Cory’s Corner: The NFL must part ways with commish Roger Goodell

Ray Rice finally got the punishment he deserved, but it shouldn’t have taken nearly this long.

After TMZ leaked the despicable and appalling elevator video of Rice and his then-fiancé and now-wife Janay Rice, the NFL was in full backpedal.

The average value of an NFL team is $1.43 billion. The NFL currently hovers around $9 billion in revenue. When the NFL brass was asked if they had seen the video, they quickly said no.

First of all, even if that is true (which is highly questionable), what legal team would not try and find out if there was an eye in the sky from that fateful May 23 evening in Atlantic City? Any casino, heck any public place you go to nowadays, you can pretty much guarantee that cameras will pepper the perimeter.

And secondly, if they did view the video — which a source claimed they did — then the NFL looks even worse. Trying to cover up a nasty domestic violence issue that disrupts the familial identity that the league tries so hard to achieve, is something that fans across America not just in Baltimore will get very upset about.

Either way, commissioner Roger Goodell must either resign or be forced out by the owners. Goodell has always been a tough commish by doling out significant fines and punishments to the league’s problem players.

But that’s just it. The burden of proof has fallen on the players. When something happens to one of the decision makers in this league — the owners or the commish — it tends to be forgotten. Look no further than Colts owner Jim Irsay. He was suspended six games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy because he chose to drive drunk. And just because he’s not allowed at Lucas Oil Stadium until October doesn’t mean that things aren’t going to operate the way they always were. And Irsay was also fined $500,000, which isn’t too much for a guy with a net worth of $1.7 billion.

In order for Goodell to get the respect from his players, he needs to treat everyone that works under the NFL shield the same. And in order for the NFL to maintain a healthy relationship with women and women’s groups, Rice should not be allowed on an NFL roster again.

The NFL imposed a puny two-game suspension in July. To Goodell’s credit, he thought the punishment was a tad light, but he did nothing. Now after that gruesome video saw plenty of eyeballs, the NFL quickly decided to suspend him indefinitely after the Ravens terminated his contract.

But it’s too little too late for Goodell. He is the crew chief of one of the most lucrative and visible corporations. He has to realize that any social missteps by the league are going to be taken very, very seriously.

If the NFL and Goodell had taken the time to watch, or not tried to cover up that nasty elevator clip, perhaps a warranted punishment would have been taken care of right away.

Instead, it had to be leaked and now the public has not only lost faith in the values of the NFL but in how Goodell enforces and keeps them.

Goodell was handed a Golden Goose when Paul Tagliabue handed over the reins in 2006. Goodell came into the league acting like a sheriff and promising to impose order and clean it up.

Well, Roger, you have failed. You have put your players on a pedestal in the name of women’s rights. You have enabled a man to knock his fiancé out cold and issued excuse after excuse when things began to get worse.

The NFL owners deserve and expect better. It’s time for someone that treats women and people with proper class and civility to step up.

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Cory Jennerjohn is from Wisconsin and has been in sports media for over 10 years. To contact Cory e-mail him at jeobs -at- yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter: Cory Jennerjohn

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24 thoughts on “Cory’s Corner: The NFL must part ways with commish Roger Goodell

  1. Not a fan of Goodell but I am not sure that there is much that can be done with the collection of egos and immature millionaires that is the NFL. Right now Goodell is playing God, handing out fines and suspensions. It is a great money-maker but does it eliminate all the idiots that stuff their empty heads into helmets. The game feeds on mal-adjusted young men with anger issues. Even in the move to turn the game into flag football you are going to have problems with guys with too much money and very little character.

    As for covering up the video, I am not sure that the league office would have played that game. These are not league videos and they would have eventually come out. Why would they set themselves up for the outfall of such disturbing evidence? Maybe the bigger question is “why aren’t teams cleaning up their own problem children”? Meanwhile, the money keeps pouring in.

    1. You don’t need to apologize for believing in divine authority. 99.9% of people throughout history have…. just saying if someone is offended by your post, it’s their problem and not yours.

  2. I’m for respect to any person, any living creature. So, if somebody thinks he has more rights then others, should be punished. The only punishment I would advice is to remove that person from closest society as the first step. The severity of action(s) of that persons may finish with complete banish from any form of civilization surrounding. I’m not for physical punishment, nor for dead penalty. This is in the hands of God, not ours…
    This is my opinion and I apologize if anybody will be offended by it…

    1. IMO You don’t need to apologize for believing in divine authority. 99.9% of people throughout history have…. just saying if someone is offended by your post, it’s their problem and not yours.

      1. 99.9% … really? I don’t want to get in a religion tangent on a packers site (except maybe about Vince Lombardi being God) but you should check your facts. Recent surveys have about 20% of Americans identifying as non-religious

  3. BTW, Ray and Janay got married after this despicable act. Apparently money and fame trump common decency. So, why hang Goodell?

  4. Roger Goodell:

    NFL Commissioner’s Office:
    15th Floor 280 Park Ave
    New York, NY 10017

    Dear Roger,

    I’d like to congratulate you on finally doing the right thing and suspending Ray Rice indefinitely for his deplorable actions on the night of February 15, 2014. However, regardless of whether you saw the recently released video of the actual domestic violence episode months ago or not, please admit that you knew what happened. Use common sense: HOW ELSE does someone get dragged unconscious from the floor of an Atlantic City casino elevator at 1 in the morning? Do you really think that little of your viewing public to believe that no one will connect the dots?

    Further, the only reason Rice’s contract was terminated and suspended indefinitely yesterday is because YOU Mr. Goodell looked like an even bigger fool after footage of the actual domestic violence episode came to light than you did last week when you suspended Josh Gordon a full season for smoking weed and Ray Rice just TWO GAMES for beating his fiance unconscious the week before that! Considering the nature of this crime (which in my humble opinion is worse than killing dogs or doing any type of drugs, and possibly just as dangerous as DUI. You have several recent examples of punishing players more harshly who have done these things than you originally published Rice. Then today, the public heard that you didn’t ask the casino nor Rice’s lawyer for a copy of the in-elevator video. Both of these parties had the video and would have provided it upon request. You are guilty of hypocrisy of the highest degree. You have buried your head in the sand on this issue.

    I urge you to review your values and priorities and then seriously consider resigning. Your holier-than-thou attitude and the inconsistent severity of your punishments when dealing with wayward players has been a black mark on your resume from the beginning of your tenure Mr. Goodell. Now it is officially a disgrace.

    For the sake of the league you profess to love I believe you must resign your position immediately.

    Sincerely,
    A die-hard football fan

    1. I agree. Time for Goodell to go. He has lost credibility. He let the public down. This guy’s a Harvard trained lawyer and his father was a US Senator and didn’t know enough to ask if there was a tape and go to all lengths to view it before making his decision? Either he’s stupid, lazy or didn’t want to know. I believe the latter.

  5. Today’s league commissioners have 2 roles. First, is to make as much money as possible for the owners and the players (who share the revenue) and second to protect their respective league shields. The problem is that they are blinded by the first role to make as much money as possible and Goodell is the most blind of them all. He is employed by the owners, not the league. He has been making tons of money for them (and himself). His approach to player suspensions and discipline has been inconsistent at best because he does not want to upset owners or their money making machines. The owners want to keep their big name players on the field at almost any cost. As I posted on the earlier article about a month ago, the minimal suspension for criminal activity should be one year, for the first offense. Second time, banned, gone, goodbye. (I’m not talking ped’s or steroids). How do you come up with a 2 game suspension? It was obvious that Janay was unconscious when Rice dragged her out of the elevator. How did Goodell think that happened? If he thought it was from alcohol or drugs, then why suspend the player at all? I knew that something like this would come along and hit the league really hard. They are too busy making money grabs all over the place to be paying attention. If it comes out that they have covered up seeing this film then it will be goodbye Goodell. He will hide behind his $30 million salary for as long as possible. The revenue that this league is making buys a lot of silence. Pete Rozell must be spinning in his grave. Thanks, Since ’61

    1. Keeping delinquent players in the league allows the NFL to keep fining them every time they screw up… meaning a little more money back in their pockets.

      1. Chad – a sad commentary on this entire sorry episode. To think that Rozelle suspended Paul Hornung for the ’63 season for betting on his own team to win. Now we have come to this. A 2 week suspension, originally, for knocking out a woman. I guess we can see where the priorities are these days. I remember all too well when the NFL was a great league that we could all be proud fans of. Now I just shake my head. Since ’61

  6. Goodell is a thug just like the thugs he is trying to govern. It’s no surprise that the punishment didn’t fit the crime. I would be willing to bet Goodell has smacked around alot of women himself. Total cowards. They know better than to hit another man, then they risk getting knocked out themselves. Goodell not only needs to be fired, he needs a swift kick the ballsack from every woman that has ever been abused. Bye, bye Goodell you low life thug.

    1. This is irresponsible speculation, and useless even for this site. He is not a thug, you making speculation about him hitting woman…has no logic, rationality. Stick to informed opinion please.

  7. I realize this is a sensitive subject. Obviously, Ray Rice did something very disgusting and someone should kick his ass for it, but the NFL can’t ban him for life for it.

    After all, Josh Brent killed a teammate and was recently reinstated. Donte Stallworth also killed someone and came back to play after. We all know what Michael Vick did and he’s still playing. These are guys that should have been banned for life. Their crimes go way beyond what Ray Rice did.

    Rice’s suspension should definitely be more than two games, but if you ban him for life, you’re going to have to ban every player that has had a domestic violence arrest. That would mean guys like Dez Bryant, Brandon Marshall and Greg Hardy would all have to be banned as well.

    Just because Rice’s crime was videotaped, doesn’t mean the punishment should be worse, though it definitely feels like it. At the end of the day, he wasn’t even charged with a crime. And, that’s what people should be most upset about.

    1. I think you make a great point a lot of us forget about. The only reason Ray Rice is facing worse punishment than others convicted of domestic violence is (a) the public nature of the videos and (b) his popularity as a football player. Not that Erik Walden or Brandon Underwood knocked their wives unconscious, but their domestic abuse cases weren’t caught on video, nor were they name players. And what was their punishment?

      1. What Ray Rice did is worse than what Mike Vick did. Dogs are wonderful – I love dogs. But dogs aren’t people. You make a good point about DUI though. DV is arguably just as dangerous (though probably not usually as lethal) as DUI.

        I also agree that Ray Rice should be reinstated at some point – maybe a year or two down the line. As a RB, he’s going to be past his earning peak if/when he were to come back. He’ll never get a deal over 1 mil again. However, as despicable as his crime was, he should not be kept from working after he’s paid his debt to society.

        That said, the coverup is worse to me than the crime. Goodell’s schtick has grown old. He is a first class hypocrite. In either case (coverup or inadequate investigation) the NFL and its discipline arm (with Goodell at its point) look really bad. Goodell’s inconsistency in punishment to players and his insistence on being judge-jury-executioner has always been BS. And NOW he chooses to do nothing? SMH. Go away Rog.

        1. You have a right to your opinion, but you can’t say that Rice’s crime is worse because “dogs aren’t people” when the crimes aren’t remotely similar.

          Rice got drunk once and hit his fiancé. Vick consciously ran a dogfighting ring for years where dogs were not only abused and made to fight, but they were gruesomely killed by hanging, drowning, electrocution and being picked up and slammed. Obviously, the courts agree with me since Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison and Rice didn’t get squat.

          I think Rice’s punishment should fall under the new policy of a six game suspension with a lifetime ban if it ever happens again. You wrote that Goodell’s punishments have been inconsistent, but guys have been getting 1-2 game suspensions for domestic violence and now you want to give a guy a 1-2 year suspension??? Now that’s inconsistent.

  8. I don’t agree with canning Goodell. He made a big mistake. He admitted he made mistake, and was too late. In the end, when the evidence surfaced, he (they) got it right. Rice was kicked out as he should be. So, who hasn’t made bad decisions and learned? Didn’t Goodell work to rectify a more consistent policy 2 weeks ago? And were all the facts in, when he made the poor judgement on 2 game ban? All the speculation about the league actively NOT getting the video, when they still had no legal right to obtain it – conspiracy theorists. Sounds like a hanging party to me. Go back home, and let the commish be wiser, now that he stings from the mistake. He’ll be a better commish for it. A hanging, for to do what? Go back home.

      1. That’s the point. Not to speculate. Why blather about when they might have accessed, then start making conclusions on that speculation? So far there is no proof they had copy of evidence earlier. It suggests to me you looking for a conspiracy. Even if they didn’t act right away, is that so damning? That they made sure they consulted internally? So bad? They acted. I lost track of all of your questions, but you must be really questionable.

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