The National Football League is by far the most popular sport in the US. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talks about what he calls “protecting the shield.”
He originally handed down a two-game suspension to Ray Rice for a punch to the head of Mr. Rice’s fiance that left her lying unconscious on the floor of an elevator.
That decision was complaint with the NFL rules, which did not carry a specific penalty for domestic violence.
That two game suspension was shorter that the season long penalty handed down to Josh Gordon for his use of marijuana.
That decision was compliant with the NFL rules. Marijuana happens to be legal in two NFL cities and is subject to regulated use in many of the other NFL cities.
The Minnesota Vikings suspended Adrian Peterson for one game after being indicted for child abuse. The team reinstated him to allow the judicial process to proceed.
That decision was compliant with NFL rules.
Those are just three examples where the NFL was being complaint with the law and its own rules. Those are three examples where the NFL came to the wrong outcome.
Ray Rice has now been suspended indefinitely, Josh Gordon’s punishment has been reduced and Adrian Peterson is suspended.
It leaves you wondering what the NFL Commissioner means by “protecting the shield.”
During this tenure as commissioner, he negotiated very lucrative television contracts for the NFL owners. He negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that is very favorable to the NFL owners. He has made a great deal of money for his 32 bosses, the NFL owners.
The NFL has continued to grow in popularity. Gregg Easterbrook in his Tuesday Morning Quarterback column has been noting for five years: “There is no law of nature that says the NFL must remain popular.”
Now there is a perception that Goodell engaged in a cover-up to control the narrative of the Ray Rice story. The initial suspension for domestic violence was dramatically shorter than the punishment for use of a largely legal drug. Peterson was only suspended after a key sponsor cried foul and pulled its support of the Vikings.
“Protecting the shield” is not about making money for the owners in the short term. It’s about protecting the integrity of the game and the league. It’s about ensuring the long-term popularity of the game and the league. It’s the difference between acting ethically and being compliant.
Doug,
What this NFL situation should clearly point out is that there is a difference between compliance and ethics. From what we’ve seen being compliant is doing everything according to the rules, i.e. there is no emotion involved in the decision. So in this case, we get a 2 game suspension for Ray Rice or we get a deactivation for Adrian Peterson for one game and we reinstate him on the Monday after the game.
Ethics involves emotion and a look at the entire issue. So what happens is that we see Ray Rice fired by the team and subsequently suspended indefinitely or we hear from sponsors who are pulling thier support until we deactivate AP and place him on the Commissioner’s List.
So what we have here is the classic Strother Martin “a failure to communicate” between compliance and ethics.