NFL

NFL Continues To Focus On Trivial Things With Beats Headphone Ban

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By @bradberreman24

Richard Sherman, NFL

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL has been in the headlines in recent months for mostly the wrong reasons, with players being accused of domestic violence and child abuse along with the usual litany of DUI arrests, speeding tickets and such. But we’re fooling ourselves if we don’t realize that commissioner Roger Goodell’s top priority will continue to be money, be it his own salary or maintaining the financial clout of the owners that employ him.

I’ve always thought fining players for not wearing their uniforms in the way the league mandates was foolish, within reason of course. If a player wants to wear a certain color cleats, even it’s not pink in recognition of breast cancer awareness in October, let him. If he wants to wear high socks, which feature his team’s colors more often than not by the way, let him without risking financial penalty.

One of the most egregious fines for a uniform violation I can remember came in 2013, when Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall was fined $10,500 for wearing green cleats. He wore the cleats in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week, and Marshall willingly paid his fine as he sought to bring awareness to mental health and his own past with such issues. Marshall has also been fined twice for wearing orange cleats, which happens to be one of his team’s colors and the color of an alternate jersey the Bears wear.

The league continued to show how tone deaf it is over the weekend, with the news that the league’s recent partnership with Bose means players will essentially not be able to wear any other brand of headphones on game days. Anywhere a player could be seen on camera, from a distance or in an on-camera interview, he will not be able to wear another brand of headphones. The ban apparently extends to offseason workouts and training camp, which seems to be way overboard in the league’s continued effort to rule over trivial things with an iron fist.

Bose will have it’s logo on the head sets coaches wear as part of their deal with the league, which is fine and does not significantly intrude on a coach’s personal choice or I would assume any revenue streams off the field. But Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick are two notable endorsers of “Beats By Dre”, and now they will be confined to the locker room to use those headphones on game days without covering up the logo. It’s unlikely either guy will lose their endorsement deal with Beats based on the league-wide deal with Bose, but it’s fair to think Beats is counting on the exposure high-profile endorsers can offer and that may now take a hit with any NFL player that endorses the product.

I’m comfortable with the NFL putting a sp0tlight on the sponsors that pay millions of dollars to be in partnership with the league, but to allow the league’s official headphone sponsor to be brought into the public light in any major way is ridiculous. I’m not willing to listen to an argument that says the league has no control over what is made public with sponsorships and such, since Goodell and his underlings continually maintain a high level of control over virtually everything else that surrounds the league’s cash flow. If something has any affect on the league’s bottom line, and is reported by the media — big, small, good, bad or ugly — rest assured the message is being controlled on some level.

The fact Bose will be the NFL’s new headphone sponsor is small potatoes compared to other issues surrounding the league right now, including an ongoing investigation into how the Ray Rice situation was handled that may put Goodell’s job status in doubt very soon. But the news of any other headphones, be it “Beats By Dre” or any other a player may prefer to use, being banned on the field or on camera means the league continues to focus on a lot of small things even though there are more important issues out there to address.

Maybe that’s the way Goodell and other high-profile executives in the league office want it, which would not surprise me at all with the public relations nightmares that have surfaced lately. I assume internal discussions go something like this, when a new sponsor can be highlighted-”Good news can come out? About anything at all, even if we look narrow-minded to some degree? Great, let’s put it out there!”

Exhibiting a high level of control over small things should be expected from the NFL at this point, with a uniform code that borders on ridiculous most of the time, and now an attempt to tell players (and presumably coaches, executives and any other team-related staff) what brand of headphones they can wear anywhere a camera can find them basically 365 days a year.

The big question is, as on-field contact continues to be legislated out of the game, what’s next? Logos on uniforms, including referees? Nothing is out of bounds right now, which could be good or bad depending on your perspective. From this corner, anything that fails to put the focus on big picture issues, like concussions/overall player safety, the league’s drug policy (and related punishments) and the off-field conduct of players, should be put on the back burner.

And essentially banning certain brands of head phones for NFL personnel, at least when they can be seen by the media, now goes to the top of the list of things that should not matter.

Brad Berreman is a Columnist at Rant Sports.com. Connect with him on Google +. 

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