Lonely at the Top: The Most Powerful Man in the Most Powerful Sport has a Power Problem

Power is difficult to acquire.  It is more difficult to maintain.  While possession may be nine tenths of the law, perception is nine tenths of political power.  Roger Goodell understands this well after the last two months.  The NFL Commissioner has decisively dictated the NFL’s course.  His steadfast approach to the lockout was a significant factor in the owners securing favorable terms.

Three unrelated events have undermined Goodell’s credibility, and with it his power.  The first is the failure of the owners and NFL Player’s Association (NFLPA) union to agree to HGH testing.  With the rising concern over retired player’s well-being and quality of life, the NFL can ill afford anything less than full transparency regarding players gaining unnatural physical abilities.  The public perception of steroid using behemoths mauling their brains at the behest of billionaire owners does not sit well with most Americans.  This perception fails to account for individual responsibility.  Goodell is not personally buckling chinstraps of concussed players and sending them back to the trenches.

 

However, power does not flow from logical reality.  It flows from perception.  No HGH testing hurts the NFL’s image.  This may not have irrevocably damaged Goodell’s prestige alone, but Jim Irsay has produced another problem.  Irsay, who owns the Indianapolis Colts, was arrested March 16^th for driving under the influence and drug possession.  He was pulled over and found to have numerous prescription pills that were not prescribed to him and over 29,000 dollars in his vehicle.  Goodell will discipline Irsay but the perception is that the owner is receiving the benefit of the doubt.  DeMaurice Smith, who is the NFLPA executive director, lambasted Goodell on May 29^th.  “There is a significant credibility gap that exists . . . what troubles our players is the speed and the deliberateness of punishment that they have seen in the past when it comes to a player, there isn’t the same speed or deliberate action when it comes to an owner, and that’s a problem.”

Again, this is a problem with perception not reality.  Any first time offender, player or owner, is typically given punishment once the incident has been resolved legally.  As such, Goodell should wait for the legal system to punish Irsay, a first time offender.  It seems likely that Irsay’s arrest would not have reached flashpoint except for the third event.  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling faster than one could say, “What would David Stern do?”  He wielded his authority far more assertively than Goodell ever has.  The difference is that Silver needed to ban Sterling.  Irsay has drug addiction issues.  He has never been recorded uttering racists comments.

            NFL players have been searching for opportunities to limit Goodell’s power.  Their outrage at the pace of Irsay’s discipline would exist regardless of what Silver did to Sterling.  The problem for Goodell is that his lack of movement stands in sharp contrast to the new NBA commissioner.  The public now sees a NFL commissioner who has failed to limit the amount of steroids in the game and who appears to support a wrongdoing owner far more than Silver ever would support his.  These three events have metastasized into a cancer that has begun to eat away Goodell’s political power.  The coming months will indicate how aggressively Goodell has decided to combat this cancer.  How Goodell decides to address his eroding power, is the question that will determine the NFL's health for years to come.