Perhaps NFL commissioner Roger Goodell envisions his legacy as a great businessman. He had a product the country was accustomed to and managed to extort more cash ($100 billion in media deals over the next decade) from the content-hungry network than others in his position could have. He made the NFL a lot of money and should be commended for it.
This can serve as a useful distraction to the fact that, as a disciplinarian, Goodell, either as a direct supervisor of high-profile punishment or as a person of final authority over a disciplinary process, has completely failed. Whatever flicker of moral compass that existed in this league prior to their acquisition has long been extinguished. and if he fails to act on an appeal for a wholly inadequate six-game suspension Browns Quarterback Deshan Watson, he would codify his incredible legacy.
The news of Deshan Watson’s six-match suspension is shocking. That’s a third of the length of the year-long suspension handed to Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley. Ridley gambles $1,500 on football games through a platform from which the league profits and continuously promotes. This is less than linebacker Mychal Kendrick received for insider trading. Watson was described as sexually harassing or sexually harassing more than two dozen women—women who now carry pepper spray to work, women who now fear that whatever they wear will harm them. Either way a powerful client three times their size would be mistaken as a sexual invitation.
Gary Vasquez / USA Today Sports (Goodell); Ken Blaise/USA Today Sports (Watson)
One has to wonder what place Goodell has in his mind. Certainly he was not the one to oversee the disciplinary hearings for Watson. That job belonged to retired Delaware federal court judge Sue L. Robinson, who was appointed by the NFL and the players union as the league’s disciplinary officer earlier this year. It was Robinson who recommended the six-game suspension of the Browns’ quarterback. nflpa, in a statement on Sunday nightsaid it would “stand by” Robinson’s decision, urging the NFL to do so.
But Robinson’s ruling, which cites “non-violent sexual conduct” in Watson’s practice, ignores one of the most obvious facts of the saga. We as a society are far behind the eight ball in recognizing any form of sexual assault or mental torture faced by assault survivors. Who are we to define violence, when one’s life can be completely affected as a result? Robinson thought that Watson’s actions were enough to prevent him from being massaged again outside the team’s facility (fortunately policing), though apparently not enough to keep him off the field longer than DeAndre Hopkins. Who wouldn’t even play six games. Find out the amount of performance-enhancing substances.
The interesting thing about maintaining a salary of $63.9 million per year is that it doesn’t save Goodell from the reality that not being attractive will forever make him the person he had the chance to make it right and go bald. . This doesn’t stop us from reminding him of all the opportunities he had to do for a greater social good and that he failed.
Goodell has now faced opportunities to stand up for women multiple times. The league prefers pomp and circumstance, for example, parade in pink to raise breast cancer awareness, the player (Ray Rice) seen on video beating her fiancée, or a Punishing the player (Kareem Hunt) severely while kicking. A woman, or a player (Greg Hardy) strangling her fiancée outside a hotel room. Most people are not suggesting that these players should have received a lifetime ban from the NFL. In fact, studies have shown that the increasing weight of a lifetime ban will inhibit survivors’ willingness to come forward. But couldn’t any of those players be suspended longer than a promising wide receiver like Josh Gordon, who received three indefinite suspensions and a one-year suspension from the NFL for substance abuse?
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If Goodell doesn’t appeal, he will be accompanied by a group of Twitter bots who have convinced themselves that a non-indictment from a grand jury is tantamount to an acquittal, a convenient story to tell in itself. It helped perpetuate the idea that one man had such a troubled relationship with dozens of massage therapists that his own franchise suggested that he fulfill nondisclosure agreements. Also, bringing a small to medium sized towel with you for the massage rather than using a regular one that would be supplied to him may suggest that what a network of civil suits say he does. Is.
If Goodell doesn’t appeal, he’ll spawn a faction of the league’s fan base, who are excited to continue calling on massage therapists — and indeed anyone fighting for fair and equal treatment of women — on social media. Terrible, bottomless name media. Hopefully for Goodell, that fraction of the fan base is larger than the 21% women who have recently described themselves as ardent fans of the NFL.
Before Watson’s hearing, someone leaked (probably in the NFL) that the league wanted a one-year suspension with an indefinite kicker, which could include any and all new information. What we initially thought was a display of proper strength, a sign of Goodell ready to wrestle with his previous belief as a weak disciplinarian, could only be window dressing. maybe the league wanted us Thinking It was supposed to bring down the hammer. Then, it wanted to get behind a process that would deliver its desired result: a lucrative new quarterback playing in a new location. more attention. more eyes. betting more.
Football used to be a neutral battlefield. Under Goodell, though, the game has shifted into the kind of privileged, slap-on-the-wrist culture that’s pervasive among citizens who can afford a super attorney and a good media-spin artist. Instead, punish those who get caught up in drugs or gambling. But the man who allegedly sexually assaulted and sexually assaulted women under the guise of supporting black-owned businesses and threatened their careers if they spoke up? Can’t we do anything about it? How familiar does that sound?
The saddest part of all this is that the NFL will win no matter what Goodell decides. We won’t stop watching. We will, initially, perhaps look more carefully. The disgusting broadcast car crash among us will tune in, as untrained commentators try to turn Watson’s reported off-field misdeeds into some kind of redemptive on-field narrative. Perhaps some will seek a little schadenfreude. The bisexual among us will watch because, hey, he’s a good quarterback to play in a new place, and it’s always interesting as long as we cover our ears and rule out any ethics issues.
But Goodell is another matter entirely. Obviously, money buys a lot. But does it buy that little piece of your heart that wonders if you could have done more? Should you have done more?
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