The National Football League made a grave mistake this past weekend. Canceling the football games on Sunday was a cop-out.
Now, before you begin to protest that I'm being insensitive and say that the NFL did the right thing and showed the utmost respect to the dead, hear me out. The NFL could have played its games and used football as a way to bring Americans together.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who just a few weeks ago impressed me by not caving in to referees' high-priced demands, dropped the ball last week. He got so wrapped up in the New York players' emotions and the looming memory of Pete Rozelle's mistake as commissioner back in 1963 that he didn't think like a trailblazing leader of sports.
First came the owners. They were leaning toward playing the games as late as Wednesday night, but Thursday brought about several issues to contend with. They were worried mainly about travel and security, yet 50 percent of the owners still wanted to play, even after impassioned no's from the owners of the New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens.
The owners and the league stand to lose over $57 million in gross ticket sales alone, according to ESPN.com. Considering the NFL uses profit sharing to maintain parity, the entire league will be hurt by the canceled weekend, which may not be rescheduled.
With owners in slight disagreement, Tagliabue talked to the players next. At the players meeting, emotional speeches from New York players swayed a 17-11 vote in favor of not playing to a unanimous vote from all 31 teams.
But I'm not saying the organizations from New York should be blamed for canceling the games. The decision should never have gotten that far if the commissioner had done his job or had a decent public relations team.
Tagliabue was so nervous about playing games too soon after a national tragedy - like Rozelle did after President Kennedy's assassination - that he shied away from making an executive decision. He listened to popular opinion instead. Even the White House initially urged professional sports to carry on so that the nation could return to normal.
And to make matters worse, Tagliabue posed the wrong questions to those around him. He wondered if America was ready for football to go on. He contemplated whether the players were emotionally ready to play.
A great leader would have thought of Kennedy's very own words and asked what he and the NFL could have done for their country.
What the NFL should have done to help America was to play all the games except for those involving teams from New York, Washington and Baltimore. Don't have the players play just so that our world returns to normal, or to distract us from our mourning. No, the NFL should have rallied itself around playing these games for charity.
By spending extra money on charter flights and implementing the increased security that we will be seeing for the rest of the season anyway, the games could have gone as planned.
If the owners could take enough money from concessions and ticket sales to break even on costs, then that leaves a large amount of profits that could have helped provide an education for nearly every child who lost a parent last Tuesday. The NFL could have taken the lead in creating a scholarship foundation for the victims.
Money also could have been sent to the Red Cross or to the New York Fire and Police departments. The league could have been even more inventive and procured a few 800- or 900-numbers for a telethon-like feel to gain more donations and increase viewership during the games. The games are broadcast on CBS and Fox - two stations that are accessible to everyone. All you need is an antenna.
Just think of what this could have done for businesses. Sports bars across the country would have been packed with business. Not everyone has a family that they could be spending quality time with on a Sunday. A lot of people still wanted to see their favorite teams in action. This past Sunday, televisions could have united this country in a far different way than they did last week.
Now, in all fairness, I accept that many players were upset like the rest of America. And this wouldn't have been the easiest plan to pull off. But it's not easy sifting through the wreckage at Ground Zero. Those rescue workers could have used a break on Sunday. And I'm sure there were many people who perished last week that would be honored by a day of football in their memory. I've always believed that death should be a celebration of life.
I understand why the NFL canceled its games and respect its decision. I just think it could have been one hell of a patriotic weekend to rally and unite the nation before the complacency of modern times sets back in.
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