The Goodell years - Ingles

In Oakland, Terrelle Pryor prepares to begin a five-game suspension for violating N.C.A.A. rules. In Tampa and Nashville, Aqib Talib and Kenny Britt just learned that they will not join Pryor on the sideline for violating the N.F.L.’s personal conduct policy during the lockout. And in New York on Thursday, a week before the league kicks off a wildly anticipated season, Commissioner Roger Goodell will mark his fifth anniversary in the job.

That it will come at a time when Goodell is making high-profile — and highly controversial — decisions seems fitting.

The N.F.L. has record-setting television ratings and rising revenues, and Goodell has put his fingerprints, as much as any of his predecessors, all over the game. Codes of conduct for players, coaches and even fans. Changes in rules that govern postseason overtime, kickoffs and the handling of concussions.

His time has been studded with remarkable accomplishments, most recently the completion of a collective bargaining agreement that brought labor peace, and almost certainly extraordinary prosperity, to the league for the next decade.

But his tenure has also included periods of intense criticism, much of it from players, as Goodell has used the blurry boundaries of the commissioner’s powers to shape everything from off-field behavior to on-field tackles.

“He’s done some things that have angered everybody, but that’s part of life,” said Dan Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ chairman, who headed the search committee that selected Goodell as commissioner. Rooney is now the ambassador to Ireland.

“If you’re doing things, you get people angry,” Rooney said. “Definitely owners, too. Present company included.”

Goodell declined to be interviewed for this article. But in his presentation to team owners in August 2006, he gave broad indications of how he would lead the league, clues to his vision for active leadership to sculpture not just how the N.F.L. runs, but also how it appears to outsiders.

“Change before you’re forced to change,” he said. “I believe you have to address issues directly; look around the corners; challenge assumptions; and don’t assume you know the answers.”

Later, he said: “You have an incredibly strong brand — the N.F.L. shield and the 32 individual club brands — with a massive audience. Companies will exploit this and try to redefine the N.F.L. image to their own advantage. We know we are held to higher standards and have to meet those standards on a consistent basis.”

Enhancing and expanding the N.F.L.’s reach has been a defining characteristic of Goodell’s tenure. The N.F.L. has slowly colonized much of the sports calendar, elevating the late-winter scouting combine into more must-see television, pushing the start of the college draft into prime time and, in a switch that met with some resistance from within the N.F.L., flooding fans with the information they wanted. He has allowed replays of action — some controversial, some that might make coaches look bad — to be shown on stadium big screens, overriding objections from some coaches.

Goodell started his N.F.L. career in public relations, but he maintains a low profile. He is not moved by the trappings of his job — the N.F.L. will move to cheaper, less plush office space soon — but cares deeply about the game and for players, said several people who have worked with him.

That makes particularly striking how Goodell has become a lightning rod, especially in the last two years, for those unhappy with his handling of player conduct and player safety issues.

His detractors, and sometimes his supporters, question whether he is inconsistent in applying rules and whether he overreaches in using his vast authority.

How, they wonder, can Pryor be disciplined for actions he committed in college? Why wasn’t Seattle Coach Pete Carroll similarly disciplined? Why was Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suspended last year, even though he was never charged with a crime after allegations of inappropriate behavior with women? Why was Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison fined thousands of dollars for what the league deemed to be improper hits to the head, but an N.F.L. Web site briefly sold pictures of one of the hits before it was removed? How can players locked out by the league this off-season be considered for discipline?

Goodell’s reply, in almost every case, has been a variation on a theme: he is doing what he thinks is in the best interests of the game.

But many players, and some fans, have been dismayed by what they consider a heavy-handed, and perhaps cynical, approach to managing the game.

“From the few times we’ve spent together, the commissioner actually seems like a pretty solid guy,” Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, who is active in the players’ union, wrote in an e-mail. “I don’t doubt that the commissioner has the best interests of the game in mind. But at what cost?

“I feel like the league office spends so much time highlighting the handful of bad things that happen in this league, rather than glorifying all the great things people are doing every single day. I feel like so much time and effort is poured into ‘protecting the shield’ and ‘cleaning up our game’ that we’ve lost sight of what’s good about our league.

“Players continue to be wary of the commissioner’s intentions because they feel like the league office is littered with hypocrisy. My hope was that player cynicism toward Goodell would have been at least partly resolved with the new C.B.A., but I’m afraid it might still take some time. Players are concerned about the abuse of power and how far all this might go. These are the kinds of things players think about, and it’s a shame it has to be that way.”

People on the outside view Goodell differently. Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College sports economist who wrote a book about Bud Selig, the Major League Baseball commissioner, takes issue with Goodell’s handling of the Pryor suspension — he calls it “mind-boggling and fatuous” — but otherwise praises the positions Goodell has taken.

“He introduced a player conduct rule and he has penalized players who have violated it, that’s positive, although many players are angry about it,” Zimbalist said. “But that’s O.K. That’s leadership, and it’s basically a sound policy.

“He’s made some important strides on safety, and that’s not an easy thing to deliver. Good for him that he’s able to do something not many leaders can do — put out a policy and even though it’s unpopular, stick to it.”

It is hard to imagine that Goodell will complete anything more important than the new labor deal — which included increases in the portion of revenue owners will receive — no matter how long he remains in the job. But large challenges remain. There are television contracts to be renewed in the next few years, and there will undoubtedly be more player conduct issues.

Nothing, though, figures to consume Goodell more than how to make going to games attractive for fans who might rather stay home and watch them on television.

The fan behavior policy is one step in that direction, but as ticket prices rise and technology makes staying home appealing, this promises to test Goodell’s vow to change before the N.F.L. is forced to change.

“That is a huge challenge and it’s vital because if the stadium simply becomes a stage, the game will have lost a vital element,” said Marc Ganis, a sports consultant in Chicago who has worked with teams and the league. “I believe this is the next great issue — how to make games important to people when they can sit in their living room? It’s a multiyear major challenge.”

For the future of the N.F.L., it might make Goodell’s next five years even more important than the first five. (source New York Times)