2/12/02
I awoke this morning knowing there was a void in my life. It was the
same void being shared by football fans all over the country. The
season had finally and officially ended. The cap to the season had
been placed when the New England Patriots had an improbable win in
the Super Bowl. The feather was placed when the AFC won the Pro Bowl.
There will be no real NFL action until August. I am sure most fantasy
owners are feeling the withdrawal pains already.
Some owners will fill the void following the "silly season"
in the NFL. It is time for all of the league billionaires to begin
screwing with the league millionaires. There is the owners meeting
ahead, coaching positions to be filled, free agents to sign and new
rules to be made. On the horizon is the college draft and all of the
hype and speculation regarding rookie selections. Like most fantasy
owners, I will follow the silly season in search of entertainment
and strategies for the next fantasy draft, but I have a bigger mission
this off-season. It began when I decided I should have a final article
for this season.
I began to search for a topic. I thought about a recap of the season
and panned it as too boring. I thought about looking at the unprotected
list of players available to the new Houston franchise. Though there
were some big names on the list, I found the subject less than compelling.
I finally settled on an article about the number and frequency of
fines levied in the NFL this season.
I don't think I can recall a year where so many fines have been levied.
There were fines for wearing a team hat, but the wrong manufacturer.
There were fines for not having socks high enough. There were fines
for not wearing the proper padding. There were fines for illicit hits,
phantom hits and hits never called on the field. It seemed NFL players
were being fined for what they said, what they thought and what the
league thought they might be thinking. The fines ranged from $2,000
to the tens of to thousands of dollars. Some players were being fined
as much as an entire game check or worse, suspended so they would
miss entire checks. It appeared the NFL image police were out in force
and there was no place for the players to hide.
Not only were players getting penalties called on them by the zebras
on the field, every game was subject to review by the NFL bureaucracy
and Gene Washington. Even when the best officials in sports did not
call a penalty on the field, the league office was more than happy
to fine a player for a hit they deemed to be too aggressive. Some
of the fines may have been legitimate, but some of the calls against
hits on quarterbacks called for the league to enter into the minds
of the players and derive the player's true intent. As I began to
recall the season of fines, I added up the amount of fines to be near
or just over a million dollars. This seemed like a lot of money to
me, but I had a bigger question, where was the money going?
To the best of my knowledge, the league office, in all of their wisdom,
has never said what happens to the money. Does it go to their favorite
charity, The United Way, where the administrative overhead runs at
74%? Does it go to the player's pension fund? Does it go to the league
office where it is split and given to the NFL Image Police? Where
exactly does the money go? There was only one group of people to answer
this question. They reside in the offices of the NFL. I knew this
is where I would have to go to get an answer.
In the past I have tried half heartedly to contact the main office
of the NFL. I have written sports writers to try and get an address
and I have spent a few moments on-line trying to find a web site,
but the question of where all of the fine money goes burned inside
of me. I felt I owed the readers an answer to the question. I felt
it was my job to find the answer. With this responsibility weighing
on my shoulders I began to search the web in earnest in search of
an answer.
There were no results when I typed in NFL League Office. The same
result when I tried NFL management. I had some success when I typed
in Gene Washington. I found some articles about lectures he was giving
in some U.S. cities. This was not enough so I tried Paul Tagliabue.
Once again I found some articles about speaking appearances. There
appeared to be no sight where these luminaries of the league could
be found. With all of the money available to the NFL, it appeared
they had not spent a dime to have a suite for their administrative
offices. I found this to be suspicious. The NFL has always been so
public about fines, suspensions, and public image, it seemed unlike
them to try and hide where all of these decisions are made. Perhaps
if I dug a little deeper there would be a site out there where the
information was available. With a league so worried about public image,
the NFL would not want to hide. I reasoned, if they could make such
a big deal about Randy Moss wearing a Nike Viking ball cap instead
of the authorized Reebok Viking ball cap, they must surely have some
way people can write and seek answers to their questions. After all,
the NFL is not made up of faceless individuals; it is made up of people
who have the concerns of the players and the league at heart.
I began to search in earnest. After some time I found a site called,
"National
Football League Info on the Web." This seemed like a great
place to start, so I clicked on the link called NFL Sidelines. What
I found astounded me. The top of the page read, "The Widest Selection
of Prescription Drugs Now Available On-Line." Listed were drugs
for losing weight, gaining weight, killing pain and enhancing ones
sex life. I had to wonder if this was one of the sites player go to,
to stay out of the spotlight when they are searching for sleeping
pills or added pleasure during sex? The ads stated it was safe, confidential
and reliable. I knocked around the page a while, but found absolutely
no links to NFL front office. Again, I resumed my quest.
My next stop came after searching another 34 sites. I ran in to the
NFL Players Association
page. It looked promising. There were links for players to check on
benefits, ask relevant questions about retirement and seek medical
and legal assistance. There was even a place marked, "Research."
I figured this was my best bet to get information so I wrote in my
research request. It has been 2 weeks and I still have not heard from
them. I don't expect an email any time soon.
I am beginning to feel like Michael Moore in his film, "Roger
and Me," the documentary about his search for the elusive CEO
of General Motors. Though humorous, the film was a sad commentary
on just how faceless the corporate world could be when challenged.
I was sure the NFL could not be as faceless and unfeeling as the top
management of General Motors. I even found Michael's web site and
wrote regarding this matter. I still have not heard from him either,
so much for caring about the little people. Maybe if I were from Flint
Michigan I would get an answer.
I now have my off-season determined for me. Sure I will spend time
watching NFL developments, but my real mission is to make contact
with the actual front office of the National Football League. Until
I have met this goal, I will not allow any other league development
consume my time. I have become an arrow seeking one true mark. I have
some contacts I have not used yet, but they will become part of my
arsenal in accomplishing this mission. Others can watch the draft
and speculate, I am after real sustenance. Raw meat from the NFL in
the form some official contact with an answer to my question regarding
league fines. I shall not rest until my mission is complete. The rest
of you can enjoy the trivialities of the silly season. I am off to
hunt big game, then put some answers on the table.
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