Speaking at a sports conference in London on the Friday before the Patriots met the Bucs in this year's version of the "NFL owners' excellent adventure," commissioner Roger Goodell said, "I expect that sometime in the next couple of years, we could be playing multiple games here. If we brought more than one game here, and it continues to have the same kind of enthusiasm and growth of interest, I think that is about as good of an indicator you can get that it could successfully support a franchise. And that's what we're looking at."

I like Goodell, and on balance, looking at his entire body of work over the last three seasons, I'd give him high marks. But this whole London thing troubles me to no end, because it shines a light on the one big problem I have with the NFL commissioner's office today.

Growing up in the '60s, I took great solace in the belief that Pete Rozelle's major responsibility was to use the broad powers of the commissioner's office to protect the sport we love and to put the best interests of the team owners, players and fans all on equal footing when making decisions to govern the game. Owners have always hired commissioners, but I've always hoped they'd do everything in their power to put the best interests of the game ahead of the owners' bank accounts.

It has often been written that Rozelle's and Paul Tagliabue's greatest talents were the ability to negotiate and martial the egos of the owners so as to always put the best interests of the whole ahead of the well-being of individuals. Under commissioner Goodell, it seems clear that he works for the 32 owners, and his main focus is to make their 32 football businesses as profitable as possible — period.

Last week we wrote in the editorial space of our print edition about our inability to understand why the commissioner and owners seem to think it is imperative to put a team back in Los Angeles after it failed to support its previous teams. The only possible benefit would be to drive more revenue for the 32 owners, while costing fans in a current NFL city their team.

The idea of asking eight or nine teams to travel to London every year is absurd, since obviously not all could be from the East Coast and not all could do it the week before their bye. But what about the eight or nine trips the London franchise would have to make to the U.S.? It's about as ridiculous and unfair to the players as anything I've ever heard.

Goodell has also said he'd prefer a London team to be a completely new franchise as opposed to moving an existing one, a nice way of not using the word "expansion." Many of us can't remember the last time the league had quite as many inept franchises as it does today, so now is a good time to expand?

And why is it London or other parts of England that Goodell has expressed fascination with? In the NFL's repeated failed efforts to operate American football leagues in Europe, Germany is the only country that repeatedly supported successful franchises. We actually now have a Hungarian-language version of Pro Football Weekly, and as many readers in France, Spain and other parts of Europe as Great Britain. So, why England?

Finally for now, and most intriguingly, how long will the courts allow the NFL's college draft and its restrictions on free agency to stand if it randomly dictates that the only opportunity to work for one out of every 33 or 34 players with less than 4-6 years of experience is to go live overseas? I haven't had the pleasure of meeting DeMaurice Smith yet, but that's a freebie for you, pal — you won't let them get away with that, will you? Especially since it serves absolutely no purpose other than to further line the pockets of the current 32 NFL team owners at the expense of both the players and existing fan base. At some point, enough is enough.

PFW has launched its brand-new NFL Draft Newsletter series, with the first issue now ready for mailing. Produced by PFW's player personnel department under the direction of Nolan Nawrocki, the series consists of four information-packed issues. For more info or to subscribe — click here for PDF e-pub or here for print format.