Some notable reporting came out of Dallas last week detailing the escalating rift between Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell. Being the most accessible owner in the game, Jones commented on his motivations Tuesday.
A group of other owners believe Jones’ crusade against the commissioner is entirely based upon Ezekiel Elliott‘s six-game suspension. Jones maintains it’s about holding Goodell accountable rather than revenge for the commissioner suspending his star running back.
“The commissioner has a right to change his mind,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan (via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). ”He’s got a right to say one thing one day and say another thing the next day. He can sleep on it. All of those things happen. But the commissioner is very powerful and probably in the most powerful position relative to his constituency that there it is in anything. Well, all owners should be holding the commissioner accountable in my view. That’s the gist of this thing.”
ESPN reporters Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham reported Jones threatened Goodell over the phone with the kind of response Robert Kraft did not bring in the Deflategate saga. Jones did not agree with the account that this one-man offensive against Goodell and the NFL has to do with him confidently saying Elliott was in the clear when he wasn’t.
“Let me just say this because the interpretation is that I got out over my skis and consequently I got embarrassed because I said nothing was going to happen. That’s just not right. Let’s just go to the meat of it and let’s just carry it on back. There was rationale. There was precedent. There were all kinds of things that would have influenced the commissioner’s decision there.
“Now that’s the thing that ought to be looked at, not Zeke’s situation, but the entire way Zeke’s and the philosophy and everything behind Zeke business.”
Jones wants each of the 32 owners to have a say in Goodell’s next contract, rather than just the six-man compensation committee — from which he’s been removed after coming aboard as an additional member. Of course, other owners are now on board with Jones being sanctioned for his recent actions — which have included the threat of a lawsuit against the NFL. So it’s uncertain at this point how much clout the powerful owner has regarding this issue he’s raised.
*31 owners and the Packer fans that think they’re owners.
Haters gon hate
It’s honestly stupid all 32 owners can’t have a voice in who runs the league.
They do. As I understand it, the decision to renew a contract with Goodell is done by all owners. The smaller compensation committee works to establish-as its name indicates- the actual compensation in the new contract.