago was that free agency had to begin so they had to add the rules so that free agency could be applied. That is always a deadline. I think deadlines are helpful in trying to get things resolved. Any time a deadline can be established to force us into reaching an agreement on a particularly issue, that’s helpful to us.

Frustration with labor agreement

RG: Our intent here is to still get a deal and we’re going to do everything we can possible to get a deal. There may be a lot of steps that would go into getting to that point. We’re going to work very hard to get to that deal.

Supplemental revenue sharing and big markets – small markets

RG: It worked as expected. It’s an important part of our foundation. We have the most extensive revenue sharing in any sport and it’s beneficial to our sport and most importantly to the game, which means it’s good for fans. There’s a commitment on behalf of the NFL community to continue that and to strengthen our revenue sharing where appropriate.

Antonio Bryant update?

RG: I have to go back and get an update on it. I’ll go get you an answer.

HGH testing: once that test is readily available, would you adopt it?

RG: We had a report on it. It’s something that’s important to us. We would like to have a reliable, effective test that’s available to not only us but on a widely distributed basis. We’re working and investigating to get that. When it is, we certainly will consider that. There are a lot of ramifications. You have to think about the safety of the players, you have to think about how effective the program is. We are very interested in doing that. In the meantime, we will continue to investigate developing that test and we’ll also continue to work with law enforcement.

Has the NFLPA objected to it?

RG: Depends what the testing is. I think they would be very supportive of urine analysis. They have indicated to date that they might have some more objections to blood testing. We have to get to that point where we have that test and then we’ll see where we are.

Sunday playoff games later in the day like Saturday to get better primetime ratings?

RG: We did not have any discussion on that.

How much are you investing in HGH testing?

RG: I believe it’s about $3.5 million, at least over the last 18 months. That’s the number I would put on it.

Later Draft start time

RG: What we were trying to do with the changes we made in the Draft is make it more entertaining and make it more fun for the fans. There was a significant amount of time during the picks that teams just sat on their picks, waiting to see if somebody came to them. We felt that it was a time that was not necessary. So we shortened the rounds. By shortening the rounds, it gave us the ability to move it later in the day, which made it more convenient for a large part of the country, particularly the West Coast.

Raiding other teams’ staffs

RG: We have rules that dictate that. There are rules, as well as the issue of tampering. So my first concern would be is that those rules are followed. The second, as far as they have the ability to go within those rules, that’s a team decision and it’s certainly up to them. That’s a reality of our business right now. We’re a competitive business. High quality people are something all of our teams seek.

Retired players

RG: We had a report on it on Monday and also reported again yesterday. We made a significant number of changes. We’re happy to give those to you. Our focus has been on the medical and disability issues and we’ve made what we think are some significant strides to address those issues for our retired players. There is a long list of the things we’ve done over the last year.

Asking for the removal of Judge Doty – would it be limited to the Vick ruling?

RG: We have filed some briefs with the court and it’s up to Judge Doty. Judge Doty is reviewing those matters. He makes a determination first whether he removes himself. It’s a judgment that he has to make, as I understand it. Which he will do sometime in the next few weeks. Or won’t he. That’s up to him. It was an outgrowth of the Vick decision, in some ways, but that was not the real key issue.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Q&A: Annual Meeting Press Conference Transcript

From their Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, FL, the NFL announced today its 2008 Kickoff Weekend national primetime television schedule, including a Monday night doubleheader. It’s always exciting to watch the schedule piece itself together and this is where it begins.

In a tradition that began in 2004, the Super Bowl champion annually hosts the NFL Thursday night season kickoff the following year. This September 4 at 7:00 PM ET on NBC, the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants will host their NFC East-rival Washington Redskins and their new head coach Jim Zorn. Kickoff will be 90 minutes earlier than the start time of the traditional season opener due to the Republican National Convention, which NBC News will cover following the conclusion of the game.

The Sunday night primetime game (8:15 PM ET) on NBC will feature a rematch of Super Bowl XLI as the Indianapolis Colts host the Chicago Bears. I’m excited to see this one as the game marks the first regular-season contest at new Lucas Oil Stadium.

Then on Monday night, September 8, ESPN will host a Monday Night Football doubleheader featuring two critical division matchups. The first game (7:00 PM ET) will send the Minnesota Vikings to Green Bay to visit the NFC North champion Packers (without Brett Favre). The MNF nightcap (10:15 PM ET) will be an AFC West battle as the revamped Oakland Raiders host the Denver Broncos. The rest of the 2008 regular-season schedule will be completed and announced in April.

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NFL Announces Nationally Televised Primetime 2008 Kickoff Weekend Games

At the NFL’s Annual Meeting today, it was announced that a total of 32 compensatory choices in the 2008 NFL Draft have been awarded to 15 teams. Under terms of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in a year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks. The number of picks a team receives equals the net loss of compensatory free agents up to a maximum of four. The 32 compensatory choices announced by the NFL today will supplement the 220 choices in the seven rounds of the 2008 NFL Draft (April 26-27). This year, the compensatory picks will be positioned within the third through seventh rounds based on the value of the compensatory free agents lost.

It’s not quantum physics, but compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula. In fact, one club this year (St. Louis Rams) will receive a compensatory pick even though it did not suffer a net loss of compensatory free agents. Under the formula, the compensatory free agents St. Louis lost were ranked higher than the ones it signed (by a specified point differential based upon salary and performance).

Here are the teams and how many compensatory picks they will receive: Baltimore (4), Cincinnati (4), Chicago (3), Indianapolis (3), Philadelphia (3), Washington (3), Buffalo (2), Carolina (2), Miami (2), Atlanta (1), Green Bay (1), N.Y. Giants (1), St. Louis (1), San Diego (1), and Tennessee (1).

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NFL Announces Compensatory Draft Choices

The National Football League will hold its annual meeting next week (March 30-April 3) in Palm Beach, FL. I took part in a national conference call preview with Rich McKay this afternoon. Rich is the president of the Atlanta Falcons and co-chair of the NFL’s Competition Committee. Here are some of the proposals on the table and my thoughts on each:

• Most of the proposals were submitted by the aforementioned Competition Committee, but this one was brought to light by the Kansas City Chiefs. It deals with the issue of hair not being allowed to cover the player’s name plate or numerals. I don’t like it. I say if a player wants that particular style, so be it. They know the dangers involved with possibly getting their hair pulled. It’s one of the few remaining allowances of personal expression left in the NFL.
• Eliminate the force-out and rewrite that rule to say that the only time a force-out would be called is if a player was actually held and carried out of bounds. I like this proposal. It takes the official’s opinion of whether a receiver would’ve come down in-bounds out of the equation.
• Allow instant replay to include field goal reviews. The anomaly last year was with the uniqueness of the one kick in the Cleveland/Baltimore game that hit behind the goal post. The proposal is that the league expand instant replay to cover that play. I agree. Why not?
• The coin toss. Here, the winner would have the opportunity to defer. I absolutely agree. If you win the toss, it should be your decision whether you want to play on offense or defense. It’s not really “winning” if you’re forced to react a certain way.
• Eliminate the 5‑yard penalty for face mask. I agree with this one as well. Again, it’s eliminating an official’s opinion of whether a facemask was pulled or just grabbed. College football is changing their rule this year with respect to that penalty and the NFL should, too.

Those were some of the smaller, “slam dunk” proposals, in my opinion. There are numerous bylaw proposals from teams with respect to roster sizes and there’s a playoff seeding proposal. Regarding the latter, Rich said:

“The Playoff seeding proposal would provide the Division Champions automatically qualify for the Playoffs. Under bylaw proposal 4A, the two Division Champions that have the best records automatically qualify for seeds number 1 and 2. After that, seeding would be according to the best record. Tiebreakers would go to Division Champions. So in other words, you would be competing, if you were a wild card, you’d be competing for seeds three through six depending upon your record. If you tied with the Division Champion, you would lose the tiebreaker and be seeded one spot lower. That’s bylaw proposal 4A submitted by the Competition Committee.”

As this is merely a preview, I won’t cover everything on the agenda or there won’t be much to write about next week. I can say that this pre-Draft Annual Meeting is always full of interesting, and sometimes controversial, subject matter. I’ll have more, obviously, next week as decisions are made official.

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Preview: NFL Annual Meeting

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NFL Bad Boys to Meet With Commissioner

The program requires that a team must be spending 65% or more of its revenues on player costs before it qualifies for the separate pool of $430 million that is being made available, retroactive to 2006. A franchise also must have gate revenues equal to at least 90% of the league average. Also, the franchise could not have been sold in the 2006-09 period. And if it has a new or renovated stadium with an expenditure of at least $150 million, it doesn’t qualify for the extra funds.

This arrangement does not apply to the $3.7 billion annually in TV money from Fox, NBC, CBS and ESPN, or the $700 million from DirecTV, all of which the 32 teams split equally. Can you fathom that amount of money? $3.7 billion each year from the networks that broadcast NFL games. And another $700 million from the NFL Sunday Ticket gang. Whew!

Anyway, teams that pass the test and qualify to share the extra funds will get $100 million for 2006, then $110 million for each of the next three years. Once the added funds bring the team back to 65% of revenues on player costs, that team stops collecting. Only Cincinnati and Jacksonville, both considered small market, lower revenue teams, voted against the plan.

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Revenue Sharing Program Expanded

The new policy can’t come soon enough. Yesterday, Carolina Panthers guard D’Anthony Batiste was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for carrying a concealed weapon. Then today, Las Vegas police said they would seek felony and misdemeanor charges against Pacman Jones for his involvement in a February shooting at a strip club. Until there are some harsher punishments, until a stern message is sent, these types of occurrences are sure to continue. I trust the best plan will be put into effect soon.

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Player Conduct Policy to Arrive Soon