If you thought NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was the most divisive and political head of a major sports league, just wait for who legendary sports broadcaster Brent Musburger thinks would do a better job in the current climate of the NFL.
Musburger joined AM sports radio hosts Dan McNeil and Danny Parkins Thursday afternoon on 670 The Score in Chicago to talk about the state of the NFL amid the recent national anthem policy change. While Musburger agrees that Goodell isn’t that great of a commissioner, his idea for a replacement would conceivably make the NFL more political, therefore further alienating an already jaded fan base.
Here’s who Musburger told McNeil and Parkins would be an ideal commissioner and his reasoning for that choice:
If I had had the ear of the owners -- this is going to sound outrageous -- I would've said go see what Barack Obama has got on his agenda for the next few years. Obama is a very knowledgeable sports guy. He follows it very closely. He's a decent person. I think he would've brought the factions together, because it seems to me, you've got the African-American athletes -- about 80, 85 percent of the league -- matched against your, for the large part, Caucasian owners out there. So I would've really looked to him as someone to heal it. We know he's got great leadership ability. Whether or not you agreed or disagreed with what he did as president, that's irrelevant.
Barack Obama? Seriously?! Obama’s actions as president is “irrelevant” to fix an overly political sports league? Obama running the NFL to make it less political would be like the equivalent of Spike Lee taking over direction of a movie to make it less about race. It just wouldn’t work.
To be fair to Musburger, his assessment of Goodell’s handling of the whole kneeling during the national anthem controversy was pretty dead on.
“I've read comments from both sides of the particular issue, and I don't think he satisfied anybody,” Musburger said. “And the truth of the matter is, guys, if this commissioner was a strong leader, he would've put that fire out a week after Colin Kaepernick thought this was what he should do during the playing of the national anthem before a San Francisco 49er game. A good leader would never let this fester.”
While Musburger has a definite point about Goodall, he may want to rethink his choice of a replacement for the commissioner. Remember, two wrongs don’t make a right.
For audio of the Musburger interview, click below: