Business Insight Zone

Today’s Company of the Day is the National Football League. Text first, then some further commentary.

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Cue the Monday Night Football theme music: DAH-dah-dah-daaaaah. Yes, football season is upon us once again, and at the top of the football world sits the premier professional sports league in the US: the National Football League. The NFL has undergone a couple of major shocks lately. The first one came over the summer with the revelation that star Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick had long been involved in a dog-fighting ring that operated on property he owns in Virginia. Vick now faces prison time and possibly the effective end of his playing career, not to mention the enmity of many of his former fans. (The public will sometimes forgive a drugs charge, a DUI, a paternity suit, or the like, but helping to run a dog-fighting ring for six year elicits much less sympathy.)

In the past week a less vicious but possibly worse problem arose for the NFL, when it transpired that the New England Patriots broke league rules in videotaping the defensive play-calling signals used by the New York Jets during the teams’ season-opening contest (which the Patriots won by a mile). Cheating like this may be more common that the NFL would like to acknowledge, but clear proof of cheating by the Patriots is particularly bad news, since the Patriots are the foremost football dynasty of this era. Cheating by this team and its “genius” coach, Bill Belichick, tends to raise questions about whether the Patriots’ run of greatness-including three Superbowl wins-has owed less to the performances of standout players like quarterback Tom Brady. Belichick has apologized for the incident, taking responsibility for “my mistake” and his incorrect “interpretation of a rule.” He says that his team’s focus is now on next Sunday’s game. The NFL would dearly love it if fans likewise gave their attention to the plays on the field rather than the scandals away from it.

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An additional comment: It’s amusing to me how outsiders try to guess the impact of events on the unusually strong performers who reside at the top of their professions. People try to ascribe angst to Steve Schwarzman over Blackstone’s low share price, when in all likelihood what Schwarzman is thinking most of the time is, “How can we make more money at this point?”

Similarly, all kinds of sports fans and pundits offered their views over the past week about how CameraGate would affect the Patriots’ performance in their next game — especially against the powerful San Diego Chargers. All week, Belichick averred that he and his team were focused on the Chargers, not on the penalty handed down from the league.

Folks, it looks like Bill was telling the truth, at least if the Patriots’ demolition of the Chargers last night is any indication. These folks haven’t won all those games and all those rings by allowing themselves to get distracted by events off the field.

Category: Company of the Day, The business of sports