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| A letter to the Commissioner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Roger Goodell (J. Daniel/Getty Images)
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Former pro scout Tom Marino has written a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in his latest column. Find out what he says about the commissioner's handling of player misconduct, the New England Patriots, and an oversight regarding the Pro Football Hall of Fame. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dear Mr. Commissioner, Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I have three particularly important things to discuss with you today, but first I want to say I think you have done a more then commendable job of dealing with many of the pressing social issues that have plagued the NFL while you were in just your second year on the job. As for Michael Vick, I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Adam “Pacman” Jones? I like your style Mr. Commissioner, and as a footnote, let me say one thing to Mr. Jones -- young man, you’re darn lucky you’re currently not doing some serious time in the slammer. In regards to Odell Thurman and Chris Henry, again you exercised excellent judgment in dealing with these two undesirables. The loyal fans in the “Queen City” and the dedicated hard-working teammates that they let down by their actions deserve a good deal more. Looking back at Bill Belichick and the Spygate episode, I’m afraid, Mr. Commissioner, that’s a far different story. I actually think you initially did a fairly good job of handling that particular issue, although I believe that the forfeited first-round draft selection by the Patriots should have been awarded to the Jets. Today, I’m urging you to revisit the circumstances involving Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans between the Patriots and Rams, specifically as it concerns the activities of Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh and the parameters of which I’m sure you are quite familiar with. I would think that the potential of a possible scandal surrounding the Super Bowl would be of tremendous concern in your office; enough, in fact, that there would be a necessity — indeed an urgency — to investigate the charge in such a way that the NFL would leave no stone unturned in its search for a resolution to this matter. Yet there is still an air of uncertainty over actions taken by Mr. Walsh, who has since admitted to violating NFL policy; actions that may very well have affected the outcome of Super Bowl and tipped the scales to the New England Patriots. If the long-term integrity of the league, and/or the perception of it in the public eyes, is of paramount importance to the league, then your overall ruling in this matter is, quite frankly, unsatisfactory. The appearance of any impropriety surrounding an NFL game is a major affront to the game, but for such a question to loom over the NFL's biggest showcase, played on the largest stage for any one-day sporting event in the world, is absolutely unacceptable. It is simply too offensive to the sensibilities of fair-minded individuals, and justifiably leaves the NFL open to a great deal of criticism from its skeptics. I urge you to continue to exhaust all avenues at your disposal, to uncover the facts that need to be known about this incident and to be resolute in taking the action necessary to restore the kind of credibility that will leave no doubt forever in the mind of the public that anything less than fairness and equity will not be tolerated in the NFL. Back in 2004, long before the “Spygate” incident, a player related a
story to me one evening after a workout at the Rams complex that I will never
forget. “I think Mike had been saving this particular play for this one situation. And to tell you the truth, Tom, the play was unstoppable," said the now former player. "But when Mike inserted the corresponding personnel package, formation and made the call during the first half, the Patriots defensive players and virtually the entire Patriots sidelines were screaming to watch the wheel to Marshall. If was as if they knew what was coming.” I’m never going to be entirely sure that our loss (we were clearly the better team) wasn’t directly related to their apparent covert actions prior to the absolutely most important game in my professional career. But a very long time ago I resolved myself to the fact that we ultimately fell short of our goal on that “Black Sunday" and that’s the way it has to remain. That being said, Mr. Commissioner, let me now get to my second reason for writing to you today. My next request is to ask you to strongly consider allowing professional scouts the opportunity to have their own wing at the Professional Football League Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. It is long overdue, and should be acted upon immediately. As you know, the baseball HOF in Cooperstown, NY includes players, managers, executives, commissioners’, owners and also has a writers' wing. Basketball has its players, coaches, referees, owners and contributors, while the hockey hall includes players, coaches, referees, linesmen and builders (owners, GM’s writers, and league officials). The football HOF has virtually all of the above, plus an additional wing dedicated to athletic trainers and the contribution they have made to the sport. But for some unknown reason, the people most responsible for recommending virtually all of the players inducted into the hall in Canton, have never been recognized by the leagues’ hierarchy. Stars like Dan Marino, Paul Warfield, Brett Favre, Barry Sanders, John Elway, Orlando Pace, or the aforementioned Marshall Faulk, all future or current Hall of Fame members, were superstars at every level of play and hardly required a trained eye to decide their placement in football history. But without the keen eye of the professional scout, how many of the late-round, free agent, and current HOF members such as Bart Starr, John Unitas, Willie Brown, Don Maynard, Larry Little, Deacon Jones, Emmitt Thomas, Kenny Houston, Larry Wilson and Willie Wood, would have had the opportunity to make it to Canton? Some certainly would have, while others would likely have become just footnotes in time had it not been for the critical evaluations of the backbone of professional football — the talent scout. Coaching giants with names like Landry, Lombardi, Brown, Shula, Noll and Walsh rightfully share a prominent position in the main hall in Canton, but I again wonder, what would have been their fate had they not had excellent players provided to them by their respective scouting departments? Over the years, I’ve also found one distinct, common denominator that every successful coach at the professional level shared; when they had good players they won football games, when they had great players they won championships and when the cupboard was empty, they — like many of their colleagues in the coaching community — soon realized that they were no longer a valued commodity. Mr. Commissioner, you can take full credit for this undertaking and also for the new football draft that I introduced earlier this month (my ego is not that big). I also want to let you know that I don’t consider the suggestion of a scouting wing to the hall to be self-serving in any way, because even with thirty-four years of loyal service to the game, I would not be as presumptuous or arrogant as to include myself into any discussion for entrance into these hallowed halls, without the vote of my peers. Enough talk, let’s get to the hall itself. The wing I propose should include all the implements used through the ages to evaluate individual players: stop watches, tape recorders, T-square, scales, the famed Kodak Analyst, film clips on a continuous loop of the many college players before they attained greatness and who, in some cases, entered the main building in the hall. It would include the history of the draft, its major hits and misses, as well as the many outstanding collegiate players now identified as members of the exclusive Heisman Trophy Jinx Club. I personally would love to view you and the previous commissioners announcing the first selections. Living scouting legends like Bobby Beathard, Upton Bell, Norm Pollom and Gil Brandt — along with other veteran scouts — could share their thought on scouting for the ages while also sharing interesting and humorous scouting stories that they experienced during their travels down life’s highways. The numerous scouting organizations — National, Blesto, United, Galaxy, CEPO, Quadra — along with the combines organized by both the WFL and USFL should be recognized for the contributions they have made to the profession. Finally, the enormous contribution from the many outstanding individual
talent scouts, many of whom I can humbly refer to as friends, need to be
recognized. Beyond this three year period, I would ask you, Mr. Commissioner, to appoint a committee of ten current and former scouts to annually nominate and vote on individuals for entrance into the hall. For induction into the hall, an individual would have to have at least fifteen years of personnel experience and must be inactive for a period of three full seasons before he could become eligible. A maximum of five individuals can be nominated in any season and a maximum of two selected in any given year. It makes a great deal of sense, Mr. Commissioner, particularly when you
consider how popular the draft has become over the last decade. More then half of the personnel scouts that I compiled for entrance into the hall are no longer with us, and only Jerry Reichow and Jack Faulkner, from the first grouping, have any involvement in personnel today. But the contributions that these pioneers made, although often overlooked, is the principle reason the game has evolved to its current status. I proudly submit to you, Mr. Commissioner, the first of my three groups for entrance into the Professional Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
My second season selec
The third special
selections into the hall are as follows:
Over the last ten days, I have tried to come up with a composite list of all personnel scouts who worked at least one season in the professional game. I called numerous scouts, perused media guides and surfed the internet, but in spite of the research, I’m fairly certain that I likely omitted a number of quality scouts. I apologize to every one of these individuals and hope that they, their families, friends, league officials, media, or fellow scouts would contact me so that I could correct and update my files. Many of the names on this list of former scouts may surprise you. Some are household names, while others, like the position that they held, were anonymous figures on the football landscape. Some transitioned from player to scout to coaching or to an upper-management position, while still others, after working briefly, decided to pursue careers outside of the game. As is the case in every walk of life, over the years I have met some true characters and a number of individuals I will never forget. By the same token, there were more than a few I neither liked and/or respected during my career. But through it all, each of us shared one common goal during our careers, and that was doing our part to help bring a championship to our respective clubs. Mr. Commissioner, I submit to you my total list of former personnel scouts for consideration.
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