Roger Goodell is under fire unlike any professional sports commissioner in recent history. Goodell has made the NFL billions of dollars and made it the most popular league in American sports today.
He’s enormously popular among NFL owners, but that could all change if reports and an investigation determine that Goodell somehow helped coverup Ray Rice’s assault on his then fiancée.
According to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report who spoke with one NFL owner, Goodell should survive this fiasco, unless it becomes fact that he did indeed lie.
“Roger (Goodell) is not a liar,” said the owner, who asked not to be identified. “He’s a good man who always wants to protect the NFL. He’s respected and liked by every owner I know. I believe Roger and the league. I trust them.”
The anonymous owner then made it clear that Goodell is done if an investigation determines he lied about not seeing the second elevator video.
“But I have to say that if this report is true, this is very bad for our league, and for Roger. No owner will support him if this is true. Not one.”
I agree with Freeman’s assessment and believe Goodell is likely to only pay a major fine at best. Someone in the league office will fall on the sword for poor handling of such a high-profile case.
