Wait, Goodell got it wrong again? Roger that!

[Sons Of Shula]

By Jim Litke

The day is coming when NFL owners won't have enough faith in Roger Goodell's judgment to let him order lunch.

At his current pace, that won't take long. Counting Thursday's ruling in the so-called "Deflategate" case, the commissioner who staked his reputation on being a disciplinarian is now 0-for-his-past-five disciplinary decisions.

In a sometimes-scathing, 40-page opinion released Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman didn't even try to tackle the questions of whether there was enough air in the footballs the New England Patriots used to beat the Indianapolis Colts in a playoff game nine long months ago, and who knew what about it when.

Instead, he vacated quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension and echoed the conclusions of the arbiters who overturned the commissioner in each of the four previous incidents — namely that Goodell arbitrarily handed out punishments and appeared to be making up the justifications for them as he went along.

"Industrial justice" is how Berman summed up that decision-making process at one juncture; then "fundamentally unfair" at another.

But just to make sure Goodell and Co. understood how bankrupt their argument was, the judge also put quote marks around the word "independent" in five separate references to the investigative report prepared by attorney Ted Wells — whose firm provides counsel to the NFL — and paid for by the league at a cool cost of more than $2.5 million. Then Berman set about shredding it.

If the report was "independent," he asked, why was NFL general counsel Jeff Pash allowed to edit it? And why, he continued, weren't Pash and Wells' notes on the investigation made available to Brady's defense?

Berman had plenty of relevant questions on other matters as well, many of them pertaining to why Brady was never even told what level of punishment he faced. And we may yet have those answered, because the NFL immediately announced it planned to appeal.

In a statement, Goodell said, "The commissioner's responsibility to secure the competitive fairness in our game is a paramount principle, and the league and our 32 clubs will continue to pursue a path to that end."

You don't have to be an NFL owner to scan Goodell's blueprint in disciplinary matters. The moment a player gets in trouble, he tries to read public sentiment. Next he presides over an investigation that, like the Wells report, is usually hurried and often shoddy. Finally, he sets out — sometimes unscrupulously, occasionally employing misinformation or leaks — to gin up indignation before bringing the hammer down.

But upon further review, as the league's referees make a point of saying in on-the-field disputes, once the facts emerge and the extent of Goodell's overreaching becomes apparent, the call is overturned. And so it was once again.

Full article here: AP Pro32 - Goodell



I'll maintain the same stance and big picture I've had on this case all along: As long as this whole mess leads to the demise of Goodell, I'm all for it.

 

[royalshank]

Goodell is a douche and horrible for the game. I hope this means he and Kraft broke up. I kinda feel like you do - get this hand picked Kraft puppet out of here. At same time, Brady should have been disciplined - this crap went on all year and possibly since 2007. The fumble data is overwhelming. These cheats make me sick.