Good for Roger Goodell. He said he would punish the guilty and on Wednesday he laid down the law, suspending New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and others in the NFL’s bounty system scandal.
Not since the days of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, major league baseball’s first commissioner, has a sports czar acted so quickly and decisively as Goodell did. Landis banned eight players of the Chicago White Sox who had been accused of throwing the 1919 World Series. (The infamous Black Sox scandal.) He put the good of the game ahead the players, but sadly not the owners.*
Goodell did not draw such a distinction. He levied fines, took away two second round draft choices and imposed suspensions on the Saints. As Goodell stated: “We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game. We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities. No one is above the game or the rules that govern it. Respect for the game and the people who participate in it will not be compromised.”
Full story: NFL commissioner makes it clear he’s in charge