Anthony Gonzalez in the 16th Congressional District

 

Posted Sep 25, 2020

In a July 2019 file photo, U.S. Reps. Anthony Gonzalez, a Rocky River Republican, left, and Colin Allred, a Texas Democrat, discuss Allred's then-upcoming trip to Gonzalez' Ohio congressional district.

By Editorial Board, cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer

U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, the freshman Rocky River Republican representing Ohio’s 16th Congressional District, has been in Congress fewer than two years but is already making his mark as someone eager to reach across the aisle to achieve compromise.

Gonzalez, 36, a former star football player at Cleveland’s St. Ignatius High School who played in the NFL for five years before knee injuries cut short his football career, is looking for bipartisan solutions not just on small matters, like allowing battlefield crosses in U.S. military cemeteries. A member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, Gonzalez is also seeking potentially breakthrough solutions to consequential disputes, such as the gridlocked coronavirus stimulus aid package.

And he told our editorial board during the endorsement interview this week that he’s also working on legislation to improve on health care delivery and costs, including drug costs -- to go beyond, not to discard, the Affordable Care Act.

Gonzalez is, in fact, one of those rare Republicans who says he opposes abrogation of the ACA -- as is being sought single-mindedly by the Trump administration in a case the Supreme Court has agreed to hear. Rather, he said, his legislation will propose a series of innovative ways to address issues such as health care cost transparency and prescription drug costs that the ACA failed to solve.

Gonzalez is being challenged for reelection by Westlake Democrat Aaron Paul Godfrey, 34, a physicist who has worked in the aerospace and defense industries, who has a compelling life story of his own. He grew up in a lower-income family in Lorain County, where his father could not afford the regular insulin treatments needed for his diabetes until he reached an age that qualified him for Medicare. By then, according to Godfrey, it was too late to restore his father’s health fully, and his father died of complications relating to the disease, a decline that also meant Godfrey had to leave his Ph.D. program at the University of Toledo to help care for his father and provide for the family.

Godfrey is earnest and well-versed on technical issues in energy policy, where despite his strong support for the Icebreaker wind energy project on Lake Erie, he also sees a role for nuclear power to keep the lights on for now. However, he needs more political seasoning and to moderate partisanship that causes him to stake out narrow and unachievable positions.

Anthony Gonzalez is a refreshing example in a U.S. House that seems to have become untethered from the people. He’s a congressional representative who wants to be a doer, not a speech-maker or grandstander, and who is working in a focused manner to achieve solutions that work for more Americans.

He deserves reelection in the kangaroo-shaped 16th Congressional District, which picks up parts of Cuyahoga, Medina, Summit, Portage and Stark counties and all of Wayne County.

In the Nov. 3 election, voters in the 16th Congressional District in Ohio should return Anthony Gonzalez to Congress for a second term. Early voting starts Oct. 6.

The two candidates for Ohio’s 16th Congressional District -- incumbent U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a Rocky River Republican, and physicist Aaron Paul Godfrey, a Westlake Democrat -- were interviewed by the editorial board of The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com on Sept. 23, 2020, as part of the editorial board’s endorsement process. Listen to audio of this interview below.

About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.

Two members of U.S. House introduce bill regarding NCAA athletes' name, image and likeness

 

Steve Berkowitz

USA TODAY

Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives are introducing a bipartisan bill on Thursday to address the ongoing fight over college athletes’ ability to make money from their name, image and likeness.

The measure from Reps. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., would enhance athletes’ opportunities in ways that would make some NCAA schools unhappy while stabilizing the name-image-and-likeness (NIL) issue for college sports officials in ways that may not please athlete advocates.

“There are things that everybody's going to see that they like and some things that they wish were different,” Gonzalez, who played wide receiver at Ohio State and in the NFL, told USA TODAY Sports. “But I think that's the sign of a good bill. And, frankly, that's the hallmark of a bipartisan bill. It's never everything that any one individual, or one group, wants. It's always a collaboration.”

According to a copy of the bill provided to USA TODAY Sports, its “rules of construction” – or guidance related to the legislators’ intent – state that none of the bill’s provisions can provide the basis for an antitrust lawsuit. They also state that athletes who make endorsement deals will not be considered school employees.

Lions - Packers Unsung Hero of the Week: T.J. Hockenson holds it down

 

The sophomore tight end is becoming one of Matthew Stafford’s favorite targets.

By Hamza Baccouche@HamzaPOD  Sep 23, 2020, 8:30am EDT 

14 Comments

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

 

The Lions are a mess, and the offense isn’t living up to the potential we all envisioned. The passing game has failed to pick up where it left off when Matthew Stafford was at the helm last season, in no small part due to Stafford simply not looking like himself.

On that note, Kenny Golladay has yet to play, and the Lions will need him around on Sunday to have a fighting chance against the fast-paced Arizona Cardinals. One thing has been consistent through two weeks, however.

Unsung hero of the week: TE T.J. Hockenson

Honorable mention: Frank Ragnow, but he won this last week. He has been the only other consistent thing through two weeks.

Back to Hockenson. He’s blossoming just like we all hoped. After the failed conducting of the Eric Ebron hype train, there was a lot of negativity and fear surrounding the selection of T.J. Hockenson in 2019. While I still think it was a reach, Hockenson is at the pace that a superstar tight end should be at entering their sophomore year.

Hockenson has accumulated nine catches for 118 yards and a touchdown through two weeks, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. When you see it on film, you truly appreciate how hard those stats were to come by. Hockenson has made snatches in traffic, earned yards with his new and improved muscular frame, and he’s been a security blanket for his quarterback, as a good tight end should be.

Hockenson has bullied defensive backs through two weeks and is learning to utilize his size in the way that the best tight ends do—something we shouldn’t take for granted since Hockenson had a nasty injury that ended his 2019 season after trying to hurdle a defender.

Hockenson is holding his own, and he’s continuing to grow week by week. Keep an eye on him for Bold Prediction of the Week, as he’s matching up against an Arizona Cardinals defense that he torched to the tune of 131 yards in his debut game as a rookie. If Hockenson keeps this up, he’ll be in the conversation for the “really good” tier of tight ends in no time.