Roger Goodell Exposed for Using Lions as Crutch After Dan Campbell Proposed Major Playoff Change

Roger Goodell isn’t just the NFL Commissioner. He is also a diehard NFL fan who couldn’t pursue his dream of playing football because of injuries. But as the head of the league, he is trying to make the league interesting for the fans. It’s a major reason he went international, trying to add more people to the sport. But the stakeholders don’t like every change. They often criticize Goodell for trying to change the league with his small actions.

It began with the NFL playoff seeding rule that was discussed at the NFL meeting. The NFL Commissioner became irritated whenever the teams tried to refuse the idea. Basically, Roger Goodell wants to make the playoff games more interesting. He wants to get rid of the rule of home games for the division winners.

But there is one question: Will the popularity increase? No one can guarantee that. Who thought that it would make the postseason more interesting? According to initial information, the Detroit Lions proposed the rule change. Wait, did Roger Goodell use them as a crutch? Jeremy Reisman of prideofdetroit.com revealed that the first idea came after the season between the Lions and the Vikings. Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown didn’t like the idea of the home game to the division winner.

The WR said, “It’s crazy. I think the rule should be changed. Obviously if you win the division, you should obviously make a playoff spot, but having a 14-win team having to go on the road is kind of crazy. But I guess I don’t make the rules.” This was mind-boggling.

As more and more fans sided with the NFL receiver, the NFL executive VP of football operations, Troy Vincent, dialed up Lions’ president Rod Wood. The owner revealed their conversation during the annual meeting last week. He said, “Troy Vincent from the league reached out to me and said, ‘I tend to agree with (St. Brown). Would you mind partnering with us on making a proposal on that?’ So we made a proposal.”

That’s how things work in the big league. But why were the fans confused about who proposed the rule change?

Dan Campbell or Roger Goodell! Who proposed the rule change?

The confusion happened because of one main thing. When the league sent the rule to the respective owners, it listed only the Detroit Lions as the proposer. There was no mention of any kind of league partnership. This left fans, journalists, and others following the developments pretty confused.

For now, the bill has been tabled until May, so the owners have more time to consider the possibilities. The league wants to explore various formats. One idea is that if you win your division, you get a home game—but if your record is .500 or worse, you’d have to play on the road.

Competition committee chairman Rich McKay is keeping an eye on the range of opinions. While this is a change that could gain support from several teams, it also highlights a deeper issue—the league sometimes appears to influence the game by using certain teams as a front.

Even this time, they used the Lions very carefully. Of course, this isn’t the first time the league has taken this approach. On the flip side, the league’s main motivation for doing things like this may simply be to keep the game exciting and engaging for fans.