Roger Goodell's Failure
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by Bsd987
Roger Goodell sent a message Thursday: if you get in trouble off the field, pray that the New York Post isn't delivered to NFL offices; if you are caught cheating during a game, eh, no biggie.
Allegations arose Monday that the New England Patriots, winners of three of the last six Super Bowls, had been caught videotaping New York Jets' defensive signals during the Patriots' 38-14 win Sunday afternoon. After confiscating the tapes and issuing a private investigation, Goodell confirmed that the allegations were true.
The Patriots were fined $250,000 and docked a conditional first round pick, with that pick becoming a second and a third if they miss the playoffs. Additionally, head coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the largest coach fine in NFL history and the maximum allowed by league rules. However, Belichick was not suspended, even though Goodell admitted he considered it.
For those involved, the money is irrelevant. And due to skillful maneuvering, the Patriots still have a first round pick that they received from San Francisco, a pick that will likely be higher than the one they give up.
Oh, not to mention that their team is so solid that there is unlikely to be that many holes to fill.
Compared to Tank Johnson, who was suspended half a season for asserting his constitutional rights, this isn't even a slap on the wrist. Heck, it isn't even a stern "don't do that."
Goodell is allowing teams to cheat and doing as little as needed to make the league look good. He issued a punishment and now everyone is happy. All this does is make him David Stern without the guilt of actually being involved in the cheating (yes, Stern has orchestrated the draft lottery on at least two occasions and probably upwards of 20 postseason games; get over it).
If he truly wanted to make sure this didn't happen again, he would. In college sports, cheating, such as using players who have in some way lost their eligibility, even through the influence of outside boosters, is counteracted with loss of scholarships, postseason sanctions, and forfeiture of wins and titles. Michigan basketball had to vacate two final fours and about 200 victories for a slew of violations in the 1990s. And the Patriots should have been subjected to a similar fate.
First, the team should have lost every single draft pick for the 2007 draft, including the rights for conditional draft picks should they lose restricted players to free agency. If they complied with NFL rules for the remainder of the season, they would regain the rights to any conditional draft picks.
Second, Belichick should have been seriously investigated and if found to be the main person responsible, suspended without pay for at least four games and as many as the remaining 15 games of the 2007 season.
Third, the team should have been forced to forfeit the result of Sunday's game and placed in the standings with a loss. The Jets loss would stand as well, as they did clearly lose, no matter how badly the Patriots cheated (consider Watergate as a similar example).
And finally, the Patriots should have been eliminated from postseason contention for the 2007 season and put on high alert that any further violation within three years would result in a two year suspension from postseason activity as well as a revocation of the franchise right from the owners within 365 days of the offense.
If Goodell had taken these steps, everyone outside of the greater Boston area would have applauded him for making sure that cheating remained out of the game. What the Patriots did violated the sanctity of fair play and showed an utter disrespect for ethics.
Of course, anyone who remembers the time the Patriots delayed the finish of their winter game against the Miami Dolphins so that a guy could plow the snow off of the field in overtime right before a game winning field goal attempt knows that the Patriots have no respect for ethics.
But Goodell issued nothing. He showed that the greatest evil in the NFL is not cheating amongst teams but rather weapons possession by marginally visible players. And that's wrong.
While Goodell did rightly go visit injured Buffalo Tight End Kevin Everett Thursday, the day was a loss for the NFL in the eyes of posterity. Goodell was given an opportunity to show that his league would not tolerate cheating and he failed.
He failed miserably.
The entire Patriot organization got off, and if I were Belichick, nothing would stop me from videotaping opponents for the rest of the year. I already learned that Goodell doesn't want to punish me.
Just as long as I don't get caught fighting dogs....
