Was this past year the worst in NFL history?

This past year could not have gone much worse for the NFL

The National Football League is, for my money, the best form of entertainment out there. It is hard to remember what fall Sundays were like before the days of NFL RedZone, a network that has become an international phenomenon. Each Super Bowl that is played becomes the latest most-watched program in the history of the United States. The league has brilliantly marketed events such as the NFL Combine and NFL Draft to create a world in which there is no true professional football offseason for those of us who are obsessed with the NFL.

It became commonplace for journalists, observers and even fans to criticize the NFL over the past 12 months. Hitting out at the NFL drives up page-views, makes for entertaining sports talk radio segments, and provides the individual making that take with plenty of “atta boy!” comments posted at the bottom of Web pages and on social media websites. While the NFL remains the undisputed king of North American professional sports, the crown on the head of the league has lost some jewels.

More from NFL

Just as surprising as was the NFL serving as target practice for even diehard followers of pro football was the league being 100 percent worthy of the criticism thrown its way since last February. So much would have gone differently had those running the top sports league on the continent used common sense when dealing with what should have been no-brainers, issues that shouldn’t stump any individual tasked with running such a massive organization. Instead, we got inept move after inept move that resulted in a commercial demanding that the NFL Commissioner be fired airing on Super Bowl Sunday.

Wow.

The tale began on February 15 when the domestic violence case involving Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice first saw the light of day. Nothing new about the Rice situation and the way that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell failed to properly handle it can be said at this point. Every take on the matter has made it to television, radio, and the Internet. Goodell could not have possibly imagined all that was going to come upon hearing the allegations made against Rice following what was first reported to be a “minor incident.” It was hardly minor, and it was quickly going to turn into an avalanche that easily could have been avoided.

The ability to travel back in time either does not exist or is it being covered up by a big eastern syndicate, and thus Goodell would not have been able to go back to February 14 and change how the NFL disciplined players involved with abuse cases. Imagine, however, that Goodell, upon learning that Rice had (allegedly) knocked his then-fiancee unconscious on that fateful night, said that enough was enough and banned Rice indefinitely. Yes, Rice would have appealed that decision, and yes, Rice would have rightfully so won that appeal per the terms of the existing collective bargaining agreement.

It would have been worth the trouble. Goodell would have at the same time saved face and sparked much-needed debates regarding the punishments of players such as Rice. A new standard of fines/bans for players found to be guilty of abuse could have been installed before the start of 2014 training camps. There would have been no awful Ravens press conference featuring Ray and Janay Rice. There would have been no need for those horrendous Goodell pressers that made a mockery of women, football fans and the intellects of everybody watching.

Nov 5, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Suspended NFL running back Ray Rice arrives with his wife, Janay Rice for his appeal hearing on his indefinite suspension from the NFL. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY /

None of that, of course, happened. Greg Hardy happened. Ray McDonald happened. Adrian Peterson happened. On and on it went.

There was pro football played in 2014, plenty of it excellent as is the case every NFL season. The league shoved more Thursday Night Football match-ups down the throats of fans than ever before, and many of those contests were missable affairs. Granted, not everybody hates the concept of TNF, but the system could use some tweaks so that players and coaching staffs are not so outraged by the thought of having to play two meaningful football games in the span of half of a week.

The two biggest names in the 2014 NFL Draft class had forgettable debut campaigns. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney gave the Houston Texans four games before a serious knee injury ended his season early, and there is speculation that he could miss over a year of football because of that problem. Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel failed to impress his coaches in training camp and in preseason, he was unprepared for and then hung out to dry during his first NFL start, and Manziel lasted six quarters as starter before a leg injury ended his season early.

We learned after Super Bowl XLIX that Johnny Football is now in rehab, reportedly to deal with some issues he may have with a dependence on alcohol.

The NFL Playoffs came around as they do every winter, and not even they could at least salvage what had, for the most part, been a year to forget for the league. There was the catch that wasn’t a catch even though it was a catch in the Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers game, a call that could have changed the outcome of the postseason tournament considering that the Cowboys went out west and beat the Seattle Seahawks earlier in the regular season. There was the “Deflate-Gate” scandal that wouldn’t have been much of a scandal except that it involved the New England Patriots, a club that has a history of going beyond the rules to obtain advantages over opponents. At least a team that is being accused of cheating at the AFC Championship Game did not win the Super Bowl.

Oh. Crap.

Things could be worse, I suppose. There could have been a scenario involving a player remaining in the game after possibly suffering a concussion during the Super Bowl.

Oh come on now.

There is still plenty of time for more to go wrong between now and February 15, but it is possible that the NFL year of dread will end with the story of troubled Cleveland Browns wide receiver being handed an indefinite ban by the league for another failed drug test. Gordon, a player with a history of allegedly smoking marijuana (he says otherwise), was popped this time because he safely had a few drinks with teammates, a move that violated the terms of his agreement with the league because the NFL Players Association signed off on one terrible CBA some time ago.

One more story. A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and now former television analyst for NFL Network was busted for allegedly soliciting a prostitute on Super Bowl night, an arrest that is also carrying assault charges.

New Year’s Day for the league cannot come soon enough.

Next: Ranking all 32 NFL franchises all-time

More from FanSided

Home/NFL