I personally think that Roger Goodell has been fine as a disciplinarian for the NFL. His idea to handle everything on a case by case basis has been good for the league as I see it. While it lends itself to a lot of criticism, the fact of the matter is that every case isn't the same, and every player isn't the same, so they should be looked at with that in mind.
Looking at the Stallworth situation, he said to himself, "This guy killed a man this past offseason, can I really let him play this year?" The answer, of course, was no, and he suspended him accordingly. I find nothing wrong with this vs. the Vick suspension, which was after the man had already spend 2 years in jail. Just cause Stallworth was able to pay off a family and avoid serious jailtime, he shouldn't be allowed to play this year.
I'm sure most have seen Chris "Maddogg" Russo's rant on Goodell, and how he had handled the Pacman situation at the time(if you haven't, please immediately search for it on youtube). But once Goodell found out all the facts and sat down with Pacman, he suspended him as he saw fit.
Put it this way. Ask any NHL fan if they'd trade Goodell's method for Colin Campbell's ridiculous way he handles the NHLs "case-by-case" basis for on-ice transgressions and they'll take Goodell in a heartbeat
2 comments: