I didn't hear the all of Bryant's comments so my comment could be off base. What happened to Freedom of Speech? The NFL seems to want only people who will say positive things.

Bryant Gumbel is a journalist, and a fine one. Didn't Paul Tagliabue know that? If all the NFL wanted was a mouthpiece why get someone with Gumbel's professionalism? Too bad Tagliabue has sullied his reputation with only a week to go with the League.

As a 60 year traditional sports fan, I'm sick and tired of corporate sports management's image building being crammed down our throats. If Tagliabue or Goodell are that insecure over Gumbel's comments, I say they're "guilty" as charged. Truman said it best Paul & Roger, "if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." (s) Don Farber, Attorney at Law, San Rafael, CA.

Imagine that---an employer who wants its employees to speak well of it while on company time. What the NFL was thinking when it hired that gasbag is beyond me.

Other than Gumbel turning his "Real Sports" show on HBO into a liberal news magazine with topics that have a scant tie in to sports (ie a report on coal fired plants)he's a good journalist and should stay on the NFL Network.

Being a former player, I would assume that Bryant would have an opinion as to whether the union is really serving the current players well. Expressing an opinion, approving or disapproving, is expected from Bryant. Using the term and imagery of a "leash" is derogatory. Being critical should be fine, keeping it professional should be the standard.

Unfortunately I did not get to hear Mr. Gumbel's comments first-hand and I can never get a complete version via the press - always a "sound bite" that is designed for maximum impact.

What I don't understand is why some people think they can say/do anything they wish and their employer should have to put up with it. Kids don't have "Freedom of Speach" in school so why would anybody capable of thought think they will have complete "Freedom of Speach" at work without suffering the consequences.

Think about it people!

What would happen to you at your job if you bad mouthed the boss on nation TV? You better have your resume copied off the PC at work 'cause you may not get to use the PC long enough to retrieve it.

All of your bosses will be telling you basically the same thing - "Don't let the door hit you in the a--".

What an idiot to defame someone as legendary as Gene Upshaw.

Why stop there? He could keep blasting Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Joe Gibbs.

"Imagine that---an employer who wants its employees to speak well of it while on company time. What the NFL was thinking when it hired that gasbag is beyond me. "

gee, if Gumbel expects Upshaw to sit up and beg at the table, then if Gumble works for the NFL, what has he done?

somethings wrong here, somehow :)

"Using the term and imagery of a "leash" is derogatory. Being critical should be fine, keeping it professional should be the standard."

seems here that a "professional" would never "bad-mouth" his or her employer. Saying *anything* negative should be just cause for dismissal.

The main problem here is whether Gumbel is even more beholden to the NFL than Upshaw is. If not, he has no obligation to do or say anything about Tagliabue and Upshaw. If so, then isn't it a wonder that he has said anything critical at all?

He sure has caught a lot of flak for it from both the NFL offices and Upshaws' supporters. But the bottom line is that he's right. Until the players get guaranteed contracts, they're just playing for "funny-money" while the owners are playing for *real* money. Any of the owners can call a coach and say, "I want that guy off my team and I don't want to pay him, so cut him", and that heavily-backloaded and performance-boosted contract is meaningless. All Upshaw has done is puff even more air into these cotton-candy contracts, keeping the players quiet, and the owners happy, by giving the players more cotton candy.

"What would happen to you at your job if you bad mouthed the boss on nation TV? You better have your resume copied off the PC at work 'cause you may not get to use the PC long enough to retrieve it.

All of your bosses will be telling you basically the same thing - "Don't let the door hit you in the a--".

...hell, if my employment with that company was *that* tenuous, I'd be better off leaving for another company.

Being fired for being un-PC is just a sign that they were ready to fire you anyway, that they didn't really give a damm about your being there in the first place.

now on the other hand, why is Gumbel wrong for what he said? Because it is "derogatory"? Isn't any accusation of incompetence if not outright treason, "derogatory"?

All Gumbel has done has said what a lot of people thought about Upshaw. Admittedly those people could be wrong, or "derogatory" in what they think or say. But it isn't a given that the reality is that either case is true. But he certainly is taking some hits...from the commisioners' office...from Upshaws' supporters...and you just have to wonder if part of the problem is that he's right, and the players will stop looking at that cotton-candy and start looking for the real deal. That might upset the entire apple-cart, wouldn't it?

Do you think that might have a little bit to do with Tags' leaving this year, right after he gets the extension?

It's an old grifters' rule. Never stick around after you've screwed someone. Get out of there so that when they realize what has happened, you're not there to take the hit.