Goodell

Art Wander

DON’T GET ME STARTED won’t be hearing about Roger Goodell going into the Hall of Fame the way the best Commish the NFL ever had, Pete Rozelle gained that honor.

Instead of building a legacy of positive accomplishments, Goodell is inviting continued and sustained criticism in the wake of his many moves since he’s been the Commissioner. The one question I would pose to Goodell would be, “How far away are we from flag football?”

What prompts that question is the rule where if your pinkie touches a receiver, the yellow flag is hurled and a penalty is called. Let’s see now, in the Washington/Cleveland game Monday night – 22 penalties were called in the game. If the refs continue to throw the flag in the regular season that much – maybe 25-30 times or more, look for 4 hour games..

The refs are calling them according to the new rules imposed by Goodell and the competition committee. Oh, they cite that they are trying to prevent serious injuries to the receivers. Hey, Goodell and the boys. If it’s 3rd down and 12 to go, the receivers know that all they have to do is run a pattern and make contact with a defender and the yellow will fly. Most of the calls have been against the offense.

Granted, safety must be a fact of life in the NFL, but these stupid touchy touchy calls – pinkie on the jersey are just that…..stupid.

I wonder how long it will be before CBS complains that the much longer games intrude on 60 Minutes – the program that resulted in rule changes cutting down on the number of plays a team runs in the NFL.

I for one was furious with the penalties in that Browns game. There was the instance where flags were thrown on 4 consecutive plays. Make no mistake about it. When the refs have the discretion to make a questionable call against one team, it could cost the team a game; or a playoff berth and, heavens forbid – the Super Bowl.

Get back to the drawing board and put the flow of the game back on the field and on the tube. Modify that touchy touchy rule on Don’t Get Me Started.

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