Goodell: Why So Serious?

PINNO - On August 8th, 2006, Roger Goodell was chosen as successor to Paul Tagliabue as commissioner of the NFL. This title is no joke, as it is essentially the person who holds the most power in the Nation's most popular sport. Goodell is to the NFL what White Goodman is to Globo-Gym. Now, Tagliabue is one of the most beloved commissioners of all time, and is the closest thing to God we will see on planet Earth. He always seemed to make the right call, and always had a cool head. There was something special about him walking out at the NFL Draft to announce what team was officially "on the clock." There were obviously some criticisms of Tagliabue, but these mostly consisted of things like the revenue disparity between high and low revenue teams, or the fact that he does not have a large football background and lacks charisma. But most of these criticisms were benign and overall his rating as commissioner was excellent. However, after 17 years as commissioner he decided to hang it up, and in came younger, cockier, and former NFL intern, Roger Goodell.

Goodell started as an administrative intern when he was 21 for then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle. Many praised his rise through the administration to COO in 2001, especially considering his internship was gained through an extensive letter writing campaign on his part. After Tagliabue announced he was to retire, Goodell was ultimately the consensus vote as his replacement. However, it was soon clear to many that he was not going to take the same approach that Tagliabue did: a calm, judicial, and usually correct approach. Goodell took the tough guy approach. There had been some scandal off the field that year for sure. Adam Jones and Chris Henry had been the focus of poor off-field decisions, but the most harsh punishment we really saw from Tagliabue was a 4-game suspension. The players were not ready for Goodell's new 'NFL Personal Conduct Policy'. In his first serious player conduct moves, he suspended Chris Henry for 8 games of the 2007 season and suspended Adam "Pacman" Jones for the entire 2007 season. Entire season! Are you kidding me? That was unheard of up to that point. Oh yeah, good idea Goodell, instead of letting a clearly troubled man be distracted from that life by the one thing he's good at, football, why don't you just suspend him for a year in hopes that he becomes a better man as opposed to going to a strip club with $40,000 worth of ones. (oh wait, he did do that(watch the link)).

A few months after these suspensions Goodell gets pissed off again and suspends Tank Johnson for 10 games of the 2007 season after he got in trouble with the law. 10 games? Thats like sitting down to watch a season of 24, but only watching hours 16 through 24 and still hoping you will get something out of it. Just recently in June, he suspended Dante Stallworth indefinitely. Way to go Goodell, you can't decide what to do so you just call it an indefinete suspension in hopes that everyone will eventually forget about Donte Stallworth and that he'll die on the street in 5 years with a Saints' helmet in his arms trying to convince other homeless people that he once upon a time was an NFL player. You're a dick, Goodell.

I didn't mind the way Goodell handled the Michael Vick situation for the past two years, but the call he made recently was outrageous. The Vick case is definitely a delicate one, as many Americans strongly believe he does not deserve to play in the NFL again. I am certainly not one of those people: Vick served a lot of time in jail for what he did, and now he needs to be back on the field doing what he was born to do. I thought Goodell understood that, until on July 27th, just a few days ago, he announced that Vick will be suspended the first six games of the upcoming season before he can play again. Why? Seriously, why? What is the point? He already hasn't played for two years and many fans will be critical of his return, so obviously it's going to be tough enough for him to get signed by a team. But yeah, just throw in a six game suspension just to chafe Vick a little. Six games? Why not 7, or 5, or 3 and 1/2. Be a little more arbitrary with the six games Goodell, oh wait, you can't be.

Alas, many have praised Goodell for his firm stance on player conduct, and perhaps it has scared players into being a little less reckless at clubs, bars, or whatever nightlife they attend to. However, I think Goodell's stance has been way too tough, and more of a Dictatorship than a Democracy. Ok Goodell, you were an intern in 1982, and you worked were way up so almost 30 years later you're the Commissioner of the NFL. Nice job, but just because you grinded to get where you are, doesn't mean you have to bring down Thor's Hammer to players in the NFL who need to be slapped in the face, not slapped with $500,000 fines and entire season suspensions. One more thing, is you're wife hot or not? Because I can't tell, and it's really starting to piss me off.