Bruce Hammond
Footballguy
I've read stories about how much Roger Goodell is disliked by NFL players, dating back to the last CBA process and before, because of his 'law and order' and 'protect the shield' philosophies and perceived inconsistent application of punishment.
Since then we had the Saints' Bountygate scandal in which Goodell dished out some of the biggest penalties in league history to players and coaches, after which (quoting Wikipedia) "However on July 26, 2012, Vilma and seven witnesses from the Saints testified in front of a federal judge in New Orleans that Goodell got his facts wrong, and there was no bounty scheme. At least one legal expert agreed that Goodell had overstepped his authority. On December 11, 2012, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, appointed to hear the appeals, vacated all of the players' suspensions, saying that the coaches were primarily responsible for the scheme."
And now the Ray Rice mess, where Goodell has admitted Rice's two game joke of a suspension was a mistake and has taken steps to beef up punishments for players going forward but left Rice's two games intact until yesterday's video surfaced publicly. There are a lot of people calling for Goodell's head now, arguing that A) he had seen the video before then and is lying about having not seen it, B) if he hadn't seen it he should have found a way to do so since TMZ was able to get a copy (it's a bit unclear, but it appears Ray Rice had a copy and the prosecutor had a copy, or at least the hotel had made a copy available), and/or C) in any case, yesterday's indefinite suspension was reaction to public reaction and outrage, not proactive leadership based on what was already known before yesterday.
There are many who would argue that Goodell has presided over an unprecedented boom in the popularity of the NFL and deserves much of the credit, that his policies are a big part of that, and that owners would never oust him as long as the money keeps rolling in. Others would counter-argue that the Internet and fantasy football are instead largely responsible for this increased popularity in the 2000s and that Goodell just happened to be in the right place at the right time. They would argue further that Goodell's judge and jury mentality and inconsistent application of punishments have boxed him into a corner that he can no longer escape from; that he has lost credibility, as a result of the initial Rice punishment and the subsequent too-little-too-late reactive steps, with the customers of the NFL -- an ever growing segment of which are women; that a fair-sized percentage of players already hated him; that owners are paying attention to all of this; and that if it is proven the NFL has previously seen yesterday's video and is lying to save face, look out.
Thus, a poll. How long will Roger Goodell remain as Commissioner in the wake of the Ray Rice situation?
Since then we had the Saints' Bountygate scandal in which Goodell dished out some of the biggest penalties in league history to players and coaches, after which (quoting Wikipedia) "However on July 26, 2012, Vilma and seven witnesses from the Saints testified in front of a federal judge in New Orleans that Goodell got his facts wrong, and there was no bounty scheme. At least one legal expert agreed that Goodell had overstepped his authority. On December 11, 2012, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, appointed to hear the appeals, vacated all of the players' suspensions, saying that the coaches were primarily responsible for the scheme."
And now the Ray Rice mess, where Goodell has admitted Rice's two game joke of a suspension was a mistake and has taken steps to beef up punishments for players going forward but left Rice's two games intact until yesterday's video surfaced publicly. There are a lot of people calling for Goodell's head now, arguing that A) he had seen the video before then and is lying about having not seen it, B) if he hadn't seen it he should have found a way to do so since TMZ was able to get a copy (it's a bit unclear, but it appears Ray Rice had a copy and the prosecutor had a copy, or at least the hotel had made a copy available), and/or C) in any case, yesterday's indefinite suspension was reaction to public reaction and outrage, not proactive leadership based on what was already known before yesterday.
There are many who would argue that Goodell has presided over an unprecedented boom in the popularity of the NFL and deserves much of the credit, that his policies are a big part of that, and that owners would never oust him as long as the money keeps rolling in. Others would counter-argue that the Internet and fantasy football are instead largely responsible for this increased popularity in the 2000s and that Goodell just happened to be in the right place at the right time. They would argue further that Goodell's judge and jury mentality and inconsistent application of punishments have boxed him into a corner that he can no longer escape from; that he has lost credibility, as a result of the initial Rice punishment and the subsequent too-little-too-late reactive steps, with the customers of the NFL -- an ever growing segment of which are women; that a fair-sized percentage of players already hated him; that owners are paying attention to all of this; and that if it is proven the NFL has previously seen yesterday's video and is lying to save face, look out.
Thus, a poll. How long will Roger Goodell remain as Commissioner in the wake of the Ray Rice situation?
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