10 episodes have defined Goodell’s turbulent reign
Thursday marks 10 years since Roger Goodell took over as commissioner of the NFL. To say his decade-long tenure has been tumultuous would be an understatement.
Here are 10 episodes that have defined Goodell’s reign:
1. Before Goodell’s promotion, the NFL had been criticized as soft on player discipline. He was widely praised for a law-and-order approach, implementing a personal-conduct policy in his bid to “protect the shield” after a rash of player arrests. He brought a heavy hammer down on some of his most serious offenders. In his first year on the job, Goodell suspended Adam “Pacman” Jones for the entire 2007 season, sat Chris Henry and Tank Johnson for eight games apiece and also dealt with Michael Vick’s dogfighting controversy. “I hope this sends a message to people in our league for how to conduct themselves,” New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said.
2. Goodell fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and stripped the team of its 2008 first-round pick and $250,000 after the New York Jets accused the organization of illegally videotaping its defensive signals — Spygate — during the opening game of the 2007 season.
3. After a rash of brutal hits early in the 2010 season, Goodell started issuing hefty fines to players who were delivering reckless helmet-to-helmet blows. Though he said he was trying to protect the players, many — mostly defenders — were critical of his approach and accused him of making the game soft. However, concussions and CTE, a degenerative brain disease that has been found in some deceased players, continue to threaten the game’s long-term viability.
4. By the end of 2011, Goodell had helped secure the league’s financial future with Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN committing nearly $40 billion for league broadcast rights from 2014 through 2022, an arrangement that would allow all 32 teams to collect roughly $200 million annually during that stretch.
5. Goodell became the face of the five-month lockout of players during collective bargaining negotiations in the spring and summer of 2011. A 10-year CBA was reached in time to salvage a complete regular season and was generally viewed as a victory for the owners, Goodell’s constituents. Without any fanfare, the pact also cemented the authoritarian powers of his office.
6. Goodell issued severe penalties to the New Orleans Saints in 2012 in what would become known as Bountygate. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season, and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was banned indefinitely for allegedly overseeing a program in which defensive players were rewarded for injuring opponents. The team was fined $500,000 and stripped of two draft picks, while four players were suspended. However, Paul Tagliabue, Goodell’s predecessor, vacated the players’ suspensions on appeal, but he affirmed Goodell’s other findings.
7. One year after locking out the players, the league used the same tactic with its game officials. The results were disastrous. The start of the regular season was marred by inconsistent (and incorrect) officiating, culminating with the Seattle Seahawks’ “Fail Mary” victory against the Green Bay Packers.
8. In what probably was his biggest public relations disaster, Goodell suspended the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice for two games before the 2014 season when the running back was accepted into a pretrial intervention program after he was caught punching then-fiancée Janay Palmer (she later married Rice) at an Atlantic City Casino. Rice had been originally indicted on aggravated assault charges. But after Goodell’s ruling, video surfaced of the incident, causing a public outcry. Goodell admitted he didn’t get it right when punishing Rice and re-suspended him indefinitely (a ban later overturned by a former federal judge).
9. May 11, 2015, Goodell went after the Patriots again, suspending star quarterback Tom Brady for four games for his alleged involvement in a scheme to deflate footballs during the 2014 AFC Championship Game. The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked two draft picks, including their first-rounder in 2016.
10. In January, the NFL owners allowed the Rams to relocate from St. Louis back to Los Angeles, their home from 1946 until 1994. “Franchise free agency” had become a problem under Tagliabue, but the Rams became the first team to move under Goodell, re-establishing a foothold in the nation’s secondlargest market after a 21-year absence.