Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, simply put, has no idea what he is doing. Yes, even Donald Trump and the Clintons knew what they were doing when they ran for the election. Goodell gets paid to make decisions which don’t help the game in any way, by getting an average of $34 million per year. While many people will argue that the reason for the ratings being down in the NFL over the last 2 seasons is because of protests and scheduling, it really isn’t. The reason for all of this goes back to Goodell, with his unreasonable suspension and non-suspensions of players, the fact that the NFL barely allows players to celebrate, that the players can’t wear custom shoes, the concussion protocols being rather lenient, etc., I can go on and on. The biggest part of Goodell’s stupidity is his viewpoints of suspensions. Roger Goodell has no consistency when it comes to judging how to suspend a player, and with Ezekiel Elliott’s final suspension decision soon to come in, I explain why Zeke, despite the fact that what he did really should cost him a season, should really cost him nothing:

Ezekiel Elliott: What Did He Do?

Ezekiel Elliott is, as of right now, going to have to serve a 6-game suspension for his alleged domestic violence case. The accuser, Tiffany Thompson, has provided evidence of pictures of bruises on her body, yet the NFLPA has said that the evidence, because of the way it was sent and produced, and because of the bad timing of it, that they cannot uphold the suspension. Elliott and the NFLPA have filed conspiracy against the NFL, saying that the NFL is ‘hiding critical information which would free Elliott’ from his suspension. So, did he do anything? Well, we really don’t know, and Goodell will do everything he can to make sure we won’t find out.

The History of Goodell’s Stupid Suspensions

Now, many people will think that there are certain suspensions that aren’t stupid, but trust me, they are. First, we start with the most infamous one by Goodell, which is the former Baltimore Ravens RB Ray Rice’s incident. Goodell originally had suspended Rice indefinitely, and then the video of Rice beating his now-wife Janay Palmer was released. The video showed the elevator opening, Rice beating his wife unconscious, and then dragging her out by the knees. Goodell admitted he hadn’t seen the video, which resulted in Goodell lowering it to just 2 games suspension. 2 GAMES ONLY? FOR BEATING YOUR WIFE? REALLY? It’s simply put, blasphemous. Former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys player Greg Hardy had an alleged domestic violence case against him in 2015, and originally got 10 games, which was later reduced to 4. Former NY Giants kicker Josh Brown got just 1 game for beating his wife in 2016, when he admitted after he got cut by the Giants that he had over 20 incidents in which he beat his wife.

Why Goodell’s Stupidity Means Elliott Really Shouldn’t Be Suspended at all

These cases of domestic violence after the Ray Rice incident, were all suspensions in which Goodell promised at least 6 games of suspension to all of these players, yet none of these players have ended up with 6-game suspension. Goodell is notorious for hiding information which is valuable to the NFL knowing, and he is taking the money and running. Now, when I say Elliott shouldn’t be suspended, I am not saying that in reality he shouldn’t. In reality, Elliott should receive 1 season, and Rice, Goodell, Hardy, and Brown all deserved that too. However, because Goodell cannot cooperate with anything besides the money, and because he is so inconsistent with the numbers in terms of knowing how many games each player should be suspended, there definitely is a conspiracy against Elliott, because if Rice got 2, Elliott should get none. Also, how come someone who is on drugs gets suspended a full season? If anything, the players on drugs should get 2-game suspensions, and the players who commit domestic violence should get a season. The players that do drugs need to be with the team, in practice, and in the team rehab facilities at all times. Sure, they shouldn’t play, because the drugs are wrong, but the NFL should keep them off the streets to make sure they don’t harm themselves with the drugs. When players are on the team facilities, with their teammates and coaches, they are in their ‘safe house’, because they know that they are around people that care about their health and future just as much as they do.

Should Goodell Be Fired?

Yes. I don’t know what evidence can keep him, as well as the league, in control of the NFL. In fact, under the current madness the NFL is in under Goodell, since he is trying to get all the money he can to benefit himself and not the league, the NFL could be non-existent by as early as 2025. Goodell should be fired, and there are plenty of people who can replace him.

Roger Goodell Replacements

1. Me

If I, a high school junior, has the courage to let the world know that Goodell is the world’s biggest idiot and should be fired, then why not hire me. Just read everything I just said. I have common sense, Goodell doesn’t.

2. Condoleezza Rice

Well, I guess me being the NFL Commish is a bit unrealistic, so let me throw out some names that actually have a high chance of running the NFL. The first one is Condoleezza Rice. Rice, former Secretary of State, has admitted that her dream is to be the commissioner of the NFL, and the fact that she is also on the NCAA College Football Playoff Selection Committee, she is the clear front-runner for it.

3. Bill Belichick

Belichick was the mastermind behind Spygate and Deflategate, so if he knows how to perfectly get a team’s playbook and deflate a football to his team’s advantage, he would be able to prove why guys like Ray Rice and Ezekiel Elliott deserve full-season suspensions. As manipulative as Belichick is, he is extremely smart and honest, and that is something that the NFL needs.

4. Adam Silver

Silver, the NBA commissioner, is right now the most fearless and most outspoken commissioner in all of sports. He wouldn’t be scared to share evidence and expose players to the entire world, just ask Donald Sterling and Jeannie Buss.

5. Ray Anderson

Anderson, the current Arizona State vice-president of athletics, was also the NFL executive Vice President for 8 years, so he knows what he is doing. The hard part will be convincing him to leave Arizona State.

Sources:

• https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nfl-domestic-violence-policy-suspensions/
• https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/14/sports/football/tom-brady-nfl-roger-goodell-suspensions.html?mcubz=3
• http://nypost.com/2016/01/03/it-seems-impossible-but-end-of-nfl-may-be-nigh/
• http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/heat-index/2014/09/19/top-replacements-nfl-commissioner-roger-goodell/15922823/
• http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20536461/dallas-cowboys-submit-court-filing-support-emergency-motion-ezekiel-elliott-case