The Crystal Ball Crime and Punishment

When Roger Goodell assumed the post of NFL commissioner, one of his key points when taking the station was to put a stop to players running amok. In the few years previous to Goodell’s ascension, the league had received a few black eyes due to players misbehaving badly in public and breaking a variety of laws, from minor infractions to major crimes, and Goodell wanted to put some of the shine back on the NFL. The commissioner attacked this particular problem with vigor and confidence, obviously with the intent to make this part of his legacy as a steward of the NFL, much as Paul Tagliabue made labor peace a part of his legacy.

I for one have no problem with Goodell’s plan nor his push for straighter arrow, more role model friendly NFL. Personally, I miss the gregarious, humble sports stars of the past and wish today’s stars were a bit more thankful to the fans and the game and a tad less selfish and ego driven.

But what I do have a problem with is how Goodell has become rather inconsistent and random in his punishment as of late, and how this haphazard method of doling out penalties is doing more damage with the players and the fans, and further eroding his position of power in getting anything of significance done with a new labor deal.

The tipping point for me came with the suspension of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Goodell last week made it official that Big Douche will serve a 4 game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league and violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Before I go any further let me just say I have no issue with this suspension. When Roethlisberger has two women within one year of each other accusing him of sexual assault, yeah there could be enough smoke to constitute fire. Sexual assault is no joke and I would never attempt to make light of it nor try to minimize the gravity of such an accusation. And while Roethlisberger has not been arrested or booked with criminal charges in either case, at minimum he’s guilty of poor judgment. He’s the face of a franchise and one of the biggest stars of the league, and to put himself in a position, twice, to be accused of some sort of wrongdoing then yes he needs some sort of suspension in order to shake him awake before he throws away a golden career and possibly his freedom.

However, this particular case only highlights the travesty that is the current state of NFL punishment. Goodell punished Roethlisberger by stating that despite no charges filed in either case; he violated the league’s personal conduct policy, which gives the commissioner broad based powers to punish players or any other NFL-associated personnel for any indiscretion that tarnishes the league in any way.

But Goodell has been faced with a few other major indiscretions that he has either slapped on the proverbial wrist or just outright ignored. Let’s recap some of the most egregious I’ve tracked that equate along the same lines of Roethlisberger’s ego going out of control.

Titans quarterback Vince Young, who has had his share of off the field troubles, was arrested for assaulting a person in strip club who mocked Young’s college alma mater. He was not suspended and will begin the season as the Titans starting quarterback.

Eagles backup quarterback Michael Vick threw himself a 30th birthday party, during which Quanis Phillips, a co-defendant in Vick's dog fighting case, was shot. While video evidence showed Vick was not present when the shooting occurred, one of the stipulations of Vick’s reinstatement was that he not associate with anyone involved in his dog fighting ring. Vick was not suspended.

As a side note, when Vick first applied for reinstatement to the league, Goodell gave him a conditional six game suspension. When he felt Vick had gone above and beyond in showing he’d reformed, after spending 18 months in a federal prison, Goodell reduced his suspension to two games. Recently, Goodell stated he thought Roethlisberger had gone above and beyond in his attempts to reform his own life.

Raiders head coach Tom Cable assaulted one of his assistant coaches, the attack resulting in the assistant suffering a broken jaw and being dismissed from the team. As the story broke, an ex wife and former girlfriend of Cable’s both came forth with accusations of spousal abuse. Cable was not suspended nor was the Raiders organization punished.

Dolphins defensive tackle Tony McDaniel was arrested in February for domestic violence. Since the story broke, I have not been able to find one word regarding any potential suspension or punishment from either the Dolphins or the NFL.

Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers was arrested for attempting to bring a loaded gun aboard an airplane, which if you ask me is not merely a mistake. I have been around loaded weapons, and you just do not “forget” you have them in your possession. However, Goodell determined that Rogers, because he helped apprehend a drunk driver, will not be suspended.

In perhaps the most disturbing story yet, the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, head coach Sean Payton, GM Mickey Loomis and assistant head coach Joe Vitt, amongst others, are involved in a lawsuit with a former security director for the team regarding allegations over abuse of Vicodin pills. While the particulars of this case are surrounded with a fair amount of questionable accusations and he said/she said sort of allegations, the Saints have gone out of their way to turn the proceedings private and the overall story has disappeared from the national media scene almost immediately after it broke in May. Despite obvious ramifications regarding impropriety and seemingly evident violation of the personal conduct policy, no punishment or suspensions were imposed by the NFL.

I'm behind and fully support Goodell smacking down Big Douche, do not misconstrue my points here. But, wasn't one of the reasons Goodell castigated Roethlisberger to make a point that no player, no matter how big a star, is exempt from living up to the NFL’s self imposed standards? If that is true, then let’s go. Everyone previously mentioned needs to be dealt some sort of punishment, along the same significant lines as Roethlisberger’s and with the same kind of troublesome consequences that the Steelers now have to cope with. Either that or Roethlisberger’s indiscretions must be treated with the same cavalier attitude as everyone else.

I know what you’re thinking, well none of them were charged with a crime. Well you know what, neither was Roethlisberger. One case is a civil trial, and the other ended merely in an investigation into allegations. I’m not justifying his behavior nor am I defending it in any way. But if Roethlisberger is to be punished for the mere appearance of impropriety, then so should everyone else. If Roethlisberger’s actions are considered tarnishing the NFL’s image, then everyone else’s, which all seem to fall along the same lines and level of impropriety, most certainly must qualify for some sort of punishment as well.

I just cannot fathom how Goodell can justify suspending Roethlisberger, while letting all these other violators basically walk free without so much as a lame explanation. I understand Big Douche is a visible player and should be punished, but so are Vick and Young, should they not be punished accordingly as well? If you want visible, how is Sean Payton and the Saints, the current defending Super Bowl champions, not visible? That particular case just disappeared.

Goodell’s response to these other violations seems to be indifference, while his punishment of Roethlisberger, and the Steelers, seems to be personal, as though he was personally injured by this scandal created by Big Douche. This should not be the behavior of the commissioner of a major sports league. It feels more like the behavior of a scorned teenage girl.

I’d hate to think that Goodell only punishes offenders based on his mood at the moment. Obviously when Roethlisberger became embroiled in the sexual assault investigation in March, Goodell was pissed. And who could blame him? Roethlisberger is the star of one of the most storied and decorated franchises in the NFL and he being involved in something so seedy and sordid only hurts the league. I know a whole city that became, and is still, infuriated. But is there not a standard of punishment based upon the merits of each case and player involved? Thus far if there is, it seems quite difficult to divine exactly what that standard may be.

Could this be something as simple as Goodell trying to cur favor with the players union? Goodell meted out Roethlisberger’s conditional suspension before he did his tour of teams during training camp, when he really learned how the players felt about him, how the league treats them, how they feel about ownership and how they feel about an 18 game schedule. With very contentious labor negotiations taking place at the moment and escalating daily, perhaps Goodell is letting some punishment slide in order to incur favor from the players who are obviously disgruntled about the direction things are going. This would not be too much of a stretch to believe, since he obviously held the owners off from voting on an 18 game schedule at a recent owners meeting, even though by all accounts owners are ready to push this particular resolution through as fast as possible.

Goodell knows an expanded season is angering the players. Perhaps he feels that additional individual suspensions and punishments would only hurt his cause to reinstate labor peace. Players already feel as though the NFL and Goodell in particular do not care about their well being or health by pushing forward an expanded season. Perhaps Goodell feels if he doles out suspensions at his previous rate, he’ll only further alienate an already irate players union.

Regardless of his motivation behind punishments and lack thereof, Goodell is only hurting his position as the labor negotiations move toward what seems to be an inevitable lockout. By being arbitrary and capricious in his distribution of punishment, he shows the NFL Players Association and their members he plays little attention to them or their well being and what they do and only assigns punishment based upon public reaction. If the casual fan public notices, then so does Goodell, otherwise he doesn’t care. But he knows if he backtracks, assigns punishment elsewhere or reduces Roethlisberger’s suspension so it is commiserate with other offenders, he’ll appear weak in front of the players and lose the confidence of the owners who need him to get every penny they want from an expanded schedule.

And by being inconsistent overall in his punishment and decision making, Goodell is only further angering NFL fans in general, who already think that millionaire players and billionaire owners fighting over pennies when most of them have trouble paying their monthly bills is nothing but an insulting slap in the face to the very people who make football and the NFL popular. By showing fans a rather cavalier attitude toward player punishment and well being, Goodell is revealing he does not know what he is doing overall and is rapidly destroying something that but a few seasons ago seemed to be indestructible, NFL popularity.

Goodell’s waffling and unpredictability when it applies to enforcement of the personal conduct policy is merely a microcosm of an overall problem regarding strong leadership in the NFL during a time when assured, confident direction in the face of potential labor strife is needed most. Goodell had best become clear on his convictions and find strength to bring some peace to a labor situation rapidly spiraling out of control. If he does not, and soon, his legacy will not be of the man who cleaned up the NFL from troublemakers, but of the man who destroyed the NFL as we know it.