D2 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 , 2020
retaliate for scrutinizing them too
harshly or overstepping in
forcing accountability from them.
If Goodell truly aspires to
reshape his legacy, he must push
his bosses in an uncomfortable
and unprecedented way.
Otherwise, he will be
remembered as just another
commissioner who preferred half
measures and public pacification
over lasting impact.
During better times, it has
been easier for people to live with
hypocrisy and suspend their
morals just to watch football. But
2020 has made it almost
impossible to reconcile values
and trivial joy.
Part of Goodell’s job is to
connect mission to profit and see
those opportunities faster than
anyone. So this goes beyond a
pure legacy play. A piece of NFL
viability lies in how well it adapts
in this moment. Excusing racism
and sexism won’t cut it.
NFL owners must make a
decision, too. Change willingly at
the recommendation of a
commissioner who has spent four
decades trying to understand
them. Or change reluctantly by
the force of people who are
growing more intolerant of their
intolerance by the day.
[email protected]For more by Jerry Brewer, visit
washingtonpost.com/brewer.deal. An opportunity to revise his
legacy is at stake. This is his last
chance to influence positive
change beyond enhanced
revenue and labor peace.
Near the end, he must choose
between self-preservation and
shaking up things for the better.
He must choose, once and for all,
between running the entire
league and serving the owners.
We like to consider the
commissioner’s job a rather easy
— and easily replaceable — gig.
It’s the NFL, right? You can do a
lot wrong, as Goodell has shown,
and still win big. The job is
actually much more difficult than
that, and in this moment, a
competent commissioner is
essential because there are so
many complicated decisions to
balance: health and safety,
money, short-term contingencies,
long-term planning and a new
television contract to start
negotiating soon, which may
define how quickly the sport
recovers.
It all makes Goodell and the
stability he provides critical to the
game’s future. In such a position,
he can win some one-off battles
on other issues while leading the
NFL through what represents the
closest thing to an existential
crisis America’s favorite sport will
ever experience. And as a last-
term commissioner, Goodell will
be gone before any owners cankeep. But it feels as if the league is
at odds with itself more than it
has ever been. That’s because
Goodell, who has worked in the
NFL for 38 years and served as its
commissioner for nearly 14, is
pushing it, at least in perception,
in a direction that doesn’t mesh
with the pompous and dismissive
manner in which many owners
run their toy franchises. It
presents a fascinating question:
How far is Goodell willing to go?
Given his track record and his
$40 million-a-year responsibility
to the owners, the most
optimistic expectation is that
Goodell will stand down, shrug
and attempt to convince you
subtly that he tried his best. You
have seen that kind of
whitewashing in the updated
portrayal of Goodell as not an
enabler of Colin Kaepernick’s
banishment but as a man who
attempted more unifying
leadership before exhausting all
of his power. On the issue of
diversity in hiring practices, the
league has drawn an implied line
separating its office from the
interests of eccentric owners
running their autonomous
franchises.
Of course, Goodell possesses
limited powers. But after an epic
2017 fight with a petty Jerry Jones
to renew his contract through
2023, what does Goodell have to
lose? This is probably his finalWashington’s misconduct. The
NFL, of course, is doing its
boilerplate monitoring of both
situations.
While accountability exists for
players and other league
personnel, owners skate. When
they get into trouble, they make it
clear they own everything —
except responsibility.
Look at Robert Kraft. If Jerry
Richardson hadn’t preemptively
sold the Carolina Panthers to save
face, he might still own the club.
Bob McNair, the late Houston
Texans owner, launched a
distasteful defense of Richardson
two years ago against revelations
of sexual harassment and racism
— some of which resulted in
financial settlements — by saying,
“Sometimes things get
misunderstood.”
Owners run the league, and on
too many occasions, they run
wild.
The NFL shield Goodell speaks
of protecting looks awfully flimsy
and unremarkable in this light.
The commissioner is made to
look foolish for selling principles
that the real men in charge do not
value.
Goodell: “We, the National
Football League, believe black
lives matter.”
His bosses: If you say so, Rog.
The image-conscious NFL has
a long history of making
promises it doesn’t intend toPRO FOOTBALL
NFL suspends Brown
eight games for conduct
The NFL suspended free agent
wide receiver Antonio Brown for
eight games Friday for what it
called multiple violations of the
sport’s personal conduct policy,
clarifying Brown’s playing status
to some degree and perhaps
clearing the way for him to make
a return to the league.
The suspension is independent
of the league’s investigation into
allegations of rape and sexual
assault made against Brown,
which is still ongoing, according
to a person familiar with the
situation.
— Mark Maske
Steve Levy, Brian Griese and
Louis Riddick will be the new
announcing team for ESPN’s
“Monday Night Football”
according to a person familiar
with the decision.
COLLEGES
Citing the economic impact of
the novel coronavirus pandemic,
George Washington University on
Friday announced the
elimination of seven sports teams
following the 2020-21 academic
year.
The cuts are to three NCAA
sports (men’s indoor track, men’s
tennis and women’s water polo)
and four non-NCAA sports (men’s
rowing, men’s and women’s
squash, and sailing).
The moves, the school said, will
help offset an estimated
$200 million budget shortfall for
the entire university.
— Steven Goff
The Pac-12 set Sept. 26 as the
start of its 10-game conference-
only football schedule, joining the
SEC in pushing back its season by
nearly a month because of the
coronavirus pandemic.GOLF
Brendon Todd’s putter is more
than making up for any lack of
power off the tee at the World
Golf Championship in Memphis.
Todd shot a 5-under-par 65 and
grabbed a two-stroke lead
through 36 holes of the St. Jude
Invitational.
Todd trailed defending
champion Brooks Koepka after
the first round by two strokes. He
quickly erased that deficit and
took the lead by himself with a
bogey-free, five-birdie round for a
129 total....
Kyle Stanley h ad another
eagle in a 14-point round to take
the lead into the weekend in the
Barracuda Championship, the
PGA Tour’s lone modified
Stableford scoring event, in
Truckee, Calif....Danielle Kang went more than
six months without competing
and looked as if she had never
been away, playing bogey-free at
Inverness Club for a 6-under 66
and a one-shot lead in the LPGA
Drive On Championship in
Toledo....
Tommy Armour III and Billy
Andrade e ach opened with a
6 -under 66 at the Ally Challenge
in Grand Blanc, Mich., to share
the lead by one shot over
Bernhard Langer a s the PGA
Tour Champions returned for the
first time since March....
On the European Tour,
overnight leader SebastianGarcia Rodriguez of Spain held
off a challenge from England’s
Sam Horsfield to retain a share of
the lead at the Hero Open in
Birmingham, England.PRO BASKETBALL
In Bradenton, Fla., Betnijah
Laney scored a career-high
30 points, and the Atlanta Dream
beat New York, 84-78, in a game in
which the Liberty lost top draft
pick Sabrina Ionescu t o an ankle
injury in the second quarter.....
Satou Sabally h ad season
highs of 23 points and
17 rebounds a s the Dallas Wings
overcame a 14-point deficit tobeat the Indiana Fever.SOCCER
João Moutinho scored on a
header in the 90th minute, Nani
scored the deciding goal in a
penalty shootout, and Orlando
City beat Los Angeles FC in the
quarterfinals of the MLS is Back
tournament in Lake BuenaVista, Fla....
Atlanta United star Josef
Martinez is done for the year.
The MLS team placed Martinez
on the season-ending injury list
because of a torn knee ligament
suffered in Atlanta’s first league
game Feb. 29.
— From news services
and staff reportsDIGEST
WNBA
4 p.m. Minnesota vs. Connecticut » N BA TV
6 p.m. Washington vs. Chicago » N BC Sports Washington, NBA TV
8 p.m. Los Angeles vs. Seattle » C BS Sports Network
GOLF
7:30 a.m. European Tour: Hero Open, third round » G olf Channel
Noon PGA Tour: WGC St. Jude Invitational, third round » G olf Channel
2 p.m. PGA Tour: WGC St. Jude Invitational, third round » W USA (Ch. 9), WJZ (Ch. 13)
2 p.m. PGA Tour Champions: Ally Challenge, second round » G olf Channel
4:30 p.m. LPGA Tour: Drive On Championship, second round » G olf Channel
7 p.m. PGA Tour: Barracuda Championship, third round » G olf Channel
TENNIS
2 p.m. World Team Tennis, semifinal: New York vs. Philadelphia »
CBS Sports Network
5 p.m. World Team Tennis, semifinal: Chicago vs. Orlando » CBS Sports Network
MOTORSPORTS
6 a.m. Formula One: British Grand Prix, practice » E SPN2
9 a.m. Formula One: British Grand Prix, qualifying » ESPN
3 p.m. MotoAmerica Superbike » F ox Sports 1
KOREA BASEBALL ORGANIZATION
5 a.m. SK at KT » E SPN
4 a.m. (Sun.) Hanwha at LG » E SPN
RUGBY
5:30 a.m. NRL: Manly-Warringah vs. Penrith » F ox Sports 1
11:30 p.m. Super Rugby: Dunedin vs. Auckland » E SPN2
Midnight NRL: Canterbury Bankstown vs. Parramatta » F ox Sports 2
2 a.m. (Sun.) NRL: Melbourne vs. Newcastle » F ox Sports 2
AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
4 a.m. (Sun.) Fremantle vs. Collingwood » F ox Sports 2TELEVISION AND RADIO
MLB
1 p.m. Cincinnati at Detroit » F ox Sports 1
7 p.m. Boston at New York Yankees » W TTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45)
7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Baltimore » M ASN, WTEM (980 AM), WJZ (105.7 FM)
10 p.m. Texas at San Francisco » MLB Network
NBA
1 p.m. Miami vs. Denver » E SPN
3:30 p.m. Utah vs. Oklahoma City » E SPN
6 p.m. New Orleans vs. Los Angeles Clippers » ESPN
8:30 p.m. Los Angeles Lakers vs. Toronto » ESPN
NHL
Noon New York Rangers vs. Carolina » N BC Sports Network
3 p.m. Chicago at Edmonton » W RC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch. 11)
4 p.m. Florida vs. New York Islanders » N BC Sports Network
8 p.m. Montreal vs. Pittsburgh » WRC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch. 11)
10:30 p.m. Winnipeg vs. Calgary » NBC Sports Network
SOCCER
8 p.m. MLS is Back Tournament, quarterfinals: San Jose vs. Minnesota United »
ESPN2
10:30 p.m. MLS is Back Tournament, quarterfinals: New York City FC vs. Portland »
Fox Sports 1ing his two years in Carolina, with
new Washington offensive coordi-
nator Scott Turner as his quarter-
backs coach and later his interim
coordinator. Smith played in the
Coryell offense under Norv Turn-
er, Scott’s father, and later Mike
Martz on the San Francisco 49ers.
Smith was cleared by his surgi-
cal team to return, but he was
placed on the active/physically
unable to perform list while he
continues to work his way back to
football shape.
“Well, the first thing we have to
find out is if he can protect him-
self,” Zampese said. “... When it
gets to the point where he gets to
practice, we’ll find out. The drill
work will be very important. How
quick is he when he pushes off and
those kinds of things. And change
of direction. But I think the other
things will come back very
smoothly.”
Haskins, meanwhile, is starting
anew with the system and the
language. He said in June that he
had already started to feel com-
fortable with the offense and that
the terminology was easier to
grasp. But his mastery of the lan-
guage could ultimately be the dif-
ference-maker in Washington’s
quarterback competition.
“It’s easy to drop back five steps
and throw it to an out route. Every-
body does that in every offense,”
Zampese said. “Those physical
things, I think, will be easier to
pick up. It’s the other things, like
the mental side of it and the mem-
orization of where we want to go
and why, the philosophy of the
play, who we’re trying to throw it
to, grouping different reads in
such a way that it’s not new learn-
ing.
“Those are the things we are
trying to do to make it easy on all of
these guys and Dwayne in particu-
lar, and I can’t wait to hear him
speak and fix things and see those
wheels turning faster and faster
when we get out there.”
[email protected]shorter play-calls, with numbers
to designate routes and words to
describe protections.
“Twins right fly, scat right five,
25 F post swing. That would be an
example of a play-call,” Zampese
said. “A lot of offenses, the protec-
tions are digits and the routes are
words.... As you move from of-
fense to offense, there are different
ways of distributing responsibili-
ty. For the guys that haven’t had
the system for the routes, you are
converting words into numbers.”
Allen learned the language dur-Unlike the West Coast offense
Jay Gruden employed with Wash-
ington, the Air Coryell system is
rooted in stretching the field verti-
cally with presnap motions, down-
field passing and a complementa-
ry power running game. Success is
dependent on a quarterback mas-
tering his reads and his timing;
often he’s throwing to a spot
downfield with the trust that his
targeted receiver will be there by
the time the ball arrives.
Also unlike the West Coast of-
fense, the Coryell system usesoffseason.
“Now we’re on to the next step:
What are we going to do on the
field within this offense and this
communication system and how
are we going to compete and those
kinds of things.”
Since the NFL’s virtual offsea-
son program began in April,
Zampese has made verbiage a pri-
ority. Many of the same concepts
carry over from one system to
another in the NFL, but the great-
est differences are often in how
each team labels them.Zampese’s coaching so far has
been limited to technology and a
great deal of trust.
“We have to trust that they are
doing what we like them to do
outside of the building because
that is all we’ve had with them in a
physical standpoint — that they
are eating right, sleeping right and
training right,” he said. “You saw
what happened when Dwayne
puts his mind to it. He’s down in
weight; he’s in great condition. All
those things that are in your con-
trol he’s handled very well in them entality with a young guy that
they have to share. If you have to
drag them, it is not fun. But if
they’re already up for the hunt, it is
a lot better. Baker [Mayfield] was
that way, these young guys in the
building are that way, and that’s
what encourages me.”
Zampese, whose father, Ernie,
was one of the top assistants to
Don Coryell in the late 1970s and
1980s, was the Cleveland Browns’
quarterbacks coach in 2018 when
Mayfield set an NFL record for
passing touchdowns by a rookie
(27). Zampese earlier helped Car-
son Palmer set franchise passing
records with the Cincinnati Ben-
gals, then helped his successor,
Andy Dalton, step in as a rookie
after the 2011 lockout and lead the
Bengals to the first of five consecu-
tive playoff appearances.
Nine years later, Zampese faces a
similar challenge in Washington,
where the starting job has essen-
tially become Haskins’s to lose. He
will compete with Kyle Allen, a
third-year quarterback who al-
ready knows the system from his
time with the Carolina Panthers
(whom Rivera coached from 2011
to 2019), and maybe at some point
Smith, too, if the veteran is cleared
by team doctors to resume practice
as he continues his comeback from
a compound fracture in his right
leg suffered in 2018.
As in 2011, there were no orga-
nized team activities or mini-
camps in the NFL this year. Be-
cause of the novel coronavirus
pandemic, there also will be no
preseason, no joint training camp
practices and few opportunities to
evaluate young talent before
games are scheduled to begin in
September. The NFL and NFL
Players Association agreed to a
modified camp schedule that in-
cludes a lengthy ramp-up period
and a maximum of 14 padded
practices, beginning as early as
Aug. 17.
WASHINGTON FROM D1
In Washington’s QB competition, first step is learning lingo
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Ken Zampese said of Dwayne Haskins, above, “I can’t wait to... see those wheels turning faster and faster when we get out there.”conviction.
Beyond the onerous task of
guiding the NFL through the
novel coronavirus pandemic,
Goodell is dealing with the reality
that his offseason of earnest
intentions has encountered
significant opposition in the form
of scandals involving two of the
owners he serves. In Washington,
Daniel Snyder has an
organizational culture of sexual
harassment and verbal abuse to
try to fix, and he is gifted only at
breaking stuff. In addition, there
is the trouble Woody Johnson is
facing. Johnson, the New York
Jets owner who hasn’t run the
team day-to-day since he became
the U.S. ambassador to the United
Kingdom in 2017, is under State
Department investigation, having
been accused of using his
position to benefit the personal
interests of President Trump.
Attached to those allegations are
claims that he made sexist and
racist comments to staff.
Johnson has denied any
wrongdoing. Although Snyder
has been criticized for creating a
toxic environment, he hasn’t been
connected explicitly to any ofThe conflict would
be comical if it
weren’t so
troubling. In his
words and actions,
NFL
Commissioner
Roger Goodell has
made a stronger
push recently to elevate the
league to higher moral ground.
And as if on cue, multiple owners
have been exposed behaving
badly in ways that undermine
hope of even minimal ethical
cleansing.
Goodell can prioritize diversity
in the coaching and executive
ranks. He can adjust his player
discipline philosophies from a
punitive to a rehabilitative
approach. He can hire women in
influential roles, and he can
upload a video response to
players in which he admits wrong
and commits to finally support
their desires to protest racial
inequality. But he can’t keep his
bosses from standing as
unaccountable menaces to
societal change, not unless he is
willing to play the game with
more force and coldblooded
Owners are Goodell’s foe
in the battle for his legacy
Jerry
Brewer