Saints quarterback Drew Brees has not been shy about his distrust of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. In April, soon after a federal appeals court restored Tom Brady's four-game "Deflategate suspension," he said Goodell's ability to serve as "judge, jury and executioner" has been a "black eye" for the NFL and that "he definitely has too much power."
Brees and teammate Zach Strief doubled down Monday, saying the NFL's declining TV ratings can be attributed to 345 Park Ave.
"We feel like [the decline in TV ratings] is a direct result" of the mistrust people have for Goodell and others at league headquarters, Brees told ESPN's Mike Triplett. "I know the players don't have any faith in the way that things are conducted within the front office in the NFL -- certainly when it comes to any type of investigation, when it comes to any type of commissioner discipline. It's really kind of a joke at this point, unfortunately. And it shouldn't be like that."
Strief said it all trickles down to the fans, who then start to turn away.
"It's hard to separate them. It all works together," Strief said. "The NFL front office has seemed to have found a way to make everything somewhat contentious. It feels like there's this constant assault on the players, like we're two entities. It's like they don't think they need us to do this.
"And I think over time, as it's constantly in the media and it's constantly a public issue, I think the fans start to feel a similar way. It's just a constant contentious issue. When you take Brady and say it affected Tom Brady and it affected the New England Patriots, well the fans feel like they're a part of that. It does affect them and it does affect their team and it does affect how you feel about the league, and it does turn you off.
"At the end of the day, the relationship between the front office and the people who are not in the front office has probably never been worse."
A "Bro" mance
One of the great ongoing jokes of this year's NBA season is Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich talking about how much he misses Tim Duncan, the future Hall of Famer who played under Popovich for 19 years before retiring at the end of last season.
Popovich was again asked about Duncan this week, with a reporter questioning whether Popovich ever gets in contact with Duncan to pick his brain about the team and the season.
This was Pop's response:
"We're, like, in love. We text all the time," the coach deadpanned, then went on to detail which emojis the two use to talk.
Headlines
From the website sportspickle.com:
• "Vikes honor Dennis Green by being who we thought they were"
And from theonion.com:
• "Cleveland Indians worried team cursed after building franchise on old Native American stereotype"
Sports quiz
Name the four NBA coaches who have won 1,200 games or more.
Sports answer
Don Nelson (1,335), Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Jerry Sloan (1,221) and Pat Riley (1,210)
Sports on 11/09/2016