OK, so:
- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is cheesed off at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, ostensibly because he has problems with the way Goodell’s contract is structured but probably really because Goodell suspended star Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for six games over domestic violence allegations.
- Papa John’s founder John Schnatter attacked the NFL’s handling of national anthem protests earlier this month, ostensibly because his company is a major NFL advertiser whose brand has been hurt by association with the controversy but possibly because Jones, who owns a number of Papa John’s franchises, put him up to it as a means of pursuing his Elliott-related beef with Goodell.
Got it? Here’s what NBC’s Pro Football Talk is now reporting about Goodell loyalists who own other NFL teams:
When it comes to the lingering dispute regarding the Roger Goodell contract extension, much has been written and said about the potential nuclear option possessed by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. But the rest of the owners (or, more accurately, those who oppose Jones) have a nuclear option of their own.
They could, in theory, attempt to trigger forfeiture of the Dallas franchise.
It all has to do with “Article VIII of the NFL’s Constitution & Bylaws,” apparently, specifically a section that allows the commissioner to force owners who are “guilty of conduct detrimental to the welfare of the League or professional football” to forfeit their teams.
“It’s unlikely that any such effort will be made,” the report cautions. But it sure would be fun if it did!
