The ruling from former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturning the suspensions imposed on four players arising from the Saints bounty case comes, coincidentally, as the owners are preparing to convene for a quarterly meeting.
As one high-level source from one of the 32 teams remarked with a request for anonymity: “Should be interesting.”
Indeed it will. Regardless of how it is packaged and postured by the league, Commissioner Roger Goodell has received the equivalent of a jarring right hand to the chin from Juan Manuel Marquez. Goodell will now have to stagger to his feet and finesse his way through what could be a delicate, awkward, and potentially hostile gathering.
We think he’ll pull it off. However, it will require plenty of patience and dexterity and diplomacy to keep this one under control.
If nothing else, it will be good preparation for his eventual trip to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.