Roger Goodell and Gang Signs: The NFL Has Overstepped Their Boundaries

Okay, so I'm walking down a city street in South side Chicago with Roger Goodell, and some guys walk past me and throw a sign towards us.

I nod to the guy not knowing exactly what he meant, and everything is fine. Roger Goodell leans towards me and says, "Hey, did you see that gang sign he flashed us?"

I look at him and say, "How do you know what that was? I'm from the city and I didn't even recognize that."

He says, "Because I have a team of security personnel who know how to differentiate regular hand gestures from gang signs."

I respond, "Oh, the way David Stern wrongfully fined Paul Pierce for something he had no idea of? Okay, in that case I believe you."

Utter garbage.

How unfair can today's society be?

How is it even remotely fair that a guy can be fined and crucified for putting up a hand gesture that can mean he's happy?

I've never been in a gang, but I've thrown my hands up with my middle and index fingers clasped together. One time I did that in a street pickup game and a guy said to me, "That's the boys down the street gang sign. Are you runnin' with them?"

I blankly stared at him and said rather aggressively, "No."

I'm sure Paul Pierce wasn't throwing up a gang sign either, and if he was in a gang do you believe he would have been stabbed that way with no retaliation?

Nevertheless, Mr. Stern had no problem digging into his pockets and taking money that was not entitled to them.

Now the NFL has the nerve to release to the media the idea of cracking down on players throwing up gang signs? And to make that worse, not give us any examples or tell us who the offenders are?

That's like ESPN announcing that a NFL player had been arrested for a crime, and subsequently neglecting to tell us who the player was or exactly what he did. That's irresponsible news reporting, and the NFL needs to support what seems like a bogus claim.

I've been watching NFL football for most of my life, and I've never seen such nonsense.

Not to mention, it feels a little biased and racially controversial, similar to the NBA implementing a dress code seemingly to counteract Allen Iverson and the hip-hop movement.

Ironically, this is the same music that helped the NBA to make millions.

Now, I'm not looking to toss the race-card into this issue because I try to be as fair as possible when breaking down these types of situations. Race can't explain everything, and therefore is not a good-rationale for any debate.

But when gang violence is knowingly portrayed as a predominantly minority issue, and the NFL employs more minorities than anyone else, it's rather disturbing to hear this claim.

Through all of the symposiums and meetings NFL players have to endure about this issue, isn't it fair to say enough is enough?

One cannot control what players decide to do off of the field (Adam Jones, Matt Jones) and there's only so much policing Goodell and his associates can do.

Roger has already instilled the unpopular player conduct "law", which is terribly lacking in definition.

What grounds does a player get suspended on? How is the length of the suspension determined?

It seems as though Goodell reserves the right solely to make those decisions without a player having any knowledge of whether they will be suspended or not because there are no particular guidelines.

For example, New York Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw was arrested and served time in Virginia for violating parole. Now everyone including Bradshaw is wondering will he be suspended.

Shouldn't there be some type of guideline so players and their teams can know and move forward?

Now the Giants, Bradshaw, and his family sit and wait for Goodell to get around to his issue. What is this? Moral court?

In relation to gang signs and violence, how does Roger Goodell have any idea what that stuff means and how do you enforce such a loose, one-sided rule?

If a white player raises his fingers in the shape of a W, does he deserve to be reprimanded for gang signs? That W just means west side, and their are millions of people from the west side of cities.

Is Goodell going to go in the dilapidated neighborhoods of America and ask young men about gang signs? Where does he have a basis to make an informed, fair decision about this?

It's just plain asinine.

Roger Goodell's tenure as NFL commissioner has been rocky, unfair and biased from day one.

His player conduct rule was a good idea turned bad and redundant because it has no clear, solid penalties for particular actions.

His comment about rookie salaries was misplaced and unfair to a player like Matt Ryan who had just signed a contract. This was added pressure for a rookie who didn't make the rules.

Throwing away all of the tapes from Spygate was a silly PR move. I admit there was probably not much to see on those tapes, but to throw them away so quickly just made it suspicious.

Now, let's tell the minority players not to gesture their hands in any way or we will fine them. That means no making a C for your wife Christine, no double fists for your deceased best friend who loved to box, or no fingers clasped together to form an A for your son's passing of high school with honors.

Who knows why a guy would use hand signs?

I know one thing, the possibilities are endless.