Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitarzan
I am stunned by the severity of the punishment(s). I believe this is the only way that the league can show that it was serious about protecting player safety in the face of the lawsuits. Those plaintiffs include NFL Hall of Fame players and also a couple of Superbowl-winning-QB's. It's got some real heavy hitters.
This is an attempt to lessen the blow the NFL might take in court if a jury finds that they indeed had systematic and institutional disregard of player safety in the interest of promoting winning-- at any cost.
I always try to put myself in the other guys shoes when criticizing ones actions. In this case, what was Goodell supposed to do?
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Why should the lawsuits have anything to do with the punishments?
Fight the lawsuit in court not in public. Bringing the pay for performance programs in the public eye has actually made things worse for the NFL. And now Goodell looks like a hypocrite, or I should say he is one.
This is something that Goodell started on his own. Not like an FBI investigation of a dog gambling ring. There could have been an internal effort to cut the practice out among all 32 teams like steroid testing. He didn't have to single out one organization and then egregiously punish the head coach who admitted that he was not involved enough and did not promote the program.
Goodell made an entire continent out of a molehill.