When we received earlier this week a statement from the NFLPA regarding last week’s tragic shooting at Ft. Hood, we read it, we thought it was odd for the NFLPA to be chiming in, and then we moved on.
Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News, a confirmed grumpy old man who has directed his venom at us in the past, opted not to move on.
He gave the union a public “thumbs down” on Friday for chiming in on the matter.
“Ever since
[De] Smith was elected the NFLPA’s executive director last March, he has acted more
like a politician running for office than a guy who’s supposed to be trying to
get a new labor deal done,” Domowitch writes. “His release-happy PR people have had him weigh in on
a number of nonfootball-related issues, with the only apparent purpose being to
get his name in the news.”
Though professional sports leagues often employ examples of carefully-engineered pandering for P.R. purposes, the best efforts in this regard involve actions, not words. In this specific case, the words from the NFLPA have resulted in only negative P.R. for the union, since Domowitch was the only writer who, as far as we can tell, did anything with the release.
UPDATE: We should have included the text of the NFLPA statement. Here it is. “In a month where our NFL players honor American service men and women
across the country, we want to extend our deepest condolences to the
families of the wounded and fallen as a result of this terrible
incident.”
Yeah Smith worked for Obama on his transition team. It is clear that he has a political agenda and he can’t seperate his job from that like the rest of us have to. It is a shame.
I wonder what the NFLPA thinks about Tourette Pete’s appearences on The Howard Stern Show?
If NFL had a team in Fort Hood yes a statement would be appropriate.
But it doesn’t and the writer even if he’s older than you is 100% right!
NOTE- Remember when you were in public school? 35-40 years ago? The next 35-40 years will go as fast for you as the same blink of an eye – you already are in the minority once you’re over 25 years old.
You have as much reason to talk about that writer’s age as Smith does about an Islamist murderer.
You really hope it’s not the truth, but the NFLPA commenting on the Ft. Hood tragedy does seem unnecessary. I’m not sure many people were waiting to hear what the all important NFLPA thought about the situation. If De Smith really used this unfortunate event for P.R. purposes, then the NFLPA is in horrible hands.
What did the NFLPA statement say?
Domowitch is the worst part of the Daily News. Reading his crap is worse than going through the obituaries.
chapnasty says:
November 13, 2009 6:47 PM
Yeah Smith worked for Obama on his transition team. It is clear that he has a political agenda and he can’t seperate his job from that like the rest of us have to. It is a shame.
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And it’s clear you can’t “separate” the effect that your backwoods education had on your ability to spell. I guess it’s true that Cowboy fans lead the league in brain trauma.
Islamist?
“In a month where our NFL players honor American service men and women across the country, we want to extend our deepest condolences to the families of the wounded and fallen as a result of this terrible incident.”
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Remove the last word and replace it with act of terrorism , otherwise this is fine.
I think the NFLPA statement is perfectly fine considering the league is honoring the military this month and the NFLPA had a special event honoring the troops, past and present, on Veterans Day. Ft. Hood obviously hit home considering the context of the league’s activities this month. Domowitch sounds like a bitter, disconnected old man.
Thank you, troops for all you do.
Did they do anything aside from release a statement?
It appears that they didn’t which means the criticism is well deserved.
It is ok to send out condolences and honor service men and women, but it is much better to extend a helping hand when you have massive resources like they do.
There is enough token gestures out there with flag magnets on cars. Bigger organizations should back up their words with actions.
Whats wrong with that? They expressed their condolences. They are showing their respect to the military, Domobitch is just an idiot. Doesn’t the goof realize that the NFL and the U.S. military work together and sponsor and support each other constantly. You can see it in the games; flybys, men and women in the service watching in the stands, the special events they hold for specifically people in the service, like those tours they send players and coaches on.
DEVOODOO
–
Just what do you think that ‘DOCTOR’ was?
We shouldn’t talk about bad things like Ft. Hood. It only makes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq look justified. We wouldn’t want our former president to be vindicated. It is much better if we leave our head in the sands of fantasy lineups, injury reports, ochocinco, and other important things like that.
The Real Shuxion says:
November 13, 2009 7:25 PM
“In a month where our NFL players honor American service men and women across the country, we want to extend our deepest condolences to the families of the wounded and fallen as a result of this terrible incident.”
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Remove the last word and replace it with act of terrorism , otherwise this is fine.
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I wish we could still rate posts….this one should get 5 stars.
It’s the worst fricking terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. Cut the NFLPA a break. Maybe if Domovitch spent a column researching terrorism that would actually do some positive good. Go down to that mosque that the freak attended and report on it. Get to work, lazy reporter.
“terrible incident.”
Huh? A machine gun didn’t get dropped and fire off a few round. A wannabe jihadist killed and wounded several troops. Its sad Floor-boy will bring up the past actions and affiliations of other people like Domowitch, yet in political case after political case he refused to acknowledge that Desmith has very close ties to the Obama administration which makes him a political person.
Though not suprisingly Floor-boy is not being very honest in his reporting. It is not a statement from the NFLPA, but from Desmith directly.
Let me get this straight. The NFLPA extends condolences to family members who lost a loved one and this guy finds a way to criticize D Smith? I think that is petty and disgusting.
And for the rest of you saying terrible incident should be replaced with terrorist attack, are you insinuating that a terrorist attack isn’t a terrible incident?
Stop finding a reason to be angry and think for yourselves.
The nerve of the NFLPA issuing condolences for grieving people.
WTF is wrong with Domowitch? Still butthurt over the Cowboys loss?
I agree with joe6pk… I read this site all day, everyday, and watch the NFL network for 2 or 3 hours a day and devote a good chunk of my life to the NFL in general, and this is the first I’ve heard of this statement. So that leads me to thinking that this wasn’t done up in a grandios way to bolster the NFLPA’s image… It was an organization expressing condolences to another organization that they are also partners with… Why would anyone have a problem with this?
This guy was a government doctor and a psychiatrist no less. Can’t wait for NaziPelosi’s Obamacare to kick in, this is going to be fun. He would have been a good guy for the death panel.
“We shouldn’t talk about bad things like Ft. Hood. It only makes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq look justified. We wouldn’t want our former president to be vindicated.”
— Stupidest thing I have ever read in my entire life, bar none.
SLOW NEWS DAY, HUH FLORIO? obviously you missed the PSA’s ESPN has been running with the players THANKING the troops for their service, in honor of Veterans Day, the fact that Domowitch has a problem with it, falls under the WHO GIVES A SHIT? category, me thinks Domowitch can find something more important to bitch about
Nobody complained about the players doing PSA’s thanking the troops, in honor of Veterans Day, they were running on ESPN in case you missed them Florio, this is a story WHY??? Domowitch needs to find more important thinks to get his panties in a bunch about!
Ok, correct me if I am wrong here……
What this hack for the Philly paper is saying is that unless someone is directly connected to Ft Hood and/or the people involved, no one has the right to express condolences as to what happened.
Sorry, but that is just wrong, plain and simple. I don’t care who you are, what you do, who you worship or any of that.
Expressing condolences for something as tragic as what happened at Ft Hood is part of being a human being!
I think some of you lunkheads need a reality check. Please define terrorism. If the Fort Hood shooting was a terrorist attack, then you have to define what constitutes terrorism. If a member of the Aryian Brotherhood shot up a Baptist church in Alabama because his beliefs demanded that African Americans be punished, would that be an act of terrorism? Or is terrorism, in your view, only relegated to violence conducted by Islamic people. One could argue that the U.S. earned its freedom from Britain through terrorist attacks, seeing as how they employed guerrilla tactics as opposed to lining up side-by-side on the battlefield. Today, the term “terrorism” is entirely overused. Honestly, how can a nation win a “War on Terror?” Is it over when every radical in every nation is killed, and people worldwide are no longer terrified?
Remove the last word and replace it with act of terrorism , otherwise this is fine.
It’s not for you or anyone else except those investigating to determine whether it was a terrorist attack or the guy was just psychotic, just because it fits a political agenda to label it as such.
Here at Fort Benning, No one is interested in condolences. This is the home of the Infantry and a Brigade of the Third Infantry Division who just left for their final tour in Iraq(supposedly). Our job is to close with and destroy the enemy. Major Hasan is the biggest example of coward and a microcosim of the abuse of our system and the freedoms in provides those who we openly welcome to our borders. As soon as you stop getting your way and you actually have to earn what those freedoms have afforded you and are called upon to carry out the only real mission of a military, to win the Nation’s wars, you cop out and become just another silly Jihadist. I am glad you lived and I speak for my soldiers and many others when I say, “Put my name down for the firing squad” if you are to indeed meet Allah that way.
It is a sad state of affairs when an organization like the NFLPA is criticized for issuing a statement of support for the victims of a tradgedy.
st.michael says:
“November 13, 2009 8:14 PM
We shouldn’t talk about bad things like Ft. Hood. It only makes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq look justified. We wouldn’t want our former president to be vindicated.”
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“define terrorism. If the Fort Hood shooting was a terrorist attack, then you have to define what constitutes terrorism… Or is terrorism, in your view, only relegated to violence conducted by Islamic people.”
Exactly! Terrorism = Muslims killing people. The Fort Hood Shooter = Muslim. Therefor, the Fort Hood Shooter = Terrorist.
That’s how people who want to see George W Bush vindicated think. By that logic, since the IRA was white, Irish and catholic, and they bombed a lot of British sites in Northern Ireland… well, then, if Britain went to war with the US for harboring Irish Catholics it would be totally justified!
Don’t try to argue war policy with Joe the Plumber.