Goodell did throw down the law by threatening teams with disciplinary action if any teams publicly criticize the decision.
“The NFL Management Council Executive Committee was unanimous and unequivocal that the Draft should go forward as scheduled on April 23-25,” Goodell wrote. “Public discussion of issues relating to the Draft serves no useful purpose and is grounds for disciplinary action.”
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“Everyone recognizes that the public health conditions are highly uncertain and there is no assurance that we can select a different date and be confident that conditions will be significantly more favorable than they are today.”
“All clubs should now be doing the necessary planning to conduct draft operations in a location outside of your facility, with a limited number of people present, and with sufficient technology resources to allow you to communicate internally, with other clubs, and with draft headquarters.
“Needless to say,” he added, “we will be prepared to adjust to changed circumstances in the next several weeks, including the prospect of clubs being able to resume even limited operations within their facilities.”
So here's the memo that went out from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to teams yesterday. Some points …
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 27, 2020
• The CEC is an ownership committee.
• Most coaches/GMs I've spoken to want the draft delayed.
• Those guys are taking the end of this memo as a threat. pic.twitter.com/MGARfyQifL
Opinion
In fact, thank you, Roger Goodell.
Look, sports are supposed to be fun and you can only watch so much coronavirus coverage, and reruns of games that were played in 1985. The decision to hold the draft provides sports fans something to look forward to while they hang out in quarantine – by the way, that’s a sentence I thought I’d never write.
I just hope the Bengals shock the world and take Tua Tagovailoa with the first pick, but they won’t because they are the Bengals – basically the Bengals are an extension of the Cleveland Browns disorganization.
