Subscribe To Our Site!

Hot Topics:

Main Menu

Home

About

Features

Submit

Facebook

MySpace

Friends

NSR

Contact

Mad-Libs

Archives

Gallery

Sponsors

Advertise

Subscribe

Jobs

SCNN

Twitter!

Free picks!

Go to Vividseats.com to get all hard-to-find Sports Tickets, including all NCAA Football Tickets, Basketball Tickets, Baseball Tickets, College Basketball Tickets, Tennis Tickets, PGA Tickets, NASCAR Tickets, NFL Tickets, and Super Bowl Tickets.

Get free NFL picks from PicksNFL.com
Wunderdog Sports is your source for football picks Get free football picks at TopTenCappers.com

Brett Favre |New Curse


NFL not looking for gang signs

Goodell does as he damn well pleases, thank you very much!

  • Digg
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Technorati
  • Furl
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Fark

NEW YORK, NY — A day after news outlets around the country reported that the National Football League was reviewing past game tapes to look for players flashing gang signs, the league has officially denied those reports – or at least denied that gang signs are the inspiration for their review.

“Are we going through thousands and thousands of hours of game tape to see if a football player is ‘throwing gang signs?’” commissioner Roger Goodell asked rhetorically. “No, that would be petty. We’re actually looking for sign language abuse. Just because you haven’t heard about it doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem.”

Goodell said that more and more of the players coming into the league are fluent in sign language, and that it has left older referees and league officials – many of whom are not familiar with sign language – at a distinct disadvantage.

One referee, speaking with SSNN on the condition of anonymity, said he was pretty sure players were making fun of him in sign language during a number of games last year.

Follow SSNN on Twitter!

TwitterCounter for @serioussports

“One particular incident was a game between the Broncos and Texans, and I swear Amobi Okoye was calling me an asshole in sign language,” the referee said. “I understand not everyone thinks this is something the league should be concerning itself with, but it really hurt my feelings.

“I mean, if he was actually insulting me, I would have been hurt. To tell you the truth, it’s hard to know what to feel when you’re not entirely sure what the signs mean. But that’s a problem too.”

The NFL Players Association called the investigation ridiculous, particularly taking exception to Goodell’s claim that 70 to 80 percent of NFL players know sign language. The NFLPA claims that number is closer to 60 percent.

NFLPA Director Gene Upshaw said the biggest problem he has with the situation is the racial implications inherent in what he called “a wild goose chase.”

“We can’t stop the league from reviewing tape, but if they’re going to go forward with this thing we’d like to know who they are investigating,” Upshaw said. “I have a sneaking suspicion Peyton Manning isn’t being investigated, and every time that guy comes to the line of scrimmage he’s giving all of America a big ‘fuck you.’

“By the way, have I been fired yet? ESPN said I was going to be canned a long time ago, whatever happened with that?”

Goodell called Upshaw’s claims of racism inappropriate, adding that “my power trip does not see race.” More than anything, he said this investigation is a result of his irrational fear of deaf people.

“I don’t know exactly what it is, they just freak me out,” the commissioner admitted. “If I want to go through years of game footage looking for sign language because the deaf girl in high school wouldn’t go out with me, then I’m going to do it. I’m the most powerful man in the world, I do what I want.”

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feed and get hilarious sports news every day. Thanks for visiting!

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted on July 17th, 2008

Subscribe To Our Site!

Got a headline idea? Click here to submit it... and be sure to visit our Facebook page!


Be the first to leave a comment on this story below...

You must be logged in to post a comment.



Search Our Site

  

Subscribe to SSNN's Newsletter

Enter your Email


Check Out These Classics

Multimedia News

Vertical Soccer


It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!

View Multimedia Archives...

Photo Gallery

Get the Flash Player to see the slideshow.

Visit our Gallery for a full listing of images...

Featured News

News In Brief

Cheap Neckties Save money on your neckties and still look like a million bucks! Cheap-Neckties.com an online retailer that offers amazing deals on Discount Silk Ties, bow ties, and even carries a huge selection of Extra Long Ties for the big & tall men. Shipping is free for orders over $75!

Want CHEAP sports tickets? From NASCAR tickets to WWE tickets, or Red Sox tickets, Final Four tickets to discount Super Bowl tickets, find great deals on all kinds of event tickets here.

Pickspal.com
Football Picks
College Football Picks

Golf is at its finest with Masters Tickets, while other historically important Sports Tickets like the Kentucky Derby Packages, and NFL Super Bowl Tickets are always hard to come by!