Is family history repeating itself with Roger Goodell?

When Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, Republican New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller appointed state representative Charles Goodell to RFK’s Senate seat. One of Goodell five sons, Roger, is now the embattled commissioner of the National Football League.

But Commissioner Goodell may be following his father, who wound up not winning his own term in the next election because he led a group of Young Turk Republicans in a move to defund the Vietnam War, which 50 years ago was Black Lives Matter of the time.

Roger Goodell, along with the NFL owners, essentially blackballed Colin Kaepernick after the former Super Bowl quarterback knelt during a pre-game national anthem to protest, not the flag, but social injustice and police brutality in America.

Charles Goodell lost in his bid to keep the Senate seat with his stance that angered President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. Roger has admitted he should have listened to black players and others who backed Kaepernick when he supported the owners.

With the most recent death of black men at the hands of white policemen, this could be a protest to match the eventual withdrawal of troops from Vietnam that inflamed college campuses across the country.

The Black Lives Matter protests mark large and small cities in America and they are adding to a turbulence like this country hasn’t seen in a half-century. But the range of ages, races and genders make this look like it will have legs until satisfactory changes are made.

Even President Trump, who called players who supported kneeling during the Star-Spangled Banner SOBs and said they should be thrown out of the league, is now advocating that NFL teams give Kaepernick a tryout, although his days as a star player may be done.

As an 11-year-old, Roger Goodell stood on street corners in New York City and campaigned for his father’s election. Maybe the commissioner studied his family history more closely and has grown a conscience, or maybe he knows this is a fight he can no longer win.

 

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing Out
Roy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!
UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps Up
Dean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) Star
Ben Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and Ambitions
Garrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID Debate
Clemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft Dodgers
Carolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?
What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To Carolina
UNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra Motivation
Carolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›