In the aftershock of both the startling revelations of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell is facing one of the greatest challenges to the League’s image in his six-year tenure.
The TMZ bombshell that Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice abused his wife, Janay Palmer, led to his indefinite suspension from the NFL at large.
This, coupled with Goodell’s admission that he was wrong on the initial two-game suspension, means the league must now aggressively investigate domestic violence.
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was indicted on allegations of child abuse. Peterson has since been reinstated by the Vikings after being suspended Friday.
But the two incidents so close to one another speak volumes about how bad timing can make what was once a much smaller issue into a conflagration of epic proportions.
The post of commissioner over an organization as big as the NFL is one of many responsibilities.
It is by no means a sinecure, but with the NFL’s ratings and viewership at record highs, and television networks paying through the nose for broadcast rights, it seems Goodell has gotten a little too comfortable in his post.
Granted, the replacement referee controversy in 2012, as well as the two “gate” incidents (Bountygate and Spygate), put a bit of a damper on what had been a fairly sterling record.
But right now, calls for resignation are coming from feminist groups and politicians.
Even the issue with the name of the Washington Redskins did not result in this much pressure. Dan Snyder, owner of the Redskins, didn’t feel the need to resign because he did not change the name of his team.
While it is clear something is rotten about the state of the NFL, the truth remains that these are individual actions by a handful of high-profile players that have endangered the image of the league as a whole.
Goodell has done a fair, albeit belated, job of introducing new policies that toughen up the league’s stance on issues that have long been ignored by far too many people.
Let us hope he and other leaders in the sports world do not sink into complacency again or else they shall face a lot more than the wrath of activist groups.
Now, there’s only the question of who saw that TMZ video in April.
mjsu@indiana.edu
