If anyone thought that the calls from the media, mainstream or social, will somehow make Roger Goodell even consider stepping down as commissioner of the NFL, you’ve been living on another galaxy. So he, the league and the Baltimore Ravens made a mess of domestic abuse. The money keeps flowing, and that’s all the NFL owners care about.
That’s something that might be hard to understand for some, but it’s quite simple. Goodell is an employee of the NFL’s owners. Each of them might have certain social and political agendas on their mind, but for the most part, making money out of their franchises is the number one thing on their mind. Goodell might be a dictator when it comes to the way he’s handled suspensions and player punishments, but he’s making the NFL money at a record pace.
The fans keep complaining. Players aren’t in love with the guy as well. It doesn’t matter. He destroys evidence, makes up rules as he goes and simply does whatever the f@#$ he wants while making an insane salary, but all that doesn’t matter because he keeps the money flowing to the pockets of the owners. Fans keep showing up, TV and other media contracts are breaking every possible record. The machine is working, even with the glitches on the side.
It doesn’t matter if the NFL, Ravens owners and anyone else involved in the decision making did see the tape of Rice punching his fiancee in the elevator before it got published online by TMZ. If the website could get it, so could have the league. Goodell should have never interviewed Janay (then Palmer, now Rice) with Ray Rice inside the room. It wasn’t hard realizing that she wasn’t knocked out by anything other than being hit by her future husband.
The Ravens’ owner apologized to the fans for the Ravens not doing enough to get to the bottom of this. Robert Kraft defended Roger Goodell. The owners, the people who actually call the shots in the most extravagant show in the United States, are pleased with the way things went down. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t behind the scenes, who knows? As long as the people keep coming to see games, it doesn’t really matter how deplorable of a human being Goodell seems to be.
This wasn’t the first or last occurrence of domestic abuse involving an NFL player. The league has other problems it’s fighting on all fronts, making it seem like they care about safety but in truth it’s always been about public perception and keeping the brand strong and lucrative. If that remains consistent, everything else can be worked around.