Part II - Roger Goodell Needs to be Fired for Incompetency and Treason

By Steve Lee | August 25, 2015 Goodell ignored the demands for his resignation and eventually the outrage subsided. Then came “Deflate...

By Steve Lee | August 25, 2015

Goodell ignored the demands for his resignation and eventually the outrage subsided.

Then came “Deflategate.” A recent website headline referred to this fiasco so appropriately; “Goodell Cooks Up Drama Like Kim Kardashian...”

“Deflategate” centers around the Indianapolis Colts suspecting the Patriots were under inflating the footballs giving their All-Pro quarterback, Tom Brady, an unfair advantage. The Colts notified the NFL of their concerns prior to the AFC Championship game between the two teams. The pressure for the game balls for each team was checked prior to kickoff as they are before every game. Despite the pre-game allegations, none of the officials recorded the pressure of any of the balls. The Patriots were not notified of these allegations prior to the game so that a drama could have been avoided altogether, thereby protecting “The Shield” and it’s most popular player.

Rule 2.0, a rule in place since the 1940’s, “requires the football to contain a urethane bladder inflated to 12.5 to 13.5 pounds per square inch.” But the rule never has been interpreted as imposing a duty on the referee to periodically ensure that the football remains within that range. One researcher claimed the Ideal Gas Law demonstrates (based on the Wells report), a wet, 48-degree day in January results in the footballs being anywhere from 0.98 to 1.18 PSI below the minimum at halftime. I’m not familiar with that law, but I have yet to see the claim refuted. This makes me wonder, how much air pressure remained in the football when Bart Starr scored from the one in the final minute of the Ice Bowl with the wind chill -17?

Guess the Packers just might have cheated. Vince Lombardi is rolling over in his grave.

Let’s take a look at the Wells Report, the supposed “independent” investigation into “Deflategate” (paid for and edited prior to publishing exclusively by the NFL and its attorneys) that resulted in the harsh punishments to Brady and the Patriots.

It seems that at halftime, the officials having been notified by NFL officials of possible tampering, re-measured all the Patriots footballs. Eleven of 12 of the Patriots balls were under inflated, most less than one pound under acceptable pressure. Interestingly, due to time constraints at halftime the officials only were able to measure four of the Colts balls, three of which were UNDERINFLATED. The commissioner has not punished the Colts for their underinflated balls at all, in fact this is an issue that has been largely ignored yet detailed in the Wells Report, pages 68-69.

Brady, based on the findings of the Wells Report was suspended four games without pay (that equates to three months pay to you and me), the Patriots owner was fined $1 million, and they lost a future draft pick. Goodell said Brady’s suspension was for "conduct detrimental to the integrity of the league." This was because there was no evidence directly or even indirectly that Brady was responsible for the underinflated game balls.

NFL Rule 2 states that, “[T]he balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game.” This didn’t happen. They were taken into a restroom under the stadium by an attendant just prior to kickoff. If the officials didn’t retain supervision of the balls as required by NFL rules, why aren’t they being investigated and disciplined? Perhaps another subconscious protection for his NFL upbringing when he was VP overseeing officials?

The NFL written policy for tampering with game balls is a $25,000 fine. I guess Mr. Goodell has been too busy defending himself in federal court to read his own rule book.

Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns All-Pro tackle and nine year NFL veteran recently stated, "We know [quarterbacks] already doctor [footballs] 99 percent, why do we care about the 1 percent in the air pressure?" Thomas said. "Why does that matter? Nobody's even explained why that even matters."

Thomas said Brady is not a cheater.

Peter King of TheMMQB.com noted regarding the manner in which the officials check football pressure. It’s clear that, as of 2013, the precise amount of air inside a football was anything but a big deal. A video posted on the MMQB website shows an official stating, “12.5, that’s close enough,” as he removes a gauge from a ball and tosses it to another official. In another portion of that same video, an official is alarmed by the amount of air hissing out of the ball before adjusting the valve on the gauge, popping it in again, and then flipping it to someone else, presumably because it was “close enough.”

Yet, “Deflategate” lives and is under appeal in a New York court. What a farce.

Why the line in the sand? The Patriots are the team everyone resents and hates, yet are jealous of their success. The NFL wants parity. Owners want a chance to compete for the Super Bowl. Taking down the Patriots is a step in that direction. It’s a step in leveling the playing field. The Patriots are brash, unconventional and push the envelope. Goodell is paid his $40+ million a year by these owners, so he listens when they speak.

However, the fact is it doesn’t matter if the league’s system is terrible, unfair, nonsensical, rooted in bias or, at its core, heavy-handed. Since it was collectively bargained with the union, league commissioner Roger Goodell can be completely wrong based on the inaccurate findings of a bad investigation and no one can do anything about it, except perhaps a federal court judge.

The underlying issue here is why is the commissioner of the most popular sport in the country effectively undermining the reputation and legacy of one of its greatest players?

This has been going on for seven months. “The Shield,” the player, the team, and the commissioner have all been tarnished. For what?... An underinflated ball that according to the results of the game in question gave the alleged no unfair advantage. He played better the second half with properly inflated footballs. He won the Super Bowl with properly inflated footballs.

Talk about turning a molehill into a mountain.

Now, just this week, we see Hall of Fame receiver and ESPN commentator Chris Carter, who along with Hall of Famer Warren Sapp, were exposed telling in-coming 2014 rookies to lie to police if they get questioned. They advised them to have a “fall guy” in their crew that would be willing to go to jail if something bad happens. This was the Hall of Famers advice presented in their best Ebonics slang. Just another misstep by the current NFL leadership.

Mr. Goodell has done enough damage to the game American’s love. Time to put this witch hunt to rest. It’s time for Mr. Goodell to go teach economics at NYU.


Post a Comment Default Comments

4 comments

Anonymous said...

WOW, that's a great article. Being a hugh football fan I found your article spot-on and agree, it's time for Mr. Goodell to go.

Billy 363 said...

Yeah, this guy has to go..

He's really blown the deflategate thing way out of control. Should have just fined the team $25,000 with a memo stating tampering in future will not be tolerated and been done with it.

As article states if he was so interested in protecting the shield, he would have notified the Pats of the allegation prior to the game so that none of this would have happened in the first place.

He's a total hypocrite.

Good points about the Colts balls being underinflated and the refs not being investigated. Never thought of those issues.

Capt. Benjamin Willard said...

Mr. Lee, Thank your for the thought provoking story. While I am not fan of the Patriots, right is right. Maybe if Goodell gets dumped he can replace Sepp Blatter at FIFA.

Anonymous said...

Well Mr. Lee, looks like you got that one right. Incompetent!

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