To: Mr. Roger
Goodell
Office of the Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY
From: Lee
Zakow
Publisher
Gridline
www.gridline1.com
Lzakow@gridline1.com
Dear Commissioner
Goodell:
My name is
Lee Zakow and I publish Gridline, which has been the only publication
to have covered NFL Europa's 16 years. My journey with Gridline
began in 1990 when the league was forming and franchises were
being granted and named. It has been both an honor and a pleasure
to have traveled all over Europe because of this game of ours.
Despite what the "experts" like Peter King and Clark
Judge and John Clayton say, the game is now globally entrenched.
To the best of my knowledge, Mr. King, Mr. Judge and Mr. Clayton
have never been to a World Bowl, much less a league game. What
a shame. They missed something very, very special.
See, in my
travels, I have been extremely fortunate in meeting many, many
wonderful people - from all cultures. In all the time I covered
the league, I have never, ever heard a cross word amongst fans
- nothing cultural, nothing harmful. only what team's colors do
you wear and who do you stand for? There were many nights outside
the Knoten, one of the very few American football bars outside
of our country, that were spent with fans of every nationality,
wearing every team's colors - old, new, old teams, new teams,
NFL teams, even CFL teams. Great, passionate people. I made a
lot of friends and learned a lot of things in my travels whether
it was in Tampa at training camp or Europe.
Ah, training
camp. That was always an exciting time for me - my birthday is
March 13, right around training camp, and my girlfriend lived
in Tampa. But she died of cancer two years ago and now the league
is gone. The two loves of my life are gone (sorry mom, looks like
I am never going to get married although I think German women
are extraordinary.) We all live with loss and I've had mine.
When I was
in Germany for World Bowl XV, I stayed with my friend, Marc Schueler,
in his new place to the south of Frankfurt, some 20 minutes away
by commuter train. The town was charming and I told him "I
could see myself working for the league and living here part of
the year. I really want to help build this thing into something
great". I applied to NFL International and quicker than you
could say "Rhein Fire" my resume was stamped with "REJECT".
I simply felt and feel I can make a difference - as everyone should
in life.
While in Frankfurt,
I learned two things: 1) what I want to do with the rest of my
career and 2) things that disappoint me greatly. I really want
to recreate NFL Europa and even broaden it to include teams in
the States, Mexico and Canada. all it NFL W for NFL World. I want
to go to Romania and the Ukraine. To Brazil and Argentina and
spread the game. Maybe I am wrong but with all the violence and
insanity in the world, I see football as building bridges. How
lucky am I to have combined two passions - travel and sports?
Now on to point two. 2) I learned that this final season of NFL
Europa was nothing more than a sham. People knew it was ending.
There was an endless stream of BS and lies, despite the fact that
those whose sweat and work built the league were kicked to the
curb. Mr. Uwe Bergheim - he seems like a pleasant person. Knowledgeable.
I read about what a great business person he was. But in talking
with him over the week I was in Frankfurt, I know he lacked the
passion and his plan to owners - 24 games and 12 teams, was so
outrageous, it had to be rejected. When you present white or black
with no in between, the only things that can happen are bad. Was
this the plan all along? I think so based on what I have seen
and heard. Mr. Bergheim said the league leaves a solid core of
fans in place - 6 million, 12 million. Who knows what numbers
he said? When we talked I asked him about certain metrics - measures
that should have been taken into account but never were. So who
knows how much money was lost. The real figures, I guess, will
never, ever be known.
I can tell
you I watched this beautiful game from age 7 on. One of my heroes
was Pete Rozelle. Commissioner Rozelle had extraordinary vision.
No one understood better than he that the convergence of technology
and socio and economic changes could propel the league to great
heights. It was he who scheduled the Chargers and Cardinals in
Tokyo in 1976 in the league's first overseas venture. It was he
who found a consensus among owners and who was able to facilitate
the merger of the AFL and the NFL. He also knew that the NFL took
advantage of a "perfect storm" of events to bring it
to where it is today. Had he not, the league may be some 20-team
outfit struggling against college football, which was so much
bigger. It took 40 years - yes 40 years to bring acceptance to
the NFL. What I don't understand is that today's owners - be they
Jerry Jones or Robert Kraft or Paul Allen, people who made their
fortune by not being stupid and making sharp and wise decisions,
could not find the people to run the league effectively. And in
running the league, the NFL forgot the most important thing about
running a business - the consumer, the customer is king. You never
did this. To ignore the fans and some of their brilliant ideas
is just - shocking. I can't see any multinational company - Ericsson,
McDonalds, BMW doing this.
I have to
be honest. Good people, hard working people, passionate people
got screwed because of, well there is no other way to say it -
arrogance.
Mr. Commissioner,
you've lost me as a fan and a customer. I will take my money that
I would have spent to go see a game, or buy the Sunday Ticket
package, or a jersey, or anything else the league does until NFL
Europa is restored AND you listen to the fans. The league will
be back one day. I feel it and I know it. Fan movements were key
in restoring a CFL franchise in Ottawa (Mickey Green's Restore
the Pride campaign and organization), and Soccer Silicon Valley,
which enables the MLS to restore a franchise in San Jose. It can
be done again and we'll do it.
While my protest
is nothing but a ripple in the ocean, you've made it difficult
for the NFL to come back to Germany, unless it's on their terms.
Maybe 6-12 million people can convince you. Maybe not.
And if not,
how sad. How very, very sad.
Sincerely,
Lee Zakow
