Roger Goodell is arguably the worst commissioner in sports due to his lack of attention towards the numerous issues that endanger the NFL.
by Shimbo
As of the posting of this article, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is without a job. Bowing to public pressure in the wake of the release of additional footage of Rice knocking out his then-fiancee (now wife) Janay Palmer, the Ravens had no choice but to terminate his contract, going beyond the NFL-imposed two-game suspension which was scheduled to end one week from today.
Is this a case of the court of public opinion exacting their pound of flesh, or is there a significant lack of institutional control in the NFL? If it is the latter and not the former, then there is only one course of action in the wake of Rice’s firing: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must resign his post immediately.
Right now, the NFL, for all the money and prestige, is a league in crisis. While it may not seem that way on the surface, there are a number of issues that are eating at the league from the inside out, and at the most critical moments, the individual picked to lead the league is staying silent.
But it didn’t used to be that way.
When Goodell assumed control of the league in 2006 from Paul Tagliabue, he went about a self-styled crusade of “protecting the shield”, with a Personal Conduct Policy that signified that he was truly the “new sheriff in town”. His first examples included Tennessee Titans cornerback Pacman Jones and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, both serving as the first players suspended under the new policy. After that, Chicago Bears defensive lineman Tank Johnson was his next example, getting suspended due to conduct involving guns and drunk driving.
Goodell would go on to suspend Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson for five games, fining him $100,000, and suspended New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison four games for the use of PEDs. Wilson was told the league dropped the hammer harder on him because they held “people in authority in higher regard than people on the field.”
Goodell’s law and order style of presiding over the league also included punishing the New England Patriots for cheating in the episode known as Spygate. He would also crack down on an alleged bounty program instituted by the New Orleans Saints known as Bountygate, which saw players, coaches and executives suspended from the league for a year (or more, in the case of Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams, who, as ringleader, was suspended indefinitely).
However, starting with the 2011 NFL lockout and the 2012 lockout of referees, the iron fist of Goodell began to show signs of rust. In the desire to protect the shield, Goodell and his henchmen began making decisions that caused more confusion than clarity.
Then came CTE.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive degenerative disease, which not only has no cure or treatment, the only way it can be definitively diagnosed is during an autopsy where the brain is cut open. CTE is common in those with a history of multiple concussions and/or other forms of head injury. According to a report from the National Institutes of Health:
Between 2008 and 2010, the bodies of twelve former professional American football players underwent postmortem evaluations for CTE, and all of them showed evidence of the disease, indicating a conservatively estimated prevalence rate of 3.7% among professional football players if no other players who died during this period had CTE.
Symptoms of CTE include impaired judgment, impulse control problems, and aggression, among other issues. Enter Ray Rice.
When Rice and Palmer were arrested that fateful night on February 15th, the NFL and Goodell waited and watched. Four days later, gossip blog TMZ released the initial video of Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of an elevator, causing a furor. By July, Goodell handed down the initial two-game suspension. The furor only got larger. When asked to explain his decision, Goodell avoided interviews, instead sending out NFL V.P. Adolpho Birch to give a half-hearted defense of the action, saying:
“It is multiple games and hundreds of thousands of dollars. I think it’s fair to say that doesn’t reflect that you condone the behavior,” Birch said.
To make up for their errors and blunders, Goodell introduced a revamped domestic violence policy that would bring with it an automatic suspension of six games on the first offense and a lifetime ban on the second. Although it was looked at as a step in the right direction initially, it was also considered by some to be reactionary at best.
The video that leaked out this morning only served to enrage the public further, but it was no different than the original result. That the NFL botched the original investigation, while covering their collective asses this morning by saying they had no access to the “new” video, there seems to be something disingenuous about the whole situation.
NFL: Ray Rice video was not made available to them,despite requests to law enforcement. Nothing on whether NFL had account of what happened
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) September 8, 2014
Ravens officials had not seen this Rice video prior to today but he had described actions in detail. Didn’t “sugarcoat” it source said…
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) September 8, 2014
In the NFL commerical/movie Draft Day, a scene depicted a member of the Cleveland Browns’ “security” staff giving the general manager, played by Kevin Costner, a dossier on prospective draft picks and their backgrounds. The information was so specific that they were even able to get information on who showed up at a potential pick’s 21st birthday party.
As real NFL spends millions on retaining the services of ex-FBI and other security professionals to find out all the dirt they need to find out on players, it’s difficult to expect that somehow a video that ends up in the hands of a gossip blog missed the hands of the NFL.
Moreover, with the prevalence of cases of CTE affecting retired players, it’s even harder not to think that there are active players who could be suffering from the same effects, making players more prone to violence, and without the level of control that someone without a traumatic brain injury would have. This falls under the purview of the one chosen to lead the league.
Is this an exoneration of Ray Rice as an abuser? No, but we must ask the question: If the NFL knows that there are players who are essentially walking wounded with traumatic brain injuries whose symptoms include a lack of impulse control and increased aggression, should there not be something done about it? If you had knowledge that this is happening more than it’s not, as a business, should you do something to protect others who might fall victim to the product you produce off the field? Are the instances of drug abuse related to the symptoms of the disease?
With this much disarray, one must ask whether or not Goodell still has a firm grip on the League, and if he doesn’t, if situations, from CTE to domestic violence can run rampant, what is his efficacy as commissioner? That’s why Roger Goodell, for the good of the NFL, needs to step down willingly, and hopefully new leadership can begin to address the very real issues that place this league in immeasurable peril.
Many of these things are larger issues, but if left unaddressed or avoided altogether, there will be more men like Ray Rice whose inability to temper his anger inevitably leads to violence up to and including death. The current flippant treatment of these issues with reactionary patches by a league headed by Goodell means he should no longer be commissioner effective immediately.
Will that happen? Of course not. At the end of the day, the NFL is big business, and big business must go on, no matter what or who gets ground up in the gears. Most of us love football on Sunday, and as long as someone else foots the terminal bill long term, we’ll all show up to get our heaping helping of whatever, and whoever the Shield serves up.
Hashim R. Hathaway (Uncle Shimbo) is the host of the Never Daunted Radio Network, and proud father to NeverDaunted.Net. You can reach him on Twitter @NeverDauntedNet