Goodell institutes alcohol ban

[Plindsey88]

if i want a drink on a flight, i should be able to have a drink on a flight. regardless if that flight is a business trip or not. i don't agree with this.

I've flown with my bosses/co-workers all over... Even when I was a raging alcoholic I refrained from ordering booze on the plane...

It's just not appropriate...

[moonhead]

if i want a drink on a flight, i should be able to have a drink on a flight. regardless if that flight is a business trip or not. i don't agree with this.

I've flown with my bosses/co-workers all over... Even when I was a raging alcoholic I refrained from ordering booze on the plane...

It's just not appropriate...

perhaps if you're immediately going to conduct business when you step off the plane. but if you're going to your hotel to relax or home after the flight, i don't see the problem. provided that you're not hammered and driving.

[treat24]

if i want a drink on a flight, i should be able to have a drink on a flight. regardless if that flight is a business trip or not. i don't agree with this.

I've flown with my bosses/co-workers all over... Even when I was a raging alcoholic I refrained from ordering booze on the plane...

It's just not appropriate...

perhaps if you're immediately going to conduct business when you step off the plane. but if you're going to your hotel to relax or home after the flight, i don't see the problem. provided that you're not hammered and driving.

you can be hammered as long as you're driving one of these:



just ask las vegas... he calls me sometimes...

[Goatwhacker]

I think this goes too far and punishes a bunch of people who don't deserve it. These are grown men, not children.

I've worked at two businesses where we'd knock off and have a beer at the end of the day on Friday while still at the workplace. Nothing at all wrong with it as long as it's done responsibly.

[houstonherdfan]

Aren't fottball players supposed to be adults? Prohibition didn't work in the past century, so I can't understand why they bring back an idea like this one... Someone will find ways to sneek some booze in

The players should be responsible of their acts, not be treated like children...

Very few employers let you drink at work functions - save maybe the Christmas Party...

Why should the NFL be an exception? I mean the only difference I see is the fact that these guys are getting paid millions and acting like children...

I know of 2. My wife has worked 4 jobs since we met ,2 of them were accounting firms. Both of these firms had wet bars in the office. It wasnot stange to see several of the employees at the end of the work day sit down in the conf room and knock back a couple while waiting for the rush hour traffic to settle down. I stoped by to pick her up a few times at one of them. would get there early cause one of the partners wouls offer me a drick. After the first time and he didn't have my brand, he started stocking Wild Turkey just for me.

BOO HOO HOO, wish she still had that job.

Good move, IMO!

[SeaWolf]

I am the olny one who is reading this differently. It say alcohol will not be provided. It doens't say anything about bringing your own.

I do agree with this, either way you read it. The NFL could be sued if someone is killed in an accident by a NFL player, if that player consumed the beverage while at a NFL facility. CYA

[stomperrob]

I am the olny one who is reading this differently. It say alcohol will not be provided. It doens't say anything about bringing your own.

I do agree with this, either way you read it. The NFL could be sued if someone is killed in an accident by a NFL player, if that player consumed the beverage while at a NFL facility. CYA

Since his concern is the players' behavior, I think we can assume he doesn't want them drinking, period, including their own.
Here's a lengthier version of the policy:

NFL: No alcohol for team functions, flights


NFL.com wire reports



NEW YORK (May 31, 2007) -- NFL clubs may no longer serve alcohol at team functions or on buses or flights, extending a ban that until now applied only in locker rooms.

NFL owners and executives were told by Commissioner Roger Goodell that the rule pertains not only to players but to owners, coaches and guests.

"I believe that no constructive purpose is served by clubs continuing to make alcoholic beverages available, and that doing so imposes significant and unnecessary risks to the league, its players and others," Goodell wrote to all 32 teams in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The commissioner's letter separates him from, among others, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig. After St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock died a month ago in what was ruled an alcohol-related auto accident, Selig said a decision on banning beer in clubhouses was a team matter, not a league one.

Goodell's letter is in keeping with his policy of setting strict standards for behavior by players, coaches and officials after a year of numerous arrests, many of them for alcohol-related offenses. He has imposed strict suspensions on those who violated those policies, including a yearlong suspension for Tennessee's Adam "Pacman" Jones, which is currently under appeal.

The letter is addressed to chief executives, club presidents, general managers and head coaches.

"Effective immediately," it reads, "clubs are prohibited from providing alcoholic beverages, including beer, in any club setting, including in locker rooms, practice or office facilities, or while traveling, including on team buses or flights.

"This prohibition extends not only to players, but to all team personnel, as well as to other guests traveling with the team or who have access to club facilities."

The ban was sent with the approval of the NFL Players Association and the player advisory council, a group of veterans appointed in early April to advise Goodell on player issues.

That group includes union president Troy Vincent, currently a free agent; safety Donovin Darius of Jacksonville; fullback Tony Richardson of Minnesota; center Jeff Saturday of Indianapolis; linebacker Takeo Spikes of Philadelphia; and wide receiver James Thrash of Washington.

[Munboy]

It seems the NFL has become the new NBA. A few years back, it was all NBA players who were making news with trouble, the NBA players who were viewed as overpaid thugs. Now it seems, with escalating salaries, its the NFL making all the news with off field troubles.

I think Goodell is just trying to clean up the NFL's degrading image. I agree that other companies will have business dinners and such that include alcohol, but with the NFL, there's a big risk. Sure, most of the players and staff can drink responsibly with a beer or two at a business dinner or something. But then there's those who like to party and don't know how to have just an acceptable amount. Goodell can't say this person, this person and that person can drink, but since this person has had troubles in the past, he can't. It's much easier to lay down the ban hammer on it all together.

[smackthefirst]

Aren't fottball players supposed to be adults? Prohibition didn't work in the past century, so I can't understand why they bring back an idea like this one... Someone will find ways to sneek some booze in

The players should be responsible of their acts, not be treated like children...

Very few employers let you drink at work functions - save maybe the Christmas Party...

Why should the NFL be an exception? I mean the only difference I see is the fact that these guys are getting paid millions and acting like children...

Good move, IMO!

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I agree with the move. The bottom line in my eyes is this is their job, and because of their status, it is a FULL time job. They are always representing the league. If they can't abide by the rules set forth, then they can choose to change careers. Yes, I know that is harsh, but at the end of the day being a NFL player is nothing more than their job.

I guess the closest thing I could think of is a college athlete. I would imagine a majority, if not all, college teams have the same type of rules. Of course, minors on college teams should not be allowed to drink, but what about the 21+ college players? Would any of you think it was "unfair" if their coach or the NCAA imposed the same rules?

[moochman]

Quite frankly it surprizes me that this didn't happen years ago. To think of the amazing legal team at the NFL headquarters not seeing the legal issues with this is astonding.
In a normal workplace employers don't allow alcohol because if an employee gets hammered on the job site and then commits a crime attributed to inebriation the employer can and has been held liable.
I think the league is watching the St Louis Cardinals Hancock case and realizing how reckless they've been.

For those not familiar with the Hancock case he was a pitcher for the Cards who got hammered at a bar and then hammered his car into a parked car hauler killing him instantly. His family is now trying to sue the club because he and other players often had beers in the clubhouse. Imagine if he'd of done that after leaving the clubhouse.