Ouch!
The NFL season kicks off tonight.
As happened last year, Sports-Talk since the Patriots won the Super Bowl has centered on legal issues in the league, not the game, and not the start of a new season.
The integrity of the commisioner’s office has been under a microscope since the Ray Rice video surfaced, and while Roger Goodell never seems to lose his smug arrogance, I don’t think the billionaires who own the teams will be happy to see this come out just before the 2015-16 Playoffs begin:
The worst part?
The NY Times reports that Sony Pictures, the director, and Will Smith, who stars in the film based on a true story, sought to soften the impact, to try to find a way to keep from antagonizing the NFL by altering the script and marketing the film as a story about a whistle-blower rather than an indictment of the NFL itself.
As much as we love football, the NFL isn’t yet losing sleep over any of its legal issues.
But as more parents steer their kids away from a sport proven to shorten life, that may change.
And I don’t think Roger Goodell can smirk his way out of that reality.