NFL Mavericks Al Davis and Roger Goodell; TV Networks, Nation's Sheep

Al Davis, the NFL Maverick, Hall of Famer pioneered changes in the NFL long before today's “red bloods” like Jerry Jones came along. 

If you know anything about Brooklyn Al, he's the only person to serve as a personnel assistant, scout, assistant coach, head coach, general manager, commissioner and team owner in the NFL. 

He broke color barriers before it was cool.  See Eldridge Dickey and Art Shell.  He hired a female for CEO, which is unheard of even today.  See Amy Trask.  Young head coaches were unheard of unless it was with the Raiders, until recent trends.

There's more but today I want to pay tribute to Roger Goodell, who unlike most prominent sports figures, put his money where his mouth is.  Note, I wrote "most" not all. 

The commissioner will take a reduction in pay of approximately $2,000,000.00 for fiscal 2008, which ends March 31. That’s a bit more than 20% haircut.  Don't get me wrong, he still makes a nice hefty seven figure income in the end.  But he made the decision and contractually, he's eligible for an increase for 2009 if he wants to!  Check that, if he "chooses" to.

This information comes on the heels of a Superbowl with across the board spending reductions to show America that the NFL is sensitive to our country's economic plight.

Is Goodell a God?  Absolutely not!  Is he perfect?  Absolutely not!

But this guy has taken our country's situation personally—can't say that about too many sports figures.  This isn't breaking news by the way, but it really ticks me off that the networks can cover "crap" like Adam "Pacman" Jones and his sad situation over and over again. 

Hey TV Networks, why don't you talk more about what's positive in the world of sports?  Maybe because your ratings will drop in the short term, which means a little less money.   Go ahead; be a Maverick not a sheep!