Jared Allen spoke out Thursday against Roger Goodell and the league. (Photo Courtesy of fidosysop.org)
Jared Allen is becoming quite vocal about his displeasure with Roger Goodell. Yesterday he showed up on Jim Rome’s Showtime show. Him and Rome spent some time on light-hearted conversations like Allen’s love of Adelle. Allen effusively said he enjoys listening to Adelle. Some people seemed surprise that a beast of a defensive end like Allen would enjoy Adelle, but to us it seems right in #69′s wheel house. (We loved Tony Kornheiser’s response on PTI yesterday to everyone being surprised Allen likes Adelle: “Everybody loves Adelle. What, is this guy some sort of caveman that he can’t listen to Adelle.” Love it.)
Rome and Allen quickly moved onto more football oriented topics, particularly Roger Goodell. Allen said his goal would be to do everything he could to reverse the changes to the game that Goodell has supported.
“I’d probably undo everything Roger Goodell’s done,” Allen said to Rome. “I’d get football back to its rawest, simplest form, and just take all these, you know, horse-collar tackles, and so-called illegal hits, out. Get football back to its rawest form.”
With what we know about concussions today (and are still learning), we can’t say we agree with Allen, but we understand the sentiment. It is nearly impossible to be a great defensive player in today’s game with all the rules that protect the offense. Player safety needs to be one of the highest concerns at league offices, sure. However, it’s the lack of consistency that should be concerning to the players. Offensive players are protected at all cost while defensive lineman can be cut without regard below the knees. Not to mention the previous talks of expanding the regular season and the current talks of an expanded playoffs. Allen had something to say about that too, this time to the Pioneer Press.
“It’s stupid,” the Minnesota Vikings defensive end said Thursday, via the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I think that’s a dumb idea. The reason our league is so much better than other leagues, I think, is because of that competition. Every game means something.
“There’s 162 games in baseball. You’re like, ‘Eh.’ No one really watches until the end, right? Basketball’s the same way. There’s no real significance in every game. I think you damage the sport… Our games become less significant every week if you know, ‘Oh, I can still lose half my games and sneak into the playoffs.’”
We couldn’t agree more with Allen there. The expanded playoffs is a terrible idea. The excitement or heartbreak Vikings fans will have over the next three weeks is what makes the NFL great. This goes for 75% of the teams in the NFL right now. Expanding the playoffs has potentially to damage that irreparably.
Allen is always the entertainer when he does media gigs and his time on Jim Rome’s show was no different. The NFL may want to stand up and take notice on what’s happening here, though. They have the potential for a serious problem. In college athletics we hear the phrase “lack of institutional control” thrown around a lot. It feels like Roger Goodell and company are getting dangerously close to it. Players are popping up all over the place with criticisms and jabs at the front office. Eventually, we may reach a tipping point and this could become a serious problem for the league. Most likely, however, they won’t notice until it starts effecting their pocket books.
Twitter
Facebook