NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "has had the support of the NFL’s 32 franchise owners" throughout the entire Ray Rice situation, and while an arbitrator Friday overturned Rice's indefinite suspension, the owners are "waiting for the release of their self-commissioned report by attorney Robert Mueller before making any final determinations on Goodell’s job status," according to Ben Volin of the BOSTON GLOBE. Arbitrator Barbara Jones' decision "doesn’t cast a positive light on Goodell’s vigilance in this case" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/28). In N.Y., Ken Belson wrote through everything, the owners "have stood behind" Goodell. But if Mueller’s report finds that Goodell saw the video of Rice hitting his then-fiancee "before it was made public in September, several owners might withdraw their support." Jones "found no smoking gun" in her review of the case, noting that the NFL "knew the damning video existed but never asked Rice’s lawyers for a copy." Rather, she "suggested that the league was guilty of a kind of willful blindness" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/30). In N.Y., Gary Myers wrote Goodell "will not be fired because of Jones’ ruling," and he "will not quit." The only thing that "will get Goodell in serious trouble with the owners is if he lied about seeing the elevator video before Sept. 8." Myers: "I don’t think Goodell is lying about that issue." But he "sure didn’t distinguish himself in the Rice case and the scrutiny of his job performance will intensify" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/30). ABC's Ryan Smith said if Goodell is "found to have known about that video, he could have real problems in terms of his honesty." Smith: "But he does well by the owners and the owners want to keep him in that spot, so as long as they want to keep him he stays” (“This Week,” ABC, 11/30). ESPN’s Chris Mortensen noted while Goodell’s "bonus-centric $44.2 million pay could be reduced by the league’s compensation committee, he appears to have strong support of owners" ("Sunday NFL Countdown," ESPN, 11/30).
FOLLOW THE LEADER: In N.Y., Juliet Macur wrote Goodell has "made so many mistakes in the case that it is hard to keep track of them." He has been "breaking the rules that he has been making up as he goes along," but the owners "either see that and don’t care because Goodell has made them so much money, or they continue to wear blinders." Macur wrote of a franchise possibly signing Rice, "Can you fault that team much, when the guy leading the league and setting the tone for the sport is a PR disaster?" That team would "just be following Goodell’s crooked lead." The league is "now at the mercy of arbitrators to clean up its messes" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/29). YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Adelson wrote Goodell and his staff "botched this process terribly." It is "unsettling to think of how many crucial decisions rest with a leader who was so sloppy" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/28). Harvard law professor Peter Carfagna said that even though the Rice case "does not establish precedent, it moves the league closer to a day when ultimate decisions on punishment are not made by the commissioner." He said, “The walls are beginning to tumble down on the commissioner hearing the final appeal." Carfagna added how that impacts Goodell's authority is "in the eye of the beholder" (L.A. TIMES, 11/29). THE MMQB's Andrew Brandt wrote this case "appears to have missteps at every turn." Brandt: "Yet despite the result, and continued questions regarding the league’s credibility in the area of discipline, I wonder about the impact of this critique" (MMQB.SI.com, 11/30).
REPUTATION AT STAKE: CBSSPORTS.com's Josh Katzowitz wrote Goodell's reputation "has taken a massive hit by his response to this incident," and the fact Jones overturned his ruling "doesn't help" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/28). In California, Todd Harmonson wrote Jones "dealt the most devastating blow yet to the reputation of a commissioner who seems hell-bent on self-destruction" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 11/29). ESPN’s Pablo Torre said the ruling "obliterates" Goodell’s credibility. Torre: "The only way to outdo a crime of that magnitude is to re-summon all of the public doubt that you had about Roger Goodell going into this thing. Now we know for sure that his primary moral responsibility is to protect the shield, to make money for owners." The Boston Globe's Bob Ryan said, "Most people in America would think his credibility is shot. (But) what do those 32 (owners) think?" ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN2, 11/30). ESPN.com's Ian O'Connor wrote Goodell "couldn't escape the magnitude of this rebuke." O'Connor: "If Goodell were most interested in the truth five months ago, he never would've met with Rice in the company of the woman he attacked. The NFL didn't want to know all the details of how Palmer was knocked out cold" (ESPN.com, 11/30).
FAR FROM OVER: NFL.com's Judy Battista wrote this incident "is far from over, because the NFL will grapple with the fallout for much longer." The league has been "embarrassed by this incident, and it has scrambled to make amends and put systems in place to make sure such a misstep won't happen again." In the "long run, that's a good thing." But the league's credibility "has been dented and that, too, will have long-lasting repercussions, particularly as it determines discipline in similar cases." It is "naïve to think the NFL will never have to grapple with these issues again." Each time it will "also have to grapple with deserved doubt about the genuineness of its motives" (NFL.com, 11/28). ESPNW's Jane McManus wrote each time the NFL "tries to justify the unjustifiable, it dredges up all the missteps and incompetence that led the league here in the first place." There is "a lot of good work being done now in the league offices, but the NFL has to get out of its own way here" (ESPNW.com, 11/28). In Boston, Ron Borges wrote if this "sordid mess has done anything it’s opened the league’s eyes to the fact you ignore domestic violence at your peril, and it’s made clear to us all why no one should have the kind of power the NFL commissioner has had for decades" (BOSTON HERALD, 11/29).
