Roger Goodell is Good for the NFL

I said it last week, and I'll say it again: Roger Goodell is doing great things for the NFL. He's bringing a renewed sense of discipline, which is great when you consider all the great, great young players in the game today. Look at the season's Top Five to the left of my blog. So many very young players, with the occasional old guy like Brett :-)

What young players need to realize is that everybody is fast and everybody is a great player in the NFL. You can just show up and get by on raw talent at this level. Even a guy like Reggie Bush. He was just running around there like he was still in college last year. Now, he's learned how the game flows in this league, and he's on pace to join Marshall Faulk and me in the 1000/1000 club.

But this new sense of discipline applies to the vets as well. I think you can look at Terrell Owens and see that he knows what he has to do to be a winner. Did you see some of the blocks he threw last week against Green Bay? I'm telling you, he first learned that with the 49ers, as part of a tradition that John Taylor established.

Ask Jerry Rice, he'll tell you that a lot of his success was because John Taylor was downfield just crushing people. No matter what you may think of Terrell, he has always been a team player when he's on the field. And now you can see this renewed discipline with him.

This is why I also think Randy Moss will be OK this year. Randy has found great success in New England with its team concept. The Pats have a bye week, and this will give Randy a chance to work out his timings with Matt Cassel.

But I'll say it again. This commitment to discipline and top performance starts at the top with Roger Goodell.