Ray Edwards Blasts Roger Goodell Because He Can

If everything goes according to plan Ray Edwards will soon be a former Viking and it will be some other Fansided blogger’s job to write about the stupid stuff he says and does. But for the time-being Ray is still our knucklehead, and he is still delivering the goods. Last night in an interview with ESPN Ray delivered the goods all over NFL commissioner Roger Goodell who I think it’s safe to say is not Ray’s favorite person in the world.

Pulling no punches, Ray offered his assessment of Goodell’s leadership and the general feeling NFL players have (at least according to Ray) about their authoritarian commish (via Viking Update):

"I don’t know if it’s hate or dislike. He came in trying to change the whole game around, trying to leave his mark on the game. I guess that’s where a lot of the hatred comes from. We feel sometimes he treats us unfairly due to his rules that he [enforced] upon us."

Ray then got even more candid, expressing his personal disdain for Goodell and his sometimes paternalistic attitude.

"Me? No I don’t like him. He looks at us like – he is the power above us – but he looks like he’s never done anything wrong. And that’s how we feel about him towards us – like we’re just kids or something. We’re all grown men and we’re looking to better ourselves and the lives of our families and him taking money out of our pocket, we just don’t like that."

Truth be told, Edwards does have a legitimate gripe with Goodell and the league office over their discipline policy. Last season Edwards received multiple arguably excessive fines including a $20,000 one for an illegal hit on Marion Barber. The Barber fine was inflated because, according to the league, Ray was viewed as a repeat offender. Some would argue the “repeat offender” position is ludicrous and that fines should be levied based solely on the severity of the specific incident.

So yes I sort of get where Ray is coming from. That said, it’s hard to condone a player coming at the commissioner that hard and that personally – “hate” is a strong word Ray – especially right now when everyone’s supposed to be about healing wounds and putting acrimony behind them and getting back to the business of football.

At least let the ink dry on the new CBA before you start trashing the commish Ray. And by the way, I doubt your words are going to influence him in a positive way when the next opportunity comes along to fine your butt. Yes you’ve been treated somewhat unfairly but personal attacks against the man who holds the hammer will not make the hammer come down less hard next time.

As usual Ray just comes across like a whining malcontent, in spite of his valid points. Warning to the next team that picks him up: Not only are you getting an inconsistent and sometimes disengaged player, you’re also getting a guy who will never be happy no matter how much you pay him. Good luck with that.

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