The NFL has beefed up its public relations expertise in recent years. Inevitably, P.R. concerns now seem to be driving the NFL’s decisions.
For example, the softening of the No Fun League stance on celebrations, with certain snow angels acceptable (despite the rule against going to the ground to celebrate) and certain red-kettle leaps permitted (despite the rule against the use of props), likely arose from a desire to soften the potential fan and media backlash to what would have been get-off-my-lawn-style punishments. The problem, of course, is that the league has opted to disregard its own rules on a de facto basis, opening the door for any of its rules to be shaped or twisted or distorted or ignored whenever doing so will result in fewer people criticizing the league and/or more people praising it.
With the walkie-talkie situation involving the Giants, the NFL clearly altered its planned punishment based on the strong negative reaction to the weekend trial balloon that the team would face only a fine. If the news of no intention to alter the team’s draft picks for 2017 had been met with a collective shrug, the Giants wouldn’t be facing a drop of up to 12 spots in round four. (While on the surface that may not seem like much, even the slightest futzing with a team’s draft picks creates major consternation, because there’s a theoretical chance that every player taken between where the Giants would have picked and where they actually pick will become Hall of Famers.)
Once again, P.R. likely played a role. While it’s nice to know the league is listening, it would be nicer to know that the league has in place a set of fair and equitable procedures that are applied on a consistent basis in all cases with a confident and clear explanation for the outcome.
That’s where the P.R. expertise should apply, in communicating the reasons for a decision. “What will they say about us?” should never be part of the equation. When it is, what they’ll say is that the league office is bastardizing its rules in the name of maximizing external praise and minimizing external criticism.