Roger Goodell: Worst Commissioner in NFL History

Over the last couple of NFL seasons, Roger Goodell has put himself in the line of fire. Many have nicknamed and dubbed him the executioner and the one who killed the game of professional football. The NFL has not been an iota as good since he took office as commissioner from retired former commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Goodell has turned the game into a mess of fines, suspensions, and punishment, rather than a game of fun and football.

When Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue were in charge of the National Football League from the beginning until 2006, there were few fines and players and coaches only received fines when they definitively deserved it. With Roger Goodell at the helm, more fines have been dropped in the last six seasons than in the first thirty-nine years of the league. Goodell feels the need to be the executioner and punish everyone for anything he deems fit. There are many instances this off-season alone to prove this. 

The Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, as a franchise, were punished for structuring contracts against the NFL guidelines before the uncapped 2010 season. There was no limit on cap space and yet the Cowboys and Redskins are being docked for using two much: $10 million and $36 million respectively. The punishments are not only uncalled for, but just plain wrong. If there is not set cap space during that season, then there should be no penalty two years later for spending more. 

The other big decision came in the bounty investigation of Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams, formerly with the New Orleans Saints. Some Saints' coaches and personel reportedly lied to the NFL investigators during two separate investigations. For Goodell, this was the last straw. He suspended Williams indefinitely from coaching in the NFL. He also suspended New Orlean Saints coach Sean Payton for a whole season without pay and GM Mickey Loomis for 8 games. He further suspended assistant coach Joe Vitt for 6 games and fined the Saints as a whole, $500,000 and stripped them of their second round picks in 2012 and 2013. This is just overkill. The only punishment that should have happened was suspending Williams. The rest of these punishments were not worth it. Goodell went too far, like he usually does. 

Roger Goodell has killed professional football for me, creating more drama than there needs to be. Fines and punishments are ok for certain instances, but his repeated use of them are just getting annoying for myself and most fans. Goodell needs to learn when enough is enough. Until he does, fans and owners will be calling for his head.