The Clemson Insider

By William Qualkinbush.

When Roger Goodell was named the commissioner of the NFL in 2006, Jim Corbett from USA Today wrote a glowing profile on him. A lot of people had a lot of admirable things to say—and for good reason.

After all, this man was a 47-year-old football lifer who had poured his heart and soul into the game and had pledged to protect it at all costs. A consensus formed behind him, and that consensus was full of movers and shakers who glowingly set the stage for Goodell’s tenure.

“I said from the beginning that we were going to look for the man to lead us,” Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said after a process he helped lead culminated in Goodell’s election.

Former Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers president Carmen Policy shared a story about when he and a partner attempted to purchase the Browns amidst stiff competition. His story painted a picture of Goodell staring into a challenging circumstance with purpose and conviction.

“He didn’t duck the heat,” Policy said. “He took it straight on.”

Now, eight years and one month later, Goodell’s persona looks much different from this. In fact, it looks more like the antithesis of strength and character in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal and re-scandal (not a word, but you get it).

Here’s a quick catch-up for anyone unfamiliar with this story: Rice—formerly of the Baltimore Ravens—was suspended for two games by the NFL after video surfaced of him dragging his then-fiancée’s body out of an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. Rice admitted to hitting the women, who he married shortly thereafter, and apologetically accepted his punishment. There was an uproar when Goodell decided to suspend Rice for a measly two games over spousal abuse for a variety of reasons.

First, Goodell’s NFL suspends drug users for four games—twice the length of the Rice suspension. In addition, Goodell has dealt with legal problems among the owners with kid gloves, so there was some pressure for him to be more consistent in doling out punishment to players and owners. It should be noted there were racial undertones within this conversation.

Then, on Monday, new video emerged of Rice actually hitting his wife inside the elevator. The scene is graphic—a swift left hook to the head sends the woman flying into the handrail at the back of the elevator. Unconscious, she lies flat on the floor while he watches from above without even the slightest bit of concern.

The video is appalling, but we already knew Rice hit her. We already knew what happened. He told us himself.

But the Ravens saw fit to terminate Rice’s contract, and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. The only difference in terms of information was that you and I saw the video. No new evidence came to light. Goodell tacked on an indefinite suspension to a two-game punishment simply because some people saw a video, not because of anything that happened in that elevator.

There’s no question Rice deserved what he got. In fact, he should be in prison. Society cannot tolerate behavior like his, no matter the reason. But he deserved it earlier, when he admitted his crime to the NFL. Goodell has managed to make Rice an awkward victim of double jeopardy.

Think about the standard set by Goodell’s NFL: What you do is significantly less important than people seeing what you do. Morality is based on public opinion, not a standard of behavior. To use an appropriate analogy, the NFL has shown it will move the goalposts at random to make them match up with the views of fans.

Earlier on my radio show, I compared Goodell to a contestant on “The Price is Right”. Instead of making up his own mind when he faces a problem, Goodell’s style of leadership is to turn around to the relatively uninformed public and see what they think.

Just days ago, the NFL announced a new domestic violence policy. It states that offenders will be suspended for six games. Yet, when given the chance to apply his newest statute, Goodell instead went for an indefinite suspension. The man can’t lead because he has no idea where he stands on these issues.

Leadership requires personal integrity to stand in the way of ambition and popularity, which I believe humanity is naturally programmed to pursue above all things. When personal integrity is lacking, leaders twist in the wind, incapable of displaying strength on behalf of their respective constituencies.

Goodell isn’t alone in eschewing integrity in favor of popularity. USC Athletic Director Pat Haden did the same thing on Saturday when he broached the invisible forcefield that separates administrators from coaches during play to argue with officials as his Trojans battled at Stanford. The Pac-12 fined Haden, one of the nation’s most respected ADs, $25,000 for his antics, but the damage was done.

Haden’s haste to go down to the field as the request of coach Steve Sarkisian is inappropriate on several levels. It flies in the face of NCAA rules, which Sarkisian consciously skirted by having another individual relay the message to Haden via text message. It throws into question the integrity of the result on the field when partial administrators are openly disagreeing with impartial officials.

Haden is also on the new playoff committee, which is certainly an important distinction when considering the importance of the outcome. Let’s suppose the Trojans go 12-0 at the end of the season, and one of those wins was tainted because of Haden’s own interference. Haden’s status within the broader college football community require him to be above reproach, and he certainly wasn’t on Saturday.

Haden put passion and popularity over good decision-making in the heat of battle. Goodell responded to criticism by punishing a man twice—once for his crime, then again (and to a far greater degree) because people found out about it.

We need our leaders to pursue uprightness, justice, and integrity. Unfortunately, in these two cases on opposite sides of the football spectrum, all our leaders did was turn to the crowd and shrug their shoulders.

Leadership, indeed.

God Bless!