Michael Vick Steered towards Philidelphia

That does seem odd that the commish would advise him to go to a specific team.

 

This would not be the first time Goodell has done this in being impartial, remember the story where Rex Ryan asked Goodell to ream him out in front of Santanio Holmes and he complied.

 

Vick is a guy who can bring the league a lot of money - no way they wanted him wasting his talents in Cinci or Buffalo.

Not to mention, I think there was a greater chance of Vick breaking out in Philly with a good mentor (Andy Reid) and the need to compete with McNabb/Kolb driving him to improve instead of just handing him the keys.

I think ultimately it ended up being the best for both Vick and the League.

 

I don't see how/why in 2009 the Bengals "likely would have made him the starting QB" when he hadn't played in 2-3 years and Carson Palmer was only 29 yrs old.

I don't like the idea of the NFL steering players anywhere.

 

Why do people get so shocked when they hear these kinds of things? Especially under Goodell, the NFL has become EVEN more of a business. It's all about money, while giving fans the illusion that the playing field is level. Or, let me put it in a less nefarious way: the NFL execs view their job as "balancing" an entertainment business with the competition, rules, fairness, etc. that everyone seems to expect from sports. Is it the WWE? No, but the bigwigs are keenly aware of how to manipulate things off-the-field to maximize their profits or minimize losses. The handling of Spygate is another good example.

 

Woah woah woah. This is actually a crazy story and pure bull****. I wonder if this will become a bigger story. It should.

 

I don't see the problem. The Eagles are part of the overall product that the NFL produces.

The bigger travesty is that people think Vick is reformed.

 

Agreed. Commish shouldn't intervene and influence where players sign. Conflict of interest and well beyond reason. What's next, favoring teams, fining players ridiculous money for legal hits, destroying evidence? Oh wait.....it is Goddell we're talking about, so I'm not surprised.

The minute I saw him I got the impression that he was a snake. I'm *usually* a good judge of character, and my hit percentage increased with this guy.

 

I would guess Goodell wanted him to go to a team where he wouldn't be starting right away, and where he would get good structure. I don't think this necessarily is a case where Goodell wanted him to go to a big market, just a franchise that wouldn't allow a circus to take place. JMO.

 

Considering Lurie is his boss, I'm sure they are buddies. Paul Brown and Ralph Wilson are his bosses as well.

 

A commissioner should be impartial. You're pretty much in the camp that a corporation can act unethically in the best interest of their company's stock and shareholder's revenue. Honestly, there isn't anything wrong with that line of thinking. There is a difference between unethical and illegal.

Ultimately, the end product is Goddell's and CEO's across the globe primary responsibility, but lines have to be drawn imo.

 

Goodell should suspend himself for tampering.

 

What was unethical about it??? Who are the victims? Goodell's bosses?

 

Was actually going to post this b/c I heard it on Mike and Mike this morning and thought it was outrageous. If the commissioner is tampering with where a player is going, seems like a terrible form of collusion. I get that this situation is vastly different to most others based on the fact Vick was in jail, but this obviously wasn't the last time a player ended up in jail and back in the league. Was Plax encouraged to go to the Jets?

Regardless, if you are going to let a guy back in the league after such a frowned upon criminal activity, you should not be directing said player where to go. Seemed they had a lot of unfair leverage based on the fact that they "approved" his getting back into the league based on him going to Philadelphia. I'm calling conspiracy theory here.

 

Cincinnati, Buffalo, and all their fans??

 

How about the CIN Bengals and BUF Bills? Those franchises, their fans. How can you not consider them victims? They'd both have been much better off with Vick.

 

He's not rigging games.

He is acting ethically. The NFL shares profit. All teams benefit when one increases revenue.

I mean really what difference does it make if Goodell convinced Douchebag to go to one team or more money convinced him to go to another? How does one approach mean better competition over the other?

 

Their owners have as much control over Goodell as any other owner.

 

You're right, might as well get rid of all the front offices, and scouting departments, and just put people on teams and watch them play. That sounds like a lot of fun. Let's take away the draft and free agency, they are just SO boring anyway.

 

It was *NOT* the Commissioner's place to influence that decision and I think the owners should call him out on that. I think they should discipline him and make him write a letter of formal apology to the Mike Brown and Ralph Wilson.

 

You really don't see the leap you're making between Goodell convincing someone to play somewhere, with just assigning players to teams?

 

Does it say he can't do that, anywhere in the rulebook or contracts or any other official document?

 

Classic statement for a person who is acting unethical to make. Just because it isn't explicitly written, doesn't mean it's right.

 

Fixed.

If you believe that, you are being naive. And regardless of any of that, owners should not be able to influence the commissioner to influence players.

 

Goodells a joke. Honestly, we're all a little niave if we don't think the NFL isn't fixed a little bit.

 

It's just extending that line of thought, if he did the same thing with every player, would it not be the same as assigning players to teams? It's also silly to say that it doesn't matter at all where a player plays simply because the owners share a portion of revenues. If it didn't matter, what would be the point of signing good players? Obviously there are incentives for teams to sign better players and to win more games.

 

It doesn't have to. It was still NOT his place.

 

The real travesty is Miami didn't try to go get his *** and instead wasted a 2nd round pick on White when all they wanted was a developmental QB and occasional WC QB. Imagine if we had Vick going into this season?

 

I read this as Goddell steering Vick to go to Philly so he wouldnt have the pressure of being a city, team, and franchises savior.....he could be a backup in philly for a couple years, and ease into things.

 

Still a somewhat vague claim over what exactly Goodell personally did or said to convince Vick. These are Vick's words, but where is the beef so to speak.

Its a slippery slope, but based soley on this above quote, its not enough to label Goodell as tampering with the parity of the NFL, etc.

 

I think they just wanted to make sure he went to an organization where he would have support.....they were trying to make sure Vick stayed on the straight and narrow path.

Cinci has a history of having players in trouble......

 

Mike Vick has made the NFL a lot of money. I would say that both Wilson and Brown are better off because of this.

 

I agree with FinD and BigDog...

This isn't tampering and it is Goodell's "place" to ensure that the NFL makes money and has players that don't hurt it's reputation.

For all we know Goodell realized that Vick (most likely) would go to Cinci or Buffalo and hurt the NFL more with his atrocious behavior. Those two organizations are crap and losing has a way of making a player's true self shine. Look at how New England has been able to get guys with Vick's mental/emotional/behavioral problems to act right. In Philly he's got a daddy who is used to babysitting adults (Reid's own kids) and who could most likely control Vicks behavioral problems. (for awhile at least)

Recommending that Vick go to Philly is no big deal. Besides, if Vick went to Buffalo or Cinci he'd either be back in jail or paralyzed due to those teams sucking and not being able to protect their QB.

 

Didn't we already know this years ago?

 

Your right. So If Tom Brady became a free agent next year. Was close to signing with Miami, yet decided to sign with the Jets because it would be better for the NFL and him. Thats fair? No. It is not Goodells place for player movement.

 

Fundamentally WRONG. Imagine how much more money the depressed Buffallo Bills could have made with sales on Vick jerseys. And that money would have been evenly spread anyway.

Although there is profit sharing, CIN and BUF would have been the direct beneficiary as opposed to Philly. What if BUF won a superbowl with Vick, how much money would they have lost out on, or the opportunity to increase their fan base. It isn't just dollars and cents.

It is wrong for Goddell to have any influence at all when it comes to player's personal decisions, whatsoever. Stick to gouging Harrison and playing favorites with Kraft.

 

I just think folks are making a BIG LEAP of what Vicks words mean when it comes to his statement of Goodell and OTHER NFL officials offering him advice about best choice.

What's the other side of this story/conversation!