OT- Roger Goodell
Many at ESPN are calling for Goodell to resign over the Ray Rice situation. Unless he lied about not seeing the video footage, I really do not get what he has done that would justiffy him losing his job. I know people have strong opinions on this, am I off base in thinking this is quickly getting out of hand? (Keep in mind, I agree that Rice should have been let go by the Ravens and he should have initially been suspended for at least a year).
September 11th, 2014 at 12:54 AM ^
is probably pretty thankful people are talking about Roger Goodell more than him now.
Executives lie and protect their own, its what they do.
September 11th, 2014 at 6:31 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 9:17 AM ^
Executives, police, government officials, lying to cover your ass seems like the new American way.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:02 AM ^
I don't like Goodell, but this is just a case of the media and politicians making sure they get their money's worth.
To me this seems pretty simple. Rice and his wife both said she attacked him first and he was defending himself. Goodell stupidly believed them and gave him a weak suspension. Not really much more to the story than that. I'm not buying any conspiracy since Rice was clearly on the downswing and not really ever a big draw anyway. Why protect him?
But we can now look forward to endless discussions on whether Goodell really did or did not see the video.
I'm guessing he resigns by Friday.
September 11th, 2014 at 2:14 AM ^
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September 11th, 2014 at 1:05 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 8:06 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^
He signed a contract stating that he could be forced to sell his business. He didn't have to sell the Clippers. He could have kept them -- he just couldn't be a liscened NBA franchise. You really have zero clue what you're talking about.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
so its the racists and domestic abusers who are being discriminated against?
September 11th, 2014 at 1:18 AM ^
In the interest of full disclosure, I am Roger Goodell.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:20 AM ^
From the dopey, borderline-sleepy look to the misguided adventures in trying to protect the league/program, Goodell reminds me a lot of Brandon.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:24 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 1:24 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 1:34 AM ^
Personally, I think James Harrison wins the internet with
ain't no fun when the rabbit got the gun huh?
But best gotcha probably comes from Doug Baldwin's tweet reminding the commish that he suspended Sean Payton for a year without any evidence Payton knew about the "bounty scandal." At the time, "ignorance is no excuse" was the party line from the Commish's office.
Also, voicemail from AP's law enforcement source at least places the video inside NFL offices, if not with Goodell. His days are numbered, and rightfully so IMHO.
September 11th, 2014 at 3:05 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 7:14 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 9:12 AM ^
"Harrison was arrested in March 2008 and was charged with simple assault and criminal mischief stemming from a domestic altercation with his girlfriend, Beth Tibbott."
September 11th, 2014 at 1:49 AM ^
I never liked Goodell. He is arrogant, pompous, unfair and uneven in his dealings with disciplining players and he is a hypocrite. I do believe that he saw and knew about this tape all along. My question is, why the cover up then? Was this about protecting the leagues image? Certainly it couldnt be about protecting Ray Rice. Javon Belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself outside the Chiefs stadium. Its well known that domestic violence is a problem not only in the league, but outside it as well. I just dont get the reason why they covered this up.
Goodell is very unpopular. Players hate him, some media hate him. He is way overpaid. The guy has a target on his back and this seems to be an excuse to try to take him down. I wouldnt mind seeing that, its just that this seems to be a weak case to get it done. He will hide behind plausable deniability and move on keeping his job.
September 11th, 2014 at 3:47 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 7:12 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
is that he had a total tin ear to the issue of domestic violence from the start. It's not uncommon for some people to think that domestic violence is a private matter that should be handled either by police if severe enough, otherwise not at all. Goodell probably sees drug use (wrongly) as a black, poor, urban problem, so he has no problem bringing the hammer down on such "uncivilized" behavior. But men hitting women? He knows that happens in whatever country club estate he grew up in. Rich white guys do it. Senators do it. If they do it, it's not that big a deal, and it's a private family matter. He probably saw the video and thought "yup, it happens. Season's starting soon and I can't be bothered with this. Two games."
The proof of the tin ear was his evident shock at the outrage over the 2-game suspension. He had his spokespeople doing the rounds on talk shows saying how the 2-game showed how serious the NFL is about the issue, evidently clueless to the extreme that it showed the exact opposite.
September 11th, 2014 at 2:33 AM ^
In practical terms, he works for the owners and is their public face for managing the entertainment business they're in. He'll get fired/asked to resign when one of the usual things happens:
- he is no longer a positive public face for the NFL
- he chokes off the flow of money into owners' pockets
It is, at this point, hard to say if either of those conditions has met. The public narrative, before the tape came out, was that Goodell was tone-deaf to the importance of coming down hard on domestic violence, particularly when he was coming down even harder on other issues people thought were less serious. In the end, if his judgement doesn't seriously clash with ownership's on the issue, that's likely not a big deal to them.
Now, though, Goodell has denied seeing that tape, but both law enforcement and media sources claim proof that the NFL has had it for months. This changes the narrative considerably:
- He either saw the tape and didn't understand how damning it would appear, or didn't see it before making a ill-informed decision. Either way that's incompetence at managing the PR side of his business.
- Goodell figured the tape wouldn't get out in time to make a difference. That's naive to the point of idiocy in this day and age.
If the various groups don't drop this issue, that's the picture that's going to stick with the comissioner of the NFL - a clueless idiot at best, or an accessory to whitewashing violence against women. Both of those are potential career enders.
And heaven forbid someone is trying to run for something and decides they can score points by stirring the pot against an easy target. If you're NFL ownership, do you really think Goodell will do well hauled into court in a civil suit, or worse, before Congress?
I think Goodell should be canned, but I don't know whether he will be, because I can't measure how important ownership thinks this issue is, and how much they feel like it will affect their bottom lines.
September 11th, 2014 at 3:13 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 4:48 AM ^
The tape and whether they saw it or not is irrelevant. Anyone with two brain cells could determine roughly what happened in that elevator from the first tape. And Goodell determined that it was worth exactly half as much as a first offense for smoking pot. In his tenure 56 players have been charged with domestic violence, resulting in 13 total games suspended. That's embarrassing.
September 11th, 2014 at 5:29 AM ^
1) deliberate deception or 2) pretty extreme institutional incompetance, it's not a good day.
September 11th, 2014 at 5:41 AM ^
Either they didn't get the tape and he is negligent because this is a huge deal for big star or he lied about not getting the tape to cover his ass over the weak 2 game suspension. Add to that the fact that he didn't even do the yearlong suspension until after the Ravens cut Rice - which is a pretty chickenshit method. And add to it things like Pryor getting suspended 5 games for improper benefits that didn't even occur while he was in the league. It begins to call into effect both his character and his lack of competence as a leader.
September 11th, 2014 at 6:44 AM ^
The deeper issue, of course, is the severe credibility problem of the NFL and Roger Goodell. If indeed they had access to the tape a few months ago and simply could not be bothered (for whatever reason, intentional or not) to watch it before rendering a judgment in Rice's case, then in my opinion, that is organizational incompetence of an unforgivable nature.
One of the functions of the NFL is to set guidelines for appropriate conduct and to take appropriate action when those are violated, but they also must investigate in each case, and it seems - per the AP article - that they had more than sufficient evidence that a player physically assaulted someone and either forgot about it somehow or chose to ignore it. Neither is acceptable, and the backpedaling done after protest by Goodell isn't acceptable either.
If these sorts of things can happen when Goodell is in charge (and not just with regards to Rice, but everyone who has merely had their wrist slapped for domestic violence charges), then I think we have to question why he is in charge.
September 11th, 2014 at 7:11 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 9:06 AM ^
Same thing here. What Rice did was awful, but an apparent coverup (or at minimum a terribly rendered judgement in terms of suspension) looks worse. Makes it look like the NFL has institutionalized domestic violence as a slap on the wrist. That's far worse. The NFL has lost credibility here.
And forgive me if it's hard to believe Godell didn't know about the video. He has a team of top notch lawyers. He has power...he can get his hands on something if he really wants to. Add to that the AP report...it looks really bad. At the very least, the NFL has a PR problem which it would not had they suspended Rice at least half the season. That's almost reason enough on its own to call for Goodell's resignation.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^
There is proof that Tressel was lying. Where is the proof against Godell? Also, Tressel had a lot to gain from lying, what did Godell have to gain from it?
If Godell did see the video, I can't see why he suspended Ray Rice for only two games, but I don't think he should be fired for it.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
100% agree. How about this possibility: Goodell was actually being compassionate here. He was convinced by Rice AND his wife that this was a one-time huge mistake. Rice was contrite and he and his wife immediately got professional help with their relationship. Plus, Rice had never been in trouble before and was not a repeat offender. Perhaps Goodell thought that these mitigating factors justified a two game suspension? I don't know, however, maybe he thouight he was doing the right thing.
September 12th, 2014 at 6:48 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 6:58 AM ^
Just gonna put this here: http://www.si.com/boxing/2014/09/10/floyd-mayweather-domestic-violence-…
"Double standard: We condemn Ray Rice; but what about Mayweather?"
September 11th, 2014 at 7:02 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
What about me posting an article about Mayweather being a terrible person makes you think I follow him?
September 11th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
Is there video of the domestic violence? I ask because it makes a huge difference for public opinion.
September 11th, 2014 at 7:00 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
"He has done basically nothing to dissuade players from beating up women." Are you saying that in jest? If you keep thinking that the responsiblity to ensure domestic bliss, is on Goodell (or anyone, but the individual), you'll continue to be let down. I'm shocked you think it's on Goodell to "DISSUADE" them, from beating up their wives. As if it's innate, or human nature, to abuse, and Goddell has to try and teach them otherwise? Maybe you are right about that...maybe it's so far beyond repair, that we should just accept the fact he employs criminals, and just take it for what it's worth...good football. But I tend to think otherwise. Like i said ealier, this has nothing to do with Goodell, and everything to do with the criminals he employs, and subsequently, how we punish them. If that's Goodell's fault, then may I suggest a warm home in the Alaskan wilderness with a population density of one human, per 90 square miles. There tends to be less crime there.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
I may not agree with your statement, but I do agree with your Two Hearted picture. Man alive. Tasty.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:46 AM ^
It's not the same crime. Goodell's crime (probably) is that he seems to have completely underestimated the public's distaste for brutal domestic violence and gave Rice a complete slap on the wrist after, at best, the most cursory of investigations that featured Goodell interviewing the victim in the presence of her attacker. In the face of public scrutiny, the league officials, including Goodell, have offered up versions of what happened that are all over the place. Goodell's official position was that the league officials never received, let alone saw, the tape, which has been proven to be false. So there appears to be either i) a massive case of institutional incompence, or ii) a massive institutional cover-up. Either way, Goodell is in charge.
A couple of years ago, Goodell threw the book at Sean Payton over Bountygate, saying publicly that "ignorance is no excuse." Here, he's using ignorance as an excuse. Goodell needs to go.
P.S. Whether Goodell is the commissioner or not, the NFL will go on and this challenge to his leadership has no bearing on whether you continue to "f@cking love football."
P.S.S. I'll leave this right here:
During Goodell’s tenure, there have been 56 domestic violence cases. The sum punishment? Suspensions from 13 games. http://t.co/wPR5GCfib0
— The New Republic (@tnr) September 10, 2014
September 11th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
The media would do much more for women like Janay if they brought the societal factors that lead to this kind of behavior to light instead of playing the blame game with executive.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
Poor rich guy :(
September 11th, 2014 at 7:02 AM ^
Ever since the Watergate hearings, those are the questions that get asked when the person at the top is facing a possible scandal.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:44 AM ^
I am not surprised but disappointed that the video makes such a big difference to people. In my mind it's not a game changer, unless the issue is spitting. Ray Rice hit a woman, much smaller than him, hard enough to render her unconscious. We've known that fact for months. What the hell did people think a knockout punch looked like?
The real problem to me is that when people think of "domestic violence" they don't really appreciate how awful a crime it is. But someone at Goodell's level ought to have known what he was dealing with whether he had the video or not. A two-game suspension is no more ridiculous now than it was when it was handed down.
I get that the video is a PR nightmare for the NFL. But a principled organization does not let PR be its primary driver, since that leads to bad short-term decisions. To me, that's the real problem with Goodell - he's driven by principal rather than principle.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:31 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 9:14 AM ^
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September 11th, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^
In Goodell's own words after the Saints situation, "Ignorance is not an excuse"