FanHouse Roger Goodell

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell isn't known for his sense of humor. Or his ability to smile. Or for doing much else outside of handing down fines to stifle would-be celebrators, both players and owners.

But Brad Blanks caught up with Goodell at the Blind Side premiere, and the commish appeared to be in good spirits.

Video proof after the jump.

The conventional view is that Peyton Manning is an extraordinarily precise passer whose single-minded dedication to the NFL may make him one of the most game-altering quarterbacks to ever play the game. Those of us who have watched him carefully over the years know the truth, however. Peyton Manning is a witch.*

I use to think that The Peyton was evil and had a pact with the devil. Colts fans took exception to that because they said Manning is a really swell guy who does good deeds and likes Oreos. Okay then, can we just agree that he is a witch, and then just agree to disagree on his evil status, and whether he should be burned at the stake?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- On Sunday the Tennessee Titans beat the Buffalo Bills 41-17. The win was the Titans' third in a row after beginning 0-6, and the teams' 86-year-old owner, Bud Adams, was watching from his owner's suite with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Halfway through the game, Adams was recognized on the jumbotron. Fans cheered. Adams smiled and waved from his open-air suite. Then, as he celebrated victory, Adams decided to shoot the bird at the opposing sideline. First, Adams went with the right hand bird. Then he went left hand with the bird. Finally, he pulled out the rare, and underrated, double bird.

Presumably, shooting the bird at opposing teams violates one of Roger Goodell's NFL rules. And now Goodell finds himself in the unique position of actually witnessing behavior that he might be required to fine. In the meantime, fans are left to wonder, what longstanding beef does Bud Adams have with the 91-year-old owner of the Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson? Or is this simply an old man move, is the double bird an old AFL pat on the back? Video after the jump.

When an NFL player attacks an opponent with a dangerous, helmet-to-helmet hit, he is suspended immediately for a game or more. When Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable acknowledges having struck his first wife -- this as two other romantic partners allege that he physically abused them, this after a Raiders assistant coach accused Cable of breaking his jaw and threatening to kill him during a training-camp confrontation -- well, I'm wondering where the NFL commissioner is right now.

Urgency has been the signature of Roger Goodell's tenure as it comes to violence and personal conduct. A violation occurs, he's on it at once, and next thing you know, Sheriff Roger is announcing another suspension. It has been the most important stance taken by a sports commissioner here in the new millennium, but just the same, Goodell must be as quick to act on a coach as he is a player. In the case of Cable, who at the least has serious anger issues and appears to have an ugly history of battering women and bullying men, it's hard for me to believe he'll be allowed to coach another week in America's most visible, successful league. The NFL says it is investigating Cable and his past, but Goodell already has the proof required for at least an indefinite suspension:

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Sylvester Stallone has Hollywood all a twitter (the old school use of the word) right now over an action flick he is producing called The Expendables. Reason is, it stars a bunch of guys' guys including Jason Statham, Jet Li, Julia Roberts' brother Eric and Mickey Rourke, who back in the day I thought Bruce Willis was a cheap imitation of. The movie is about a team of mercenaries who go to some South American country to overthrow a dictator.

Silly me. I heard the title and thought it was about NFL players and wondered who was going to play Kansas City running back Larry Johnson (he was still employed by K.C. as I wrote this) or exiled NFL cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones.

After all, other than the food service workers chronicled by investigative writer Eric Schlosser in his best-selling 2002 tome Fast Food Nation, what laborers are more expendable than highly compensated NFL players?

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was on the Hill Wednesday talking to Congress about "Legal Issues Relating to Football Head Injuries." So, naturally, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) used the forum as an opportunity to grill Goodell about Rush Limbaugh's interest in becoming part owner of the St. Louis Rams.

Video after the jump, but here's all you need to know: After King warmly welcomed the commissioner he got right down to business.

LONDON – If you hated the thought of Toyota entering NASCAR or some Belgian company buying Anheuser-Busch, you won't like what Roger Goodell said Friday.

London is calling, and the NFL is listening.

It's thinking of putting a franchise here. Forget what you may have heard about warm beer and pickles on pizza, London would be a great spot for an NFL team.

A few candidates come immediately to mind. Buffalo, St. Louis, even Oakland unless Al Davis demands his old job back as the warden at the Tower of London.

But one franchise is at the top of the relocation list -- Jacksonville.

Embattled Oakland coach Tom Cable will not have to face NFL commissioner Roger Goodell this weekend while the 1-3 Raiders are preparing for Sunday's game against the undefeated New York Giants at Giants Stadium, an NFL league office source said.

The NFL office has been monitoring developments with the Napa Police Dept. and the Napa District Attorney's Office as the criminal investigation continues into whether Cable attacked and fractured the jaw of assistant coach Randy Hanson during a coaches-only training camp meeting Aug. 5 at the Marriott-Napa Valley.

DeMaurice Smith didn't get what he was hoping for Tuesday, but the head of the NFL players' union did walk away from his latest meeting with NFL owners with some good reasons to feel encouraged about the state of the negotiations.

Smith has said publicly that he's waiting for the owners to submit to the union a proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement, since it was the owners who opted out of the last one. That didn't happen Tuesday, as the only issues discussed in a five-hour meeting were "non-core" issues such as the drug policy and potential changes to the commissioner-controlled player discipline system.

But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was actually at this meeting (he wasn't at the last one, in July), and the fact that anything at all was discussed made it the most encouraging session of the three the sides have held so far. In addition, they did resolve to meet again soon -- most likely in mid-October -- and continue Tuesday's discussions.

Over the past several months, NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith has accused NFL owners of planning to lock out players in 2011 and has publicly criticized commissioner Roger Goodell for failing to attend the last round of collective bargaining negotiations. But on the day before the next negotiating session between players and owners -- the third such session overall and the first since mid-July -- Smith struck a less combative tone and expressed hope that Tuesday's meeting would help move the sides toward an agreement.

"I'm looking forward to hopefully hearing the first proposal from the league tomorrow," Smith said Monday afternoon in a conference call. "I would like nothing more than to have a deal before we move into an uncapped year."