Sal Paolantonio Wants Roger Goodell to Investigate the Philadelphia Eagles
By Kyle Koster
NFL teams have been trying, well, not quite their hardest to win football games for a long time. Something about the way Philadelphia Eagles went about that process last night, though, feels different and has ignited some strong opinions. Sal Paolantonio came into today's Dan Patrick Show with an 80-proof one.
He's calling for a Roger Goodell investigation into Nate Sudfeld-Gate.
Sal Paolantonio is calling on Roger Goodell and the #NFL to open an investigation on the #Eagles decision to pull Jalen Hurts in the 4th quarter of last night's game.
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 4, 2021
For Sal Pal's full appearance: https://t.co/lEwQrjIs7E pic.twitter.com/ttdMYGkH1X
Patrick makes an important point. If this type of silliness had gone on in Game 251 or Game 198 instead of Game 256, it is not the biggest sports story of the day. It's been a bit surprising to see people apparently grapple with what tanking actually looks like seemingly for the first time, yet Paolotonio does yeoman's work explaining why this unprecedented year provides a unique backdrop — one conducive to revisiting conventional mores.
Still, I wouldn't hold my breath on the creation of any commission. Tanking is regrettable and untoward but certainly incentivized. And the insertion of Sudfeld didn't exactly come out of nowhere.
Literally the first thing a forensic investigator would do here is read some pregame stories. The ones that said Sudfeld could play in the second half if Jalen Hurts struggled. Jalen Hurts struggled, completing only seven of his 20 passes, and was replaced by the guy Pederson suggested he could be replaced by.
Did I just do the investigation for the NFL? Am I the next Robert Mueller? Will the pressure of becoming the next special counsel investigating a democracy-defining scandal be too much for me in the end?
The answer to all those questions is probably yes.