- Joined
- Aug 25, 2017
While the word from many sources was that Goodell didn't like it, his job is to be the $60M face of the league. He's there for the MSM to prop up so fans don't go after owners more than they already do. It's not like he gets a vote on rule changes. He's not on the Health and Safety Committee. He's not on the Competition Committee. Roge certainly holds some sway in those meetings as he's guided the NFL to the profits and expansion the owners dreamed of, but they'd tell him to fuck right off if they were firmly against him. Much like GB President Mark Murphy, Goodell isn't in the billionaires club.Genuinely don't get the hate from the league itself. Other teams being salty I understand perfectly, but it's a play that actually gives a team identity and is notable enough to even have normies talking about the game in some way. No solid injury data to report, so what's the problem? Philly's a relatively large market team, that's been on a hot streak the past 5 years and has insanely marketable players like Saquon, DeJean, hell even Kelce's a big ambassador for the brand in retirement, so what gives?
I know as a philly sports fan there's a perception that everyone has it out for us, but even I usually just handwave that because on it's face it's ridiculous, the Sixers and Flyers just suck, nobody is responsible for their franchises' failures but ownership, and the Phillies and Eagles are at least perrenial contentenders. And yet it seems like the Eagles singularly get the most shit, from the media, the refs, and now the league I guess in trying to ban a play that they perceive as some lynchpin to our unearned success (It's not, even if it did get banned, having 2 stud wideouts, Saquon, and a lights out defense is the secret sauce).
Many sources pointed to professional jealousy. Adam Caplan is a Philly insider, but he's also covered the entire league for decades. He's the one I've heard say the most talk about what went on behind scenes. Supposedly Goodell and some old heads around the league office and front offices hated it for aesthetics or whatever reason, but it gained momentum out of jealousy.
The ban was proposed for the 2023 league meetings, but didn't even get considered by the competition committee. Suddenly there is widespread support after Philly wins a Super Bowl. Adam spoke to coaches, he's never specified head or position, that said there were quite a lot of people upset about the play. They didn't like that the Eagles were the only ones who did it successfully. They didn't like that the team had a reputation for being a tough hardnose team and the tush push represented that. They didn't like how Nick conducted himself. They didn't like Howie Season.
There was a sentiment around the league from some that Philly needed to get taken down a peg. Now this fits pretty perfectly with the persecution complex of Philly fans, but there are other insiders who've made comments regarding jealousy who didn't go as far as Caplan. The campaign for a ban boils down the teams being able to take a shot at the king without risking anything for their own team. Supposedly now there is a sentiment that some teams are going to run it to prove that someone other than the Eagles can run it.
I mean shit, the rule changes they made in the late 70s to stop the Steel Curtain fundamentally altered the game and allowed it to become what it is today.