The People vs. Roger Goodell

In my previous post I ended by opining that Roger Goodell should be fired. Let me make the case more clearly.

I am not saying Goodell should be fired for his initial handling of the Ray Rice suspension. A great many people found two games to be too small; I find the debate over how many games Rice should have been suspended similar to that over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Two’s not enough? How about four? Eight? Sixteen? What is the price for beating up a woman? The question is absurd, and I can absolve Roger Goodell for making what turned out to be an unpopular decision. He knew the penalty for clipping is fifteen yards, but the penalty for domestic abuse is a bit more amorphous.

Roger Goodell has lost all credibility, and he won’t get it back. Remember during the “bountygate” incident, when much of Goodell’s case against the New Orleans Saints was based on, “I’m the Commissioner; trust me”? He can’t do that again. Every attempt by the Commissioner’s office to be less than 100% transparent, to try and sweep some embarrassment to the NFL under the rug will now be pounced upon by a pack of reporters looking for another “second video tape” gotcha moment.

Roger Goodell is a small boy standing before his parents, being asked what he did wrong and having no idea.  He is desperately searching for the right thing to say, because he has no idea what is right.  "Mommy, I think Ray Rice should be suspended for two games.”  Mommy glares.  “I mean six games!” More glares.  “I mean, he should be suspended forever and ever!”  If Roger Goodell had a moral center, he would have made a decision and then stuck with it.  Instead, he changes his mind, desperately seeking approval.

Here’s the thing about spin; it only works if you can’t tell its spin. Every statement coming out of the Commissioner’s office now is carefully worded, overtly trying to sound definitive while allowing for wiggle room. It doesn’t help his credibility that he keeps saying things like “we got it wrong.” If I was an owner I’d ask, “What do you mean we, Kemo Sabe?”  That wasn’t a racially offensive joke, right?

Goodell insists he had all the facts before him when he made his decision to suspend Rice for two games. But now he says he had no idea what happened inside the elevator. So, why did he make a decision to suspend Rice for two games without finding that tiny detail out? What did Rice say? What did his finacee say? Did he interview them separately and compare their stories? Did he release Rice’s statement, or make Rice repeat it for reporters to establish a record?  All Rice was required to say for reporters was that he “didn’t want to talk about the past.” How’d that line work out for Mark McGuire?

Goodell says he didn’t know about the second tape. Has he ever BEEN to a casino? There are cameras in the men’s room; of course there was one inside the elevator. If the tape was impossible to get, how did TMZ acquire it? Even if he couldn’t get the tape, what did he think was on it? Rice’s fiancée slipping on a banana peel like in a Keystone Kops movie? He had footage of Rice carrying her limp body out of the elevator and tossing her on the floor like a pile of dirty laundry; he had to know something bad happened, and at that point he should have assumed the worst and allowed Rice the chance to produce the tape to exonerate himself.

Goodell initially suspended Rice for two games for domestic abuse. He then announced a new policy of six game suspensions for first offenders. After the second tape came out, he then suspended Rice for life for a first offense.  Does this sound like the sober, deliberate decision-making of a man paid $44 million a year?

Goodell has either lied or misrepresented himself.  He either knew about the second tape, or he should have known about it.  He either knew what happened in the elevator, or he should have known. He either made the initial decision about Rice without having all the evidence, or he had the evidence and thought a two game suspension was adequate even though he later said a lifetime ban was appropriate.

Do I think Roger Goodell will be fired? Let me ask a question: how many owners are women? Roger Goodell is the NFL Sherriff, but only when it comes to players.  Players like Josh Gordon are suspended an entire year for a drug test so slight that it would have passed if the samples had been tested in the opposite order. Owners like Jim Irsay commit a DUI, yet he is “punished” by being told he has to watch six football games in their mansion instead of the stadium (okay, the billionaire was fined $500,000 too; is that tax deductible in Indiana?). No draft picks lost, no suspension during draft day. Irsay will have Goodell's back, no matter what.

Much to my surprise, 64% of people responding to an ESPN poll agree that Goodell should be fired. Lest you accuse them of liberal bias, ESPN polls also show that an even larger percentage think the Washington team name is okay.

If it happens, I’ll be shocked. But someone making $44 million should be held to a higher standard than Roger Goodell has displayed in handling the Ray Rice case. He has significantly damaged the league’s credibility, and that will interfere with his ability to execute his duties in the future. Reporters will question his every decision, the player’s union will challenge his assertions in negotiations, his ability to enforce the code will be undermined.

Goodell is the face of the NFL. He should have made the right decision and then stuck with it, not made a rash decision and then vacillated trying to appease public opinion. His remaining Commissioner of the NFL is hurting the shield that he has sacrificed his soul to protect.