When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Saints head coach Sean Payton for the year, one of Payton’s fellow NFL coaches, Philadelphia’s Andy Reid, thought that was the right call.
“I don’t agree with bounties,” Reid told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I know I don’t believe in that, and I know I support what the commissioner did.”
Reid says his support for Goodell goes beyond just the way he reacted to the Saints bounty scandal, and includes pretty much everything Goodell is doing to change the culture of professional football.
“You can still put a lick on a guy. You can still do that,” Reid said. “You just have to move your target, where you’re going to tackle, and I think that’s OK.”
Many NFL players have come forward to say Goodell is too heavy handed in the way he deals with discipline, from the Saints’ bounties to off-field misconduct and especially regarding fines and suspensions for on-field hits. Reid doesn’t see it that way.
“I think the league’s done a great job, and I think if you look at the big picture of Roger Goodell, people kind of micro-analyze him, I think. You have to look at the things that he’s doing he feels are the best for the game,” Reid said. “He’s making people accountable for their work and what they say and what they do, and I don’t think that’s bad.”