By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

Over the years, the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been criticized; and many have called for his resignation.  But so far, he has weathered the storms.[2]  The latest criticism of the league comes in the form of biased refereeing in a championship game—where the referee's decisions should be reviewable; and the hack ref Ronald Tolbert should be fired and never allowed to referee another game during his lifetime.[3]. Needless to say, Cincinnati Bengals' fans are livid.[4]

My two favorite quarterbacks in the NFL are Joe Burrow of the Bengals and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.  Both are excellent and a credit to the sport.  I have followed "Joe Cool" since he came to LSU and joined "Coach O"—or the wonderful Cajun, Ed Orgeron—to win the national championship and the coveted Heisman Trophy.  Last weekend, they squared off in the AFC championship game, with Mahomes being a bit "gimpy" because of an ankle injury.

The game should have been decided by the athletes, not by some hack ref who is a disgrace to the sport, and has been elevated beyond his capabilities.  As always, Burrow was a gentleman after the game, and classy; and he praised both teams and their players.[5]. But the fans were irate, and justifiably so.  At a time when many Americans turn to sports as a relief from their day-to-day financial stresses, and other worries and frustrations[6], skewed results in football are the last thing that they need.

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© 2023, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/   He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service).  Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See, e.g., https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Goodell ("Roger Goodell")

[3]  See, e.g., https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-official-explains-apparent-extra-down-for-chiefs-in-afc-championship-win-over-bengals-061923429.html ("NFL official explains apparent extra down for Chiefs in AFC championship win over Bengals")

[4]  As of the publication of this article, approximately 1,600 commenters had posted their views beneath the article cited in footnote 3 above.

[5]  See https://youtu.be/WhtKr6B6lVc

[6]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/the-tragedy-that-is-america-today/ ("The Tragedy That Is America Today")