For the first time in roughly nine days, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided it was time to break his silence when it came to how the NFL completely wet the bed when it came to dealing with the onslaught of domestic abusers plaguing the League. It was a conference certainly needed after the CBS interview almost two weeks ago which didn’t do Goodell any favors, especially when an AP report on the second Ray Rice video seemed to refute just about everything that came out of the commissioner’s mouth.
However if for some reason you thought the NFL and especially Roger Goodell could get things right this time around, you might want to think again.
The presser started out with a long, drawn out speech from Goodell hitting on all major clichés that he “got it wrong on a number of levels,” but “now (I) will get it right.” Goodell also went on to announce that the League has engaged themselves into some kind of partnership with the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center which sounds nice but could be taken as a smokescreen to get the attention away from the real problem… Roger Goodell.
But it kept getting better for the ol’ Commish… And when I mean better I mean you could actually hear the Benny Hill theme beginning to play because after announcing a new “personal conduct committee” (more deflection) here came the Q and A portion which was full of excuse and gave very little answer.
First, Rachel Nichols had Goodell non-committal when asked if he would ceded any unilateral power when it came to disciplinary matters in the league. Which makes you really wonder what the hell that “disciplinary committee” is actually for? Nichols continued to punk Goodell when she grilled him on the convenient fact that Robert Mueller, who would lead the investigation into the NFL, is a guy who the League has previously done business with before.
Here’s the back and forth via Deadspin:
Q: Why hire someone with even the appearance of impropriety and how do you expect us to accept everything?
A: I respectfully disagree. You are questioning the integrity of the director of the FBI. Yes, that firm has represented us in the past. They have also been on the other side in litigation against the NFL. So this is a highly respected individual, the longest serving director in the FBI.
Q: Part of the idea of this is to restore public trust. So even a flawless investigation isn’t there an element here of your leaving the door open for doubt?
A: Well, Rachel, unfortunately we live in a world where there is a lot of litigation. A lot of law firms and maybe people have had some interaction with us in the past. Robert Mueller has not. Te law firm may have. We are hiring Robert Mueller, his credentials, to do an independent investigation reporting to the owners and I’m confident that will be the case.
Then TMZ continued to have their way with the NFL when they (TMZ) asked Goodell why the League couldn’t make a simple phone call to obtain the second Rice video… which the commissioner still adamantly denies the NFL seeing.
Q: Why didn’t you have the curiosity to go to the casino yourself?
A: We suspended Ray Rice originally after seeing the first video. When the second video came out last week, that is when we increased our discipline because that was inconsistent with the information we had. It was new information. One of the things I said in my statement and I have said repeatedly here, that is part of what we want to do with all of our experts, outside, internal, is try to figure out how should we investigate these issues. In the past we have been almost completely reliant with law enforcement. We do not want to interfere with a criminal investigation. In particular, here when you are dealing with a casino in New Jersey there are more restrictions because it is overseen I believe by the Attorney General. We have to be very cautious in not interfering with a criminal investigation. We’ll evaluate that. Should we do more to get more information? I would have loved to see that tape.
Q: Mr. Commissioner we found out by one phone call. You have a whole legal department. Can you explain that?
A: I can’t explain how you go the information. Only you can do that.
Now before anyone goes and tries to commend Goodell for what was quite frankly a waste of everyone’s time this afternoon, let’s remember a few things here:
- Yes, Roger Goodell admitted his mistakes which was his justification to remain on the job and not step down after the subject was brought up by Nichols. However it was pointed out by many around the League including Ray Rice’s former teammate Torrey Smith that Goodell was simply pulling the player apology card when they get in trouble.
https://twitter.com/TorreySmithWR/status/513048475525988352
- If the player apology card is good enough for Goodell, shouldn’t he also have the pay in some regard the same penalty? I mean Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice both admitted what they did and they’re not playing where as Rice actually lost his job with the Ravens. Not to defend those two dirt bags but isn’t that justification enough for Goodell to step aside?
- The NFL is a $9 billion dollar business entity so yes it’s important that the League makes money which they certainly have with Goodell at the helm. However making money for the Shield shouldn’t be Goodell’s only job. Especially when you consider the 50 plus domestic abuse cases that have crossed Goodell’s desk during his 8 year tenure.