There’s a popular view among some in the media that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell enjoys complete and total power over the league’s players, especially on matters of discipline. That popular view also is not accurate.
Apart from the reality that all discipline for on-field infractions falls under the jurisdiction of Ted Cottrell or Derrick Brooks, who were jointly appointed and are jointly paid by the NFL and NFLPA, the recently-revised PED and substance-abuse policies feature unprecedented use of third-party arbitration for most offenses.
Of course, the Commissioner retains full authority over the personal-conduct policy, a power that has had for years. But while many (including us) routinely have characterized Roger Goodell’s authority as reflecting “judge, jury, and executioner” status, it’s important to remember one key point: In three recent high-profile executions, the guy swinging the axe has missed the mark.
In 2012, Goodell yielded his authority over the discipline imposed on players in the Saints bounty scandal following an aggressive legal challenge. Faced with compelling arguments that Goodell should be recused from handling the appeal of the punishments because he had prejudged the case, Goodell handed the baton to former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. And Tagliabue overturned the punishments with a subtle rebuke that apparently has destroyed whatever relationship the former Batman-and-Robin-style partners once enjoyed.
In 2014, Goodell agreed preemptively to designate a neutral party to handle the appeal of Ray Rice’s indefinite suspension, given Goodell’s status as a witness in the case. (A witness who fought hard not to testify in the case.) Former U.S. Judge Barbara S. Jones overturned the punishment by finding that the main justification for it -- that Rice had lied to the Commissioner in June 2014 regarding Rice’s assault on his then-fiancée -- was not factually accurate.
Last week, current U.S. Judge David Doty found that Goodell and his hand-picked arbitrator, Harold Henderson, incorrectly determined that the unilaterally-revised personal-conduct policy could be applied retroactively to Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. Pending appeal and/or further proceedings before Henderson, Goodell’s suspension of Peterson could end up being thrown out.
So while the emperor may have clothing, it’s covering far less muscle that most realize. With the Saints players, with Rice, and with Peterson, Goodell believed he had the ability to impose whatever ruling he wanted to impose. In each of those cases, Goodell and the rest of us learned that Goodell’s powers has real limits.