Roger Goodell Faces No-Win Situation in DeflateGate

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on January 22, 2015

Oh what a year it’s been for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Instead of enjoying yet another successful football season, which came complete with high television ratings across the board, the head of the league has become one of the most controversial figures in the country. This is all thanks to a laundry list of issues and scandals nobody in their right mind would want to deal with.

There was the Ray Rice incident, in which the former Baltimore Ravens running back knocked out his then-fiancé, was laughably punished with a two-game ban, then booted from the league after TMZ released new evidence the NFL claimed they never saw, which sent the league into a tailspin.

There was the case of Adrian Peterson, who was disciplining his four-year-old son by beating him with a tree branch. He, too, was sent packing for the year, but only after the Minnesota Vikings barely penalized him as well, leading sponsors to pull their dollars away.

In attempts to handle the criticism and scrutiny, Goodell decided to hold a press conference in September in attempts to try and show the world he was going to make things better and make the changes necessary to earn back national trust. And yet, against all odds, said conference ended up making Goodell look remarkably worse.

The NFL also opened themselves up to an investigation regarding the Rice incident, letting Robert Mueller – fresh off helping the league negotiate a new deal with DirecTV – explore whether or not the league was lying about whether or not they saw elevator footage of the domestic abuse. Mueller found the NFL was innocent, which was as believable as any investigation in which the institution being inspected is the one funding the examination could be.

At this point, with the playoffs in full-swing and the season almost over, it seemed like Goodell was in the clear. Unfortunately for him, this would not be the case.

By now, we all know about DeflateGate, the case of the New England Patriots possibly deflating almost all of their game balls below league standards as they beat the ever-loving tar out of the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday. Everyone seems to have a take on it, some saying it’s not that big of a deal, others saying suspensions and bans need to be issued. The league is currently waiting to see just how Goodell is going to react and how severe his punishments will be, if he even decides to discipline New England at all.

Man, you were so close to the finish line, Roger. It seemed as though the storm that was your miserable 2014 was just about to pass. You were all set to hand off the Super Bowl trophy next week and coast until it came time for the draft. But, here we are again, with national media expecting you to handle this latest controversy appropriately.

Now, a case involving deflated footballs looks miniscule compared to dealing with domestic abuse and beaten children. However, make no mistake, figuring out how to handle Bill Belichick and the rest of the Deflatriots is not going to be an easy job for Goodell.

Right now, even though reports confirmed New England’s footballs weren’t properly inflated per league rules, there’s nothing out there which proves the team had a hand in deflating them. To be honest, we may actually never see proof of this.

Of course, this hasn’t stopped media hounds from calling for swift action against the Patriots. This is a franchise which already got caught cheating back in 2007’s infamous Spygate. Due to the fact New England is now being seen as repeat offenders, many expect Goodell to do more than just fine the team or take away draft picks as he did back then.

Personally, the idea of banning the Patriots from the Super Bowl or suspending Belichick or quarterback Tom Brady is way too severe. Deflated footballs hardly affected the outcome of their 45-7 beatdown of the Colts. As Indianapolis tight end Dwayne Allen said, the Patriots “could’ve played with soap for balls” and still won.

But, the crime itself isn’t as much of an issue as how Goodell chooses to handle it.

One thing which will definitely be noted even before the commissioner issues his discipline is the fact he’s very good friends with Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Goodell even reportedly hung out with Kraft the night before the AFC Championship game took place. Whether you think it’s fair or not, this is going to be a key factor in this entire controversy.

Let’s say Goodell decides to go the same route he went in 2007, with a fine, a removal of draft picks, or both, and that’s that. Despite the fact this might appear as fair punishment, it’s tough to believe people will not see this as any more than Goodell going light on his friend’s franchise. It could all be easily spun as, “well, I guess you can cheat as long as your team’s owner is pals with the guy in charge of punishing them.”

Is that a fair claim? Maybe not, but it won’t matter. When you’ve dealt with as much skepticism as Goodell has this season, people are going to look for red flags in anything you do.

Even if you take away the factor of Goodell’s friendship with Kraft, a light punishment is going to be nationally viewed as the commissioner screwing up yet another chance to make things right. A team got caught cheating for the second time in eight years, but the punishment remained the same.

Again, it won’t matter whether or not you think a fine is a fair charge. Such is the case when Goodell has already bungled multiple controversies in one calendar year.

What about the other end of the spectrum, though? What if enough evidence is found that the Patriots did indeed intentionally deflate their footballs, once again getting caught in the act of cheating, and Goodell throws the book at them? What if New England heads to the Super Bowl without their head coach and/or quarterback because the commissioner took to swift and heavy justice?

Again, I personally think this seems like way too harsh a punishment, but more than a few people are calling for such a thing. At the same time, if this is what Goodell decides, you can bet it’ll be scrutinized, too.

Earlier in the season, Goodell was issuing out comically weak discipline for heinous crimes. Now, he’d be giving out intense punishment for an incident which would pale in comparison to what happened to both Rice and Peterson. It would be a case of the commissioner trying to show his authority, but looking drunk with power in doing so. He would be viewed as someone attempting to make up for previous mistakes by giving out an intense punishment for the very first incident that pops up, even if doesn’t merit it.

As you can see, just because the case itself doesn’t seem as controversial as the ones he’s dealt with previously, Goodell still faces a difficult situation in punishing New England.

If Goodell just takes draft picks away, the friendship with Kraft will be lumped in with multiple claims the commissioner failed to take appropriate action yet again. It won’t matter if this is the case or not, it’s what everyone will believe when they feel the NFL commissioner is already failing at his job.

Likewise, if Goodell throws the hammer down on the Patriots, issuing suspensions either before or after the Super Bowl, some may think he’s just trying to show off his supremacy. It would be the ultimate display of authority, an attempt to prove he’s not going to be pushed around or allow himself to let people go lightly. You would have the commissioner trying to prove he can handle these situations by overdoing New England’s punishment.

Again, bans and suspensions seem way too harsh to me. But, when you’ve gone through a year like Goodell has endured, dealing with numerous controversies which the majority of the public felt he gloriously fumbled, you’re going to face scrutiny no matter what you decide.

So now, the world waits to hear what Goodell decides to do. Thanks to the lengthy break between conference championships and the Super Bowl, the media is going to latch onto DeflateGate and hoist it into the spotlight like there’s no tomorrow.

People claim this is a chance for Goodell to “make things right.” To me, what you have here is Goodell standing at a fork in the road, and neither route promises to end well for him.

Will he go too lightly, risking to once again deal with people calling for his job? Or will he let loose on the Patriots, going all-in as a wild attempt to show cheating won’t be tolerated on his watch? Whatever road he decides to take, you can guarantee he’s not going to get away without being criticized in some way or another.

Best of luck, Roger.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook