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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