Bronco busted

Way to go, Roger Goodell, you've once again flexed your muscle.

On Thanksgiving night, the Denver Broncos were in a tight game with the New York Giants in a contest shown exclusively on the NFL Network. Denver coach Josh McDaniels had seen enough from his penalty-plagued offense and verbally laid into his players, twice using curse words not suitable for print nor television.

There was a delay on the feed, but the geniuses in the booth didn't catch it in time, and they went over the air. NFL Network immediately apologized, but McDaniels was hardly fazed by it, saying "It's the NFL Network. Doesn't surprise me."

Well, the rookie coach learned a tough lesson: Don't cross the NFL and its dictator. McDaniels opened his press conference Tuesday with an apology.

"I want to make sure I apologize for anybody that was offended with the language that I used the other night on the sideline during the game," he said.

Look, I've been on the sideline for hundreds of high school and college football games, and swearing (or dropping F-bombs, as the kids say) is just as much a part of the job as scheming.

Goodell seems to be going out of his way to make today's NFL a fan-friendly league, but how far is this going to go? Clearly, McDaniels didn't wake up on Tuesday and have some kind of epiphany; he was told to apologize. And if I were him, I'd be a little ticked off. Do you want me to win games, or do you want me to watch my mouth? Things said in the heat of the moment are said out of emotion ... we've all been there.

Turning the NFL into the "No (expletive) League" is just more proof that Roger Goodell is running a one-man show.