Thursday Commentary: A Sign Of The Times

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It’s been quite a week in the NFL. Undoubtedly, it’s one Commissioner Roger Goodell would like to forget.

I’m not touching the news surrounding Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. You can look that one up on your own.

No, the news which dropped 24 hours earlier about presumptive #1 pick Fernando Mendoza electing to skip the Draft in two weeks to stay home with his family in Miami caused enough headaches on its own.

I’m sitting here imagining how that phone call to Goodell went. “Ya Roger, we won’t be in Pittsburgh for Round 1 of the Draft. We’re gonna be staying home, watching on TV, and celebrating with family.”

The blank stare on Goodell’s face would’ve been priceless to see. And I’m sure it was followed by, “Uh … what?”

To be honest, this is not an open and shut case. We discussed it on the RP Show Wednesday and the audience was split pretty much right down the middle, with some very strong opinions on both sides.

There are many who feel it’s Mendoza’s life and nobody can tell him what to do. Many.

And then there are those of us who’ve worked in the game for a very long time who say, “The NFL’s going to pay you hundreds of millions of dollars (likely) over the next 20 years. You need to support league events.”

Or, as one coach called it, the “Money Machine”.

There is the added fact that Mendoza’s mother is in ill health (affected by MS for the past 18 years) and unable to travel.

That certainly puts a unique spin on the situation.

But it’s going to be weird when Goodell calls out the first pick in Pittsburgh a few weeks from now, but there’s nobody to give his trademark hug to.

Maybe, it’s a sign of the times.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.

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