Steelers MMQB: NFL Off Season News

What We Learned This Week in the NFL Off Season:

• Chad Ochocinco has “Daddy” issues
• NFL safety debate reaches an unbearable level

If you listen to as much sports talk radio as I do you’re probably just as sick as I am about the whole “The NFL is dying” talk as it relates to concussions, player safety, and former players’ health.  Like clockwork, Chad “I want some attention for not doing anything” Ochocinco decided to add his 1 ½ cents into the conversation in the form of an open letter to NFL Commish and all around douchey guy, Roger Goodell, whom he refers to as “Dad” all through the letter.  Meanwhile, Ocho’s former teammate and buddy, Terrell Owens was on Dr. Phil’s couch being confronted by a gaggle of baby mama’s wondering where their child support is.  Elsewhere in the NFL the Vikings finally got their new stadium approved to be built in Minnesota and not Los Angeles.  David DeCastro and Sean Spence are the final Steelers draft picks that have yet to sign their rookie contracts and once signed, they will have their entire rookie class signed the earliest in team history in about 30 years.

So Chad Ochocino must have felt that after a season he spent being completely and totally irrelevant that he must have his name mentioned to satisfy his never ending hunger for fame and attention.  Ocho wrote an open letter to Roger Goodell (Dad) explaining that the NFL is in a “crucial point in history” and advising that Goodell completely change the PR strategy of the NFL to explain that it is a violent game, take it or leave it.  Here is the clip of his letter;

"Dear Dad, I know it has been a rough week, so I wanted to reach out. Players dying, players suing and on top of that my peers are just going off on you in the media. It does not help that ESPN has all of a sudden become Medical TV with damn near every brain expert on the planet. This has got to be the worst week ever. Since no one is showing any support, I figured I would be the first. You are in one big ass catch 22 and quite frankly, I am not sure there is any solution. One thing I think can help is killing the NFL PR machine. Y’all do a darn near perfect job at portraying this game as one played by heroes. But let’s be real dad. This is a nasty, dirty and violent game with consequences. Sign up or go get a regular job. Watch it or turn off the TV and go fishing with your kids. It is really that simple. I know there are probably legal and financial implications that prevent this blunt depiction, but am not sure if you have a choice. If you don’t say it now, the mounting evidence being revealed publicly will say it for you very soon. In all, I love you and if anyone can lead us out of this mess, it will be you. Oh by the way, I have a deal for you. Am having a rebound year and plan to do a lot of celebrating in the end zone. Can my fine money go to supporting ex-players suffering? Sincerely, Chad"

Shame on anyone who thinks this letter is sincere in the least bit.  There is no bigger a fame-whore in the NFL than Chad Ochocino.  The fact that this idiot doesn’t even realize that his fine money already goes to support retired player programs, disaster relief initiatives, and health-related charities proves that he’s merely looking to turn the cameras towards his direction momentarily while the rest of the sports media hypothesizes endlessly about the fate of today’s NFL.  It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the NFL has been going in a different direction to at least appear to be focusing on player safety for quite some time.  The problem with Goodell is he is taking the wrong angle of it entirely.  His inconsistency when it comes to fines and suspensions for so called “violent hits” have always been called into question and that now that he has come down harsh on the “Bounty-Gate” players, he looks even worse, in my opinion.  On top of that, the tragedy that is the death of Junior Seau poured gasoline on the fire that is the debate over the plight of the former NFL player.

The debate has been continuing all week about the state of the NFL and the fate of its future as it relates to player safety and how to protect players from themselves.  Currently, there are about 1,800 former NFL players suing the NFL for damages related to what they are claiming is the NFL’s negligence in handling their injuries while they played.  I’m not saying that some of these players might have genuine issues, but a punter has just joined the lawsuit.  This is getting out of hand.  There was a culture in the NFL, as there is with most men (you can admit it) that if you are injured or impaired in a way that’s not obvious or visible, that it’s perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged, to ignore your injury or condition and “tough it out like a man”.  That doesn’t necessarily make the NFL responsible unless they, as the lawsuit is claiming, willfully ignored the dangers of head injuries.  Junior Seau’s body wasn’t even laid to rest yet and the NFL “analysts” were grouping him into this category of former NFL players whose lives hit rock bottom after leaving the league.  I hope that these players in the lawsuit have concrete proof if the NFL really did mishandle their injuries or conditions rather them they just feeling the NFL should have done more to protect them from themselves.  Remember it took Mike Webster’s family 6 long years to win their lawsuit against the NFL.