
NFL Owners and Executives
Overview
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September 9, 2020
Dear Owners and Executives:
The fundamental mistake the NFL (and other professional sports) made earlier this summer was to overcommit themselves to the dictates of an imbalanced social justice movement that was incited by the emotion of the moment (generated after George Floyd’s death), and by fact that the country had been locked down for nearly three months, and was a powder keg ready to go off. That overcommitment caused them to become fixated on a one-sided narrative, and thereby be poorly positioned to pivot to a higher understanding of things when that narrative proved to be as imbalanced as it was.
Additionally, it caused them to err in judgment and make premature concessions. For example, when Commissioner Goodell responded to the NFL social justice-BLM commercial, he did so in a way that affirmed everything that was stated in that commercial. The commercial itself was clearly scripted for the players and loaded with verbiage and assumptions that should have been evaluated, challenged, and discussed. By the commissioner mechanically repeating in agreement exactly the players’ demands, the whole event came across more like a strong-armed, staged event, rather than an enlightened dialogue based on facts and truth. Also, the fact that the players aired a public commercial apparently before having a closed door meeting with the commissioner was telling.
The extreme over reaction to George Floyd’s death, in comparison to the extreme under reaction to the lawlessness that immediately followed, and that is continuous to this present day, is clear evidence that events were being manipulated (to a degree), narratives were being controlled, and that far more was in play than just “social justice matters”. Time did not stand still after George Floyd’s death and the subsequent chaos that ensued created an even more severe and chilling reality that needed to be processed, responded to, and incorporated into any coherent social justice message. Right now, the greatest threat to black lives and all lives in America that needs to be categorically denounced by all cultural leaders, including corporate sports, is the growing, out of control lawlessness that has been allowed to continue. In truth, every responsible adult in every position of responsibility should be standing in abject horror of the violence and condemn it in the strongest possible terms, instead of incessantly retreating to the simplistic narratives of systemic racism and social injustice.
It is as if America is fighting a two-front war: anarchy in the name of social justice on one front and a rise of violent crime and homicide in critical urban neighborhoods on the other front. The tragedy of what happened to George Floyd is one thing, but what has happened in the aftermath in terms of the breakdown of civil order and human brutality is on such a scale and scope that it seems impossible that it could be happening in America. Consequently, it seems that a new normal has been established, one that accepts and expects rioting and episodes of lawlessness to occur every time there is a questionable incident between a black suspect and the police. In this, our country is in a complete crisis that is being fueled by those who continue to enflame the situation with reckless and uncontrolled rhetoric.
What the NFL and all corporate sports need to realize is that those who are involved in the protesting represent a small fraction of less than 1% of the population, and that most of these individuals do not attend professional sports in person or watch them on TV, or for that matter care about professional sports at all. In contrast, the vast majority of Americans who were unified in condemning what happened to George Floyd, and who did not go to the extreme of continuous protesting or rioting in the streets, but rather were horrified over the riotous behavior they saw, are the ones who care about football and the NFL and are more likely to attend football games or watch them on TV.
What this means to the NFL is clear: if the NFL begins its season by kneeling for the national anthem or other such acts, it has lost from the very start. Any other positive or truthful statement that it wants to make regarding social justice will be ignored by a public that sees only the same type misguided attitude and affiliation that it is rejecting. If after this, the league generally, or your team specifically, does not change course and demonstrate a more holistic response to social justice issues, one that demonstrates the full spectrum of truth, then it will unnecessarily suffer the same, or even worse, consequences than it did previously, and that MLB, and especially the NBA are now suffering. (The NBA’s extreme, over the top agenda is out of control and is wrecking the league).
To read the entire message, Click Here.