Goodell needs to get out of punishment business

As the commissioner of the greatest sports league on the planet, Goodell’s primary focus, every single day, is to keep the train on tracks. The NFL is one of the greatest brands on the planet. Goodell’s job is to keep that intact.
The league and its owners make money faster than the Denver mint can print it; Goodell doesn’t need to channel his energies on getting the league into the black. He certainly doesn’t need to overthink the marketing efforts of America’s most-popular game; if anything, the league is already “over-marketed.” And aside from the ever-growing issue of player safety, Goodell doesn’t need to tinker with the game itself, either. Fans already love what it is.
But there are days when it’s tough to decide if Goodell is preserving the greatness of the NFL or doing his damndest to tear it down. Yesterday was one such day.
The following scenario played out all across Denver yesterday: Broncos fan arrives at work. Rather than actually working (it was a Monday), Broncos fan eases into his workspace, turns on his computer and immediately surfs his way to his favorite sports news web site. Anxious to learn more about the recent suspension handed down to Broncos kicker Matt Prater, he scans for clues that help to make sense of it all. It’s a tough one to wrap his arms around because Prater’s violation is confusing, at best.
Broncos fan reads that Prater’s lawyer says his client was busted for drinking a few beers over the summer. A New York Times article he comes across claims that an NFL spokesperson “declined to confirm the suspension.” He learns that the Broncos aren’t commenting on the situation, either.
He finds some apologies and confessions from Prater himself – the standard, politically correct, written-by-a-public-relations-professional, regretful(ish) kind of statements – but still, he can’t make heads or tails of the suspension.
Frustrated, Broncos fan gives up his quest, determining only that Prater has – in some way, at some point in time – violated the NFL’s murky-as-mud substance abuse policy. He begrudgingly gets back to his actual job.
Later in the day, Broncos fan decides to rekindle his search for truth. He again scours the internet. Still, he can’t find much that’s “definitive” regarding Prater – only that his favorite kicker will be sitting out four games.
He does find a statement from Goodell, though. It’s not about Prater, but somehow his search has led him to this: “I would say the one person that has been very responsive and gone through the program is Richie Incognito. We are working with his people and monitoring his progress and it’s gone well.”
Broncos fan learns that Incognito, who was suspended indefinitely last season after a bizarre bullying incident with the Dolphins, may soon be returning to the NFL. Goodell seems supportive for some reason.
By now, Broncos fan can’t help but look at blog sites and fan interaction. He finds that he’s not the only one trying to figure out what’s going on with Prater. He learns, or thinks he learns, that in the NFL, it’s better to be involved in a domestic violence incident than drinking a few beers; that it’s better to intentionally try to hurt another player than consume alcohol in one’s own home; that some drugs, including a few legal ones, are less “bad” than others.
Discouraged, Broncos fan returns to real work.
Sound, or feel, familiar? Can you clearly determine what in the hell happened to Matt Prater? Nobody in Denver will stand up and shout that Prater is an angel, but this seems out of whack.
Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Maybe Prater has been flirting with disaster all along – it’s just that nobody knew about it. According to most sources, a penalty of this severity generally follows someone’s third violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. The problem, or at least it would seem, is that most violations are kept under wraps, all part of the confidentiality clauses written into the fine print of the NFL’s lengthy rules that outline the substance abuse or personal conduct policy.
Chances are, Goodell is simply administering punishment based on how the rules have been written and agreed upon by the NFL Players Association.
Ray Rice’s domestic violence incident certainly looked worse than whatever it was that Prater did. Rice’s actions were on full display, and they looked ugly. Fans don’t take into consideration that this particular incident was Rice’s first, or that Prater, allegedly, has had multiple infractions. This is not to say beating one’s girlfriend is “better” than drinking one too many beers – it’s most definitely not – but chances are, and in an odd defense of the commissioner, Goodell is likely following some kind of predetermined protocol.
But the problem is that perception is different from reality; and the real problem is that Goodell is in the perception business. How his league or his jurisdiction is perceived is everything; and right now, people are being turned off by the NFL.
Prater’s lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, planted a seed yesterday that dumped fuel on the fire.
“I wonder if we shouldn’t take a second look at the policy when only a couple beers were consumed at home while he was on vacation,” Steinberg subtly jabbed in a Denver Post article.
Adding to the perception that the league cares more about “a couple of beers” than domestic violence, Steinberg reinforced what every fan is thinking – right or wrong.