The Disgraceful NFL

Super Bowl 56 concluded this past Sunday. Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably know that the Los Angeles Rams (formerly of St. Louis) defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. The game was played in front of roughly 80,000 people paying on average over $6000 per ticket and over 110 Million watching on TV, with companies paying up to $7 Million to have the privilege of advertising their product for 30 seconds. The NFL will no doubt call it a huge success because the game was close to the end, had the largest attendance of any TV show in years, was a full-forced display of the NFL’s “commitment to diversity” and made their billionaire owners a butt-load money. I, on the other hand, literally want to throw up!

Sure part of my disdain stems from the personal affront that I and virtually every St. Louisan feels about the way the Rams departed St.Louis after fraudulent deceptions and outright lies, and raping the City’s treasury of hundreds of millions of dollars. For these acts to be committed by a disloyal being (it’s hard to call him a human being) from our own area who only got his ownership interest in the Rams because of his Missouri connection, is all the more painful. To see him handed the Super Bowl trophy and publicly praised for building a $5.5 Billion dollar stadium in LA (with his own funds and financing) when he left the Lou because St.Louis wouldn’t buy him a second stadium was excruciating. And there aren’t sufficient expletives for his disingenuous salute to “the great fans of Los Angeles” – the same folks who weren’t able to occupy even half the stadium for the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers.

And it that weren’t enough, the NFL and its partner in crime NBC, managed to completely wipe out 20 years of history of the Rams in St.Louis. There were no stories in the 5 hours of pre-game coverage (on every conceivable issue that related to the teams) about the Rams presence in St. Louis, its first Championship there with Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and “the Greatest Show on Turf,” the impact of the Rams departure on St. Louis, or naturally the lawsuit. The Washington Post wrote an article on Sunday about how the NFL devastated not only the St.Louis community but also other communities in LA near the stadium by their move. But nothing whatsoever from the “journalists” at NBC.

In fact, as far as I can tell, there was not a single mention of the word “St.Louis” throughout the entire telecast. Even when former St.Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil was introduced on the field as a new Hall of Famer, Al Michaels talked about him being the former Rams Head Coach who won their only Super Bowl to that point, but omitted any reference to that occurring in St. Louis. I suspect that was no accident on Al’s part, but rather a directive from the NFL that the network not mention the city (much less the lawsuit against the Rams and League for fraud that they just settled). If you doubt the NFL has such power over the networks, look how they went after, and arguably blackballed, the iconic Bob Costas from hosting their games when he had the audacity to question the NFL’s handling of concussions and whether the game could even be played safely. No network wants to offend their biggest cash cow.

Some may say “get over it.” After all, St.Louis received nearly a billion dollars in a settlement from the Rams which, as I previously wrote about, was a good deal under the circumstances given the significant legal obstacles. But it doesn’t mean that the Rams and the NFL are absolved of their sins.

And my disdain for the NFL extends far beyond its shoddy treatment of my home town (and other cities like Cleveland, Baltimore, Houston, San Diego and Oakland).

People should not so easily forget that the NFL is responsible for the serious injury and death of literally THOUSANDS of young men by hiding the dangers of concussions from them, distorting the evidence and even manufacturing false “scientific” evidence to attempt to extend the charade as long as possible. As a result, hundreds sustained serious brain injury, many young men (like Junior Seau, Andre Waters, Dave Duerson, etc.) killed themselves, and several others (like Aaron Hernandez, Jevon Belcher and most recently Phillip Adams) also killed other people in the process. Yet, the “great” Roger Goodell (who makes $63.9 Million per year to be the unabashed defender of the League) once said with a straight face that there was no proof of any connection between concussions and neurological problems. And an NFL committee which “studied” the problem for over a decade actually claimed that there was no greater chance of a repeat concussion to a player who has one and re-enters the game.

Just like with the case brought by St.Louis, the League bought its way out of its lies and distortions by paying approximately $1 Billion dollars in a class action settlement to make it all go away. Once again the NFL was greatly aided by significant legal obstacles to the claims (in that case the labor preemption law that could have barred this tort claim when there is a Collective Bargaining Agreement that includes conditions of medical treatment). That doesn’t mean, however, the NFL’s actions weren’t despicable, or that a jury wouldn’t have found damages for a LOT more than the settlement; only that the League had top notch legal guns and favorable laws to potentially deprive the 4300+ players affected of any money whatsoever, thereby forcing them to settle at a price far below what it was otherwise worth.

Next there’s the NFL’s disingenuous position with respect to legalized gambling. The League was a longtime purported opponent and fought states like New Jersey tooth and nail in court on the grounds that it would ruin the “integrity of the game.” It turned out that this had nothing to do with the NFL trying to protect the game and everything to do with money; the owners wanted a percentage of all gambling wagers. Once the Supreme Court upheld the rights of states to offer legal sports wagering and they knew they couldn’t get a direct piece of the pie, the NFL quickly struck deals for over $1 Billion dollars with the very gambling entities that they claimed were going to ruin the game like Draft Kings, Fan Duel and Caeser’s .

And gambling has been a godsend for the NFL, creating a much greater interest in the sport than there otherwise would be. For this year’s Super Bowl alone, more than $1 Billion dollars was purportedly bet on the game and the sports book operations (and their investors and partners including the NFL) made an absolute killing. In fact, the game turned out so well for the NFL and the sports books that a cynic might question the legitimacy of the outcome and the “integrity” of the game. Let’s take a deeper dive. (For those not interested in the nuances of football gambling you should skip several paragraphs to the NFL’s handling of race).

The NFL naturally badly craves a close and competitive Super Bowl game to keep its ratings high and justify an ever-expanding absurd cost of an ad. The fact that the game went down to the wire was a huge blessing for the NFL and all of the teams who share the massive TV money. There is nothing per se unusual about a close game. But in this case the two teams appeared to be greatly mismatched; as virtually every analyst noted, the Rams had superior talent and an edge at every position (only the Bengals QB and wide receivers were equal to the Rams).

And yet the Rams employed a game plan where they inexplicably ran the ball up the middle repeatedly for virtually no gain. (The Rams running backs gained less the 50 yards despite 23 attempts and there wasn’t a single rushing play, other than a trick play by a receiver, that yielded even 5 yards). It made absolutely no sense to continue to run the ball in this manner. Moreover, it served to greatly shorten the game (running plays take a lot more time off the clock since they tend to be for shorter yardage and the clock always keeps running.) If you have the better players and the better team you would logically and strategically want to extend, not shorten, the game to improve your statistical chances.

The fact that the League and owners benefitted greatly by this extremely curious play-calling which helped produce a much close contest than it should have been in my view, naturally doesn’t mean the game was fixed, but it raises some eyebrows.

Now let’s look at this game from the standpoint of the “bookies”- who are these days large legal corporations in bed with the NFL. They couldn’t have orchestrated a better outcome to the game if they had planned it. (Or did they?). First there’s the winner. More money was bet on the Bengals to win the game outright and at nearly 2-1 odds than was bet on the Rams. (One furniture owner from Houston alone wagered $9.5 Million on that proposition.) So it was very helpful to the guys who take bets that the Rams wound up winning the game.

As for the questionable part, the outcome was greatly impacted by a defensive holding penalty at 3rd and Goal from the 8 yard line with the Rams trailing by 4 with less than two minutes in the game. What made the call so appalling, aside from the fact that it wasn’t really a penalty, was that the refs had not called a single defensive holding call the ENTIRE game before that point. Anyone who knows football knows that there is some defensive holding of receivers on virtually every play in the NFL. So a certain amount is routinely tolerated to avoid calling such a penalty on every play. While crews and refs naturally see this penalty slightly differently there should be at least some consistency in what is allowed throughout the game. For the refs in the Super Bowl to allow quite a bit of holding on both sides throughout the game and then suddenly decide to call it for the very first time on THIS highly questionable play and at this particular time and thus, arguably, decide the game for the Rams, is perplexing and arguably outrageous. And it raises the question of the legitimacy of the outcome.

Then there’s the score differential of 3 points. More money was bet on the Rams than the Bengals against the spread, i.e. minus 4 points. So having the Rams win the game but by less than 4 points was the ideal outcome for the gambling “house.” Incidentally, the worst outcome for them would have been if the game had ended with Rams winning by exactly 4 points. Why? Because that would have resulted in a tie for the vast majority of spread wagers and thus required that the bookies refund all the money wagered and make nothing on those wagers – you only pay the typical 10% juice on a losing bet. And the game would have, in fact, ended on a 4 point differential had not the Rams botched an extra point. Prior to that kick, the Rams had made >98% of extra point kicks during the season. Was it a bad snap, bad weather, a blocked kick, or simply an aberrant missed kick? Nope- the holder just dropped a perfect snap with no pressure on him in perfect weather – probably a 1 in a 1000 proposition. But I guess we can chalk this up to just another coincidence where the outcome just happened to align perfectly with the money interests of the sports books.

Next there’s the over/under bet – a popular wager many folks make regarding the total points scored in the game by both teams combined. The over/under for this game was 49. The vast majority of the money was on the over, as it typically is, since it’s the more exciting bet and you’re hardly ever out of it. If you bet the under, there is a risk that you could be a loser by halftime. The final score of the game totalled 43 points so yet another big win for the bookies’ interests.

What typically influences a game to be an under vs an over? Again, one of the major factors is the strategic decision to run the ball a lot, which the Rams’ did repeatedly despite its lack of success. Another way to “shorten” the game and increase the chances of an under is for the refs to let the clock continue to run on plays that should result in a time stoppage – namely plays where a player with the ball gets out of bounds in the last 2 minutes of the half or last 5 minutes of the game. There were several plays late in the game where the refs continued to run the clock even though the player appeared to be clearly got out of bounds. Bear in mind that just a little more time and one more touchdown and the game would have produced a score over the total.

And then there were the numerous “prop bets” which have become a huge part of Super Bowl wagering – things like the over and under on a Quarterback’s total yards passing or touchdowns thrown or a receivers total receptions or yards. There’s a lot of them and they generate a ton of gambling volume. Again the overwhelming majority of the $ is placed on the overs in these scenarios, the sexier bet. In theory about half the wagers should come out over and half under (if the lines are set right as they usually are). But in this game almost every major wagering prop event was an under- from Matt Stafford and Joe Burrow’s passing yards to Cooper Kupp’s total reception yards to the number of catches by Bengals star receiver Ja’Marr Chase. The passing yards for Stafford were weighted down by an incredibly conservative game plan, with lots of running and mostly very short passes. The reception yards for Kupp were weighted down by the fact that the Rams somehow decided not to throw the ball to the best receiver in the League for large chunks of the game and not heavily until the very last drive. (Some may argue that’s because he was double-teamed, but Kupp was also double-teamed on the last drive and they threw the ball to him repeatedly and successfully.) The receptions for Chase were similarly weighted down by the fact that Burrow threw relatively few balls to his best receiver- indeed, only a couple passes in the entire second half.

And the MVP award also raised serious questions. All-world defensive tackle Aaron Donald was initially offered as a prop to win the MVP at a whopping 18-1 odds. Even though defensive players are rarely chosen for the award, Donald is so dominant and often called the “best football player on the planet” that this line seemed absurdly high. Sure enough, a lot of money was placed on Donald to win the MVP – indeed, far more than any other player, including the two quarterbacks who almost always get the award if their team wins. The action on Donald was so great that his odds dropped all the way down to 11-1 by game time at many places.

And indeed Donald should have been the MVP. He affected the game more than any other player. He was often triple-teamed allowing his teammates to sack and pressure Burrow repeatedly. He also saved the game on not just 3rd and 1 with a great running stop, but at 4th and 1 when he came out of a double team to tackle Burrow. And since the Rams QB did not have an MVP-caliber game, with two interceptions, Donald should have been the choice. And yet “they” gave the award to receiver Cooper Kupp. Sure he’s a great player who made some important catches, but none of the spectacular variety and he failed to exceed even his average amount of yards for the regular season. He was really not a big factor in the game until the last drive. He did catch the game winning TD but it was only for one yard and on first down.

By any informed and honest account Kupp was not the difference maker that Donald was. Was it simply bad judgment or a mistake that Kupp was selected when it would have cost the gambling houses millions if Donald won the award instead? We’ll never know. But it’s sure interesting that Caesar’s Vice-President of Trading gloated afterwards that “this game was absolutely perfect for us!”

Sure it’s most likely that all of these outcomes were just coincidences and good luck for the sports books. After all, how could the League or these gambling corporations possibly control what happens? How could they possibly have gotten to the coaches, refs or players? It has happened before (Black Sox, NBA ref Tim Donaghy, Boston College, European football, etc) but it is admittedly very hard to believe. Then again, with the NFL involved and their history of bad behavior, power and corruption and literally a billion dollars at stake for the gambling interests and their partner the NFL, I think that anything is possible with these guys. So much for preserving the integrity of the sport!

Finally, I feel compelled to address the way the NFL dealt with race issues in this game (although NBC produced the game, make no mistake: the NFL’s fingerprints were all over it). As most people who follow the league know, the NFL and teams were recently sued in a major class action case for systemic racism in its hiring and firing of black and minority coaches. The lead plaintiff is Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, a black man who had a winning record with a mediocre team but was nevertheless fired. Moreover, when he went to interview for other head coaching jobs, he maintains the fix was already in that he wouldn’t get the job.

It’s indisputable that the NFL has a long history of discriminating against minority coaches- in a league where more than 70% of the players are black and nearly 50 % of assistant coaches are black, there are virtually no black head coaches and the ones who have been hired have historically had a much shorter leash than their white counterparts when things go badly. It’s a classic case of the “glass ceiling” where minorities are allowed to serve in lower management capacities but not at the very top.

As a result of threatened lawsuits years ago (back when Johnnie Cochran was alive and doing his thing) the NFL owners agreed to what became known as the the “Rooney Rule”. Essentially it required every team hiring a new coach to seriously consider hiring a minority head coach and interview at least one such candidate in good faith and before making its decision. (The mere fact that the NFL needed a rule like this speaks volumes about how discriminatory the old white men who run the League have been throughout their history.) The problem with the rule naturally is that there is no way to force any owner to hire a minority candidate (the incentives suggested by Rooney to at least encourage that outcome were opposed by the other owners).

The rule was designed, however, to give minority candidates at least a fighting chance for the job. The problem is that many owners do not take the rule seriously and simply pretend to be interested in the minority coach. In short, the rule has been a major flop – failing to accomplish what it was supposed to achieve. In the past NFL year, for example, there were only two black head coaches out of thirty-two NFL teams.

Nevertheless, the NFL was getting away with it until Flores was fired and risked his coaching career (Curt Flood-style) by suing. He came into some fortuitous evidence while interviewing for the New York Giants job – his former colleague Bill Bellichick accidentally sent him a text designed to go to a different “Brian” (Daboll) suggesting that the New York Giants had already chosen him as their next head coach before Flores was even scheduled to meet with them. Ouch!

Any way you slice it this is a very bad look for the NFL whose image is paramount to the brand and whose players and stars are heavily black (not to mention a considerable portion of the fan base). Like all the cases against the NFL, there appear to be some substantial legal hurdles for this case. But if the case proceeds to trial there is not only the prospect of a significant verdict but, more importantly, the substantial risk that numerous harmful and embarrassing e-mails and text messages of the owners and their management will be revealed.

With this lawsuit fresh on many minds, the NFL put on the biggest show of black inclusion that the world has ever seen at this year’s Super Bowl. It was apparently designed to “prove” to the public that the League is neither a discriminatory nor racist organization. I saw it as a disengenous PR campaign. There were black performers everywhere- the pregame songs, God Bless America, the National Anthem and the entire halftime show of singers and dancers dedicated to hip-hop- “black music.” There were pre-game stories about black history in the NFL and presentations honoring previous black athletes. There was the “Rock” (Dwayne Johnson) absurdly introducing the teams in a boxing-like fashion before the game and the outstanding NBC host for the game, Mike Turico. And there were numerous black commentators assigned to the broadcast before the game and during halftime, including former NFL coach Tony Dungy who himself was the victim of coaching discrimination. Even the head referee for the game was black.

And perhaps the most orchestrated snapshot of the entire broadcast? NBC made sure to capture Roger Goodell sitting at the game seated next to black Quarterback Russell Wilson (his new best friend?) Does ANYONE really believe that this was all just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the Brian Flores’ lawsuit?

And to show that the NFL is also very inclusive of women and LGBT folks there was Billy Jean King tossing the ceremonial coin at kickoff. I love tennis and BJK, but what the heck does a tennis player have to do with the NFL Football Championship other than serve as a cheap PR attempt by the NFL to score points with women and the LGBT community?

To be clear, I’m all for the NFL being more inclusive, but the whole production seemed so contrived. You can’t wipe away decades of past discrimination of black coaches by simply including a whole lot of black folks on TV for the Super Bowl. And as a lawyer, it looked to me like the NFL was trying to influence public opinion and even a prospective jury pool with a 5 hour+ National TV ad designed to say: “How could the NFL possibly be racist or have discriminated against Flores and other prospective black head coaches when you just look at how many people of color we had at the Super Bowl?” I expect Brian Flores and his legal team were stewing. If I represented him I would have been.

In summary, just in case you haven’t caught my drift yet, I believe the NFL is a highly disingenuous and disgusting organization. To recap, it has seriously maimed and killed thousands of young men; robbed financially depleted cities of the money they need for schools, the poor and other social services to provide billionaire owners with enormous tax breaks and new stadiums; fought against gambling on its game under the guise of maintaining the integrity of the game, and then acquired a huge interest in these very gambling operations actually threatening the integrity of the game; and discriminated against minorities for decades.

The NFL represents the worst in America- insatiable greed, excessive violence and pervasive discrimination. And yet we put it up on a pedestal – it’s our favorite sport to watch by far, produces the most revenue of any sport on earth, and its pinnacle game is the most watched event in the country every year by a huge margin.

The NFL is like a bad drug. It’s games are highly addicting because the game itself is fun, the athletes are incredibly talented, it’s perfectly designed for the big screen and there is no sport that people enjoy betting on more. But like most addictions it aint very good for you or society. I only wish I could convince myself (and others) to boycott these a-holes!