In the wake of things going from very bad to nuclear for the National Football League in the last 24 to 48 hours, with the TMZ release of the videotape of Ray Rice knocking out his wife in a casino elevator throwing the NFL’s incredible mishandling of the situation back into the national limelight, there must have become a point where Roger Goodell started fearing for his job.
Maybe Goodell wasn’t immediately paralyzed with fear – maybe it was just a little fear, a sudden, striking realization that his reign as commissioner is under serious threat.
The questions just keep on coming. Two days ago, Ray Rice was suspended indefinitely by the league and released by the Baltimore Ravens – punishments that would have killed the story and drawn a round of applause for the NFL had it been taken when Rice’s arrest first happened.
But as any good PR person will tell you, it’s hard to get out in front of a story that you’re covering up.
When all Goodell had – or so he says, the AP disagrees – was the tape of Rice dragging his fiancé’s unconscious body out of the elevator, he gave Rice a two game ban.
When the tape of what Rice did to his wife in the elevator was released, the two game ban became an indefinite suspension.
Apparently, Goodell couldn’t figure out what happened in the elevator; he needed the tape to show him.
Or something. When asked why Goodell needed to see the tape to hand down proper punishment to Rice, Goodell said, “No. We certainly didn’t. And I will tell you that what we saw on the first videotape was troubling to us in and of itself. And that’s why we took the action we took. As I’ve said before, we didn’t feel that was sufficient, we didn’t get that right. But what we saw yesterday was extremely clear, it was extremely graphic, and it was sickening.”
So yes, he needed to see the tape.
And for all we know, he did long before now. The AP reported Wednesday evening that the tape of what happened in the elevator was sent to a person in the NFL in April, upon which, the league would like you to believe; they stuck it in an NFL Films storage room.
And that even though the law-enforcement official that sent the NFL the tape played a voicemail from an NFL employee saying that the tape was received.
This story isn’t over. While the independent investigation that has been commissioned by the league isn’t expected to be groundbreaking, remember that it was the Freeh Report that sunk Joe Paterno and Penn State in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky abuse case.
The timing of the release of the video is also curious. Despite reports claiming that over twenty casino employees saw the tape after the incident, it’s just now that TMZ has gotten hold of the footage – in the week that Rice was scheduled to return to the NFL.
The moral of this scandal, like many others, is don’t be incredibly stupid. That’s what Goodell and the NFL has been on this case from the very beginning.
While the two game suspension outraged people from the start too, it was only a few members of the mainstream media that called for Goodell to resign – most notably, ESPN’s Keith Olbermann.
Those calls have been taken up by a large and ever-growing number of pundits, but even though an anonymous owner said last night that if the AP report owner was true no owner – “not one” – would support Goodell, it’s hard to see the commissioner going at a time when the league is more profitable and larger than ever.
Reports have the most influential owners – Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones, John Mara – all sticking by Goodell for now.
But this is a guy that made in excess of $44,000,000 to lead the NFL last year. Quite clearly, he’s not worth that.
In fact, Goodell should donate $43,999,999 of that salary from last year to an organization supporting abused women.
He can keep $1. For the stamp.
Maybe Goodell saw the tape, maybe he didn’t. It does strain credulity to believe that Goodell could look into a camera on CBS News and say forcefully that he never saw the tape, and be lying, but straining credulity is something the NFL has done with ease over the last few months.
The tape is horrible, but it’s also beside the point to the point that talking about it at length can be nauseating.
It’s not about the footage of the physical abuse. It’s about the physical abuse.
It’s not really about Goodell and his league and the team that stood by Rice either. They are the supporting cast of this story. It’s more about Ray Rice, Janay Rice, their family, men who have abused women in the NFL and everywhere, and women who have faced that abuse.
That’s the story. If you want to talk about it all day every day forever, focus on that. In the salaciousness of the NFL falling apart, don’t forget about the people from whom this has been hardest. First and foremost, the victim.
Roger Goodell, the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens failed horribly here. They could have sent a powerful message to abusers and people who have been abused about the place of abuse in the NFL. They didn’t. They’re nothing but a dysfunctional hindrance of a sideshow. That’s clear.
But it’s about time we pay some attention to the people who matter.
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