NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell now has been in his role for 10 years, and while the public "hates this man," it seems "bizarre to suggest any scenario under which Goodell wouldn't have a long life as commissioner," according to Peter King of THE MMQB. Goodell is "only 57 years old," and he likely has "another decade of hard labor in him." The NFL "clearly is banking on time healing the wounds." It is easy to say that the owners "support Goodell." King: "But I can tell you this: Some owners I know clearly do not like that the public face of the most successful sports league in American history gets more tomatoes thrown at it than any other commissioner in the 96-year history of the NFL." King: "Isn’t it interesting, and telling, that the NFL doesn’t seem to have any plans to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Goodell’s election. ... It's almost as if the league is trying to let the moment pass with no one noticing."
CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE: Goodell should get "credit for a 10-year labor agreement, for more than 20 safety-related rules changes" since '06, for an investment of $60M in concussion-related research and for the doubling of revenue. King: "No question. Where I most fault his leadership is in the league’s pursuit of the max penalties against the Patriots and Tom Brady in Deflategate." Whether Goodell "can be saved is a question for owners." King: "And for the mental state of Goodell; I don’t know how long, even for the sick amount of money he makes, a man can take the vitriol he subjects himself and his family to." King as part of The MMQB's "Goodell Week" gave four pieces of advice to the commissioner. King listed immediately coming out against tackle football at the youth level, and doing "something different" with his paycheck that exceeded $31M in '15. He also would "proceed on weed" and "stop being judge and jury." King: "I don’t know if he can save his job, or if he should save his job. But he’s got to take some drastic steps to turn around his image. The owners cannot afford to forever have their commissioner being one of the biggest punching bags in American sports history." King excerpts many reader emails on the Goodell series, noting 95% were "negative" (MMQB.SI.com, 7/22).
