This isn’t the image that the NFL wants the public to see during the second week of its 2014 season. According to a report from Bloomberg, the women’s advocacy organization UtraViolet plans on flying “fire Goodell banners” above NFL stadiums on Sunday.
Ultraviolet said it will fly planes over three NFL stadiums prior to Week 2 games on Sept. 14 with banners that read @UltraViolet: #GoodellMustGo. The planes are scheduled to fly for two hours above each facility prior to the no-fly security restrictions that begin one hour before game time.
This might not have the impact that the group thinks it will. But in the current social media age, you can bet that there will will be a ton of images of these banners flying over stadiums around the football world. None more so than Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where the San Francisco 49ers are slated to open up their new digs. That’s a Sunday Night Football Game on NBC and the no-fly zone takes place immediately after the late games are slated to end.
In addition to the 49ers game, Ultraviolet is planning a widespread push to fire Goodell at other NFL locations.
One plane will fly over MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, before the New York Giants’ game against the Arizona Cardinals. Banners will also be displayed above stadiums in Cleveland and San Francisco, along with one ahead of the Monday night NFL game in Indianapolis.
As Bloomberg indicates, UltraViolet is the very same organization that called for Goodell to resign earlier in the week.
If the commissioner thinks this is going to be swept under the rug, he’s sorely mistaken.
Photo: USA Today