Roger Goodell: Bane of the NFL

I won’t write many blogs on sports here in the Garden, but the recent news that the San Francisco 49ers will be playing a “home” game next season in London has raised my ire.
I appreciate that there are NFL fans in Europe, and I understand that it must be tough to catch games in the wee hours of the morning. Anyone who stays up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching a live NFL game is a true fan, without a doubt. However, it is unfair to send American teams across the Atlantic to play, especially when the "home" team is being robbed of home field advantage.
The simple fact of the matter is that traveling to Europe takes a physical toll that can take days or weeks to recover from, especially for a West Coast team like my Niners. I, a mere tourist, went to Italy a couple of years ago, and I didn't sleep right for 3 or 4 days once I arrived. I'd go to bed around 10-12, then find myself waking up around 2-3 in the morning, utterly unable to get back to sleep. Imagine trying to compete in a highly physical contest on a professional level while sleep deprived. That's a recipe for injury. Then there's the trip back to the US, with further sleep issues. That's at least two weeks in which the affected teams aren't getting the rest that they need in the middle of a grueling, physical season. It's just plain unfair to the athletes, not to mention dangerous.
The truth is that Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, is too busy devising ways to make extra money to care about the players or teams in his charge. He cares nothing for the players; he cares nothing for the game. If he did, he wouldn't risk the health of his players by sending them to JetLagLand. He wouldn’t be considering extending an already long and physical season to 17 or 18 games. He never would have implemented the Draconian rules that require penalties for the displays of joy that one sees from a guy like Chad Ochocinco. Some consider his antics to be the actions of an attention-seeker; I merely see a guy with genuine love for the game, and who does his best to enjoy his short time in an elite sport (and entertain the fans while he’s at it). And speaking of Chad, a commissioner who cared would have let him wear the number of his recently deceased friend and teammate, Chris Henry, for one game. Who would that have hurt? I'm actually surprised that Goodell didn't ok that idea simply so that he could sell limited-edition Ochocino #15 jerseys.
I understand that the NFL is a business and that money must be made, but, in my opinion, it is first and foremost a form of entertainment. This means that the final product is for the fans. I've got nothing against the European fans, but the fact is that there was an NFL Europe and it folded. With all due respect to those in Europe, they had their chance and it didn’t work out. Bringing US teams across the Atlantic to satisfy an enthusiastic minority is unfair to the players and fans of the teams involved. Want an NFL game in Europe? Hold the Pro Bowl there. It’s a throw away game that has no impact on the season, and features the best players in the league. Sounds like a great deal for the European fans, as well as for the players who get to go.
Holding regular season games in Europe is unfair to the "home” team involved, giving the visiting team the advantage of a neutral field. It's dangerous for the players, whose circadian rhythms are blown out of whack for at least two weeks, increasing their risk of injury. It's unfair to the fans that are robbed of a chance to watch their team play a true home game, and it’s unfair to the “expatriate” fans of the visiting team that get robbed of their once-every-eight-years chance to watch their team in person.
This is about money, plain and simple, and it disgusts me to see this blatant disregard for the teams, players, and fans that are the foundation of this league. Until Goodell’s attitude is adjusted, I fear that money, not the players or fans, will be the NFL’s priority. And that’s poor entertainment indeed.