???If the U.S. government is based on democracy, shouldn't American sports be run in the same manner?
???Not in Roger Goodell's opinion. Evidently, being appointed commissioner of the National Football League is the same as being dictator of a small country.
???Goodell has been in office for only two years, and in those two years he has been on a power trip. During this time, Goodell has let some legislation pass that will not be beneficial for the league in any way, shape or form.
???Don't get me wrong; I agree that Adam "Pacman" Jones' suspension prior to going to Dallas is justified, as is the legal trouble that Cowboys defensive tackle Tank Johnson got into. But I'm not talking about those rules. I'm talking about rules such as fines for "hard hits" and player celebration, things that have become a part of the game.
???Imagine sitting home on Sunday and watching a football game where instead of tackling people hard, players would gently place one another on the ground. If you scored a touchdown, all you could do is place the ball down and quietly walk over to the sidelines.
???Boring, right? But under Goodell's policy, football of the future will be played like this.
???I'm not the only who doesn't like the direction the NFL is going. In an interview with ESPN, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu expressed his feelings on the situation.
???"I think regarding the evolution of football, it's becoming more and more flag football, two-hand touch," Polamalu said. "We've really lost the essence of what real American football is about."
???Polamalu made this comment to the press one month after his fellow teammate Hines Ward was fined $15,000 for two separate incidents, which involved unnecessary roughness and stepping over an opponent. The irony of this is that he was not flagged for a penalty on either incident.
???In the interview, Polamalu also went on to say that great players of the past would have never been successful if they played in today's game.
???"When you see guys like Dick Butkus, the Ronnie Lotts, the Jack Tatums, these guys really went after people. Now, they couldn't survive in this type of game. They wouldn't have enough money. They'd be paying fines all the time and they'd be suspended for a year after they do it two games in a row. It's kind of ridiculous," he said.
???I'm not old enough to have watched those older players perform on the gridiron. Nonetheless, I am old enough to have witnessed one of the roughest players to ever play the game: Lawrence Taylor. If the older players in any way resemble Taylor, then I completely understand where Polamalu is coming from.
???If being dictator of the NFL wasn't enough, Goodell has been trying to take a stab at socialism. He's trying to mold the NFL into a socialistic entity where players must look and act the same.
???A while back, Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was fined $100,000 when he showed up to a media press conference with Vitamin Water and a hat with the company's logo on it. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, like Urlacher, was fined $5,000 for wearing a white hat under his helmet, instead of the black one that is mandated by the NFL.
???My favorite fine has to be the one concerning Steelers safety Ryan Clark. Clark was fined $5,000 for writing the jersey number of his late friend, Sean Taylor, on his own jersey.
???That's right. He was trying to honor his dead friend. I guess that's not OK with Goodell.
???Mr. Commissioner, let me ask you a question. Did you watch football growing up, or did you just inherit this job because you belonged to a rich family?
???Apparently, you don't remember the good days when you couldn't wait to see Deion Sanders get into the end zone so you could see his signature dance. Or maybe you never watched Merton Hanks do his chicken dance after he made a big play.
???As fans and consumers of your product, do you not realize that we like that? Stop fining people. It's getting us angry.
