'Why Goodell Must Suspend Brady & Belichick For A Season'

[TomM]

Why Goodell Must Suspend Brady & Belichick For A Season
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2015/05/09/goodell-must-suspend-brady-belichick-for-a-season/

In 1962, Paul Hornung, the Green Bay Packers halfback and the league's most valuable player (the MVP), and Alex Karras, a star defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions, were accused of betting small sums of money on the games, including games in which they played.

The league commissioner, Pete Rozelle, responded swiftly. Hornung and Karras, despite their immense popularity, were suspended for a season. As a result, the "real game" of football in the NFL has remained largely separate from the game of gambling.

For many decades, coaches and players have spent their time trying to win games, not gaming or fixing the games. Strong, swift punishment solved the systemic problem.

The Example Of The Financial Sector

This contrasts with governmental action in response to wrongdoing in the financial sector. Most of the big banks have been frequently involved in repeated illegality, including price fixing of LIBOR, abuses in foreclosure, money laundering of drug dealers and terrorists, assisting tax evasion and misleading clients with worthless securities. If any individual had been involved in even one such offense, they would be in prison for a substantial term. After the global financial meltdown of 2008, that was precipitated by the actions of bankers and that brought the world economy to the brink of financial catastrophe, not a single single senior financial manager went to prison.

Governmental action in the financial sector has consisted of the equivalent of slaps on the wrist, with financial penalties that for big institutions are simply "the cost of doing business," with no admission of liability. Even where in recent cases the SEC has managed to extract an admission of liability, the outcome is the same. The bank goes on doing "business as usual," as if to demonstrate that not only does wrongdoing have no significant consequences. Even admission of wrongdoing has no significant consequences. Wrongdoing is discouraged, but ultimately tolerated. The government seems content to extract billions of dollars in fines and impose ever more burdensome regulations on the financial sector.

But for society, the result of lax enforcement is continued wrongdoing, with no real end in sight. It is even hard to remember that there was a time, not too long ago, when banks were pillars of the community and exemplars of moral rectitude. Those virtues evaporate when wrongdoing is tolerated.

The NFL And "Deflate-Gate"

Back to the NFL and today's scandal: "deflate-gate." The New York Daily News reports that "NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell faces another complicated disciplinary decision."

He has received the Wells Report which concludes that it was "more probable than not" that star quarterback, Tom Brady, was "generally aware" of the deflation of footballs and that he did not cooperate with the investigation when he refused to turn over his cell phone to Wells' investigators.

The Daily News says that "evidence supplied by Ted Wells leads to one conclusion: Brady cheated." What punishment will Brady receive? "My feeling is he will wind up with two games, whether that is the initial discipline handed out or whether he is hit with four and ends up with two after an appeal."

"The Patriots could be fined," says the Daily News, "just as they were for SpyGate in 2007, when Goodell fined them $250,000 and took away a first-round draft pick. Bill Belichick, who was hit with a $500,000 fine for running his spying operation, is not likely to face sanctions because the Wells Report did not link him to the deflating of the footballs."

In other words, we are asked to believe that coach Belichick, who is famous for his meticulous attention to the tiniest and seemingly irrelevant details of preparation for each game, was disinterested in, and unfamiliar with, what was being done to ensure footballs had the appropriate pressure.

A Very Simple Decision

The Daily News is wrong. Goodell's decision is not complicated at all.

If Goodell wants to emulate the example of the financial sector, he should do what the Daily News says and give Brady a slap on the wrist with a two-game suspension, along with a financial fine for the Patriots that will sound significant in absolute terms, but will be but a drop in the ocean of the Patriots' financial returns. In this way, the popular Tom Brady, coach Belichick and the Patriots can continue on their current track. A two-game suspension at the start of the season will be doing Brady a favor and saving his talents for the playoffs, rather than a punishment. As in the financial sector, senior officials such as coaches will be seen as having no accountability for wrongdoing that occurs on their watch.

However, if Goodell follows this course of action, he should be aware that he will be giving a clear signal to NFL coaches, players and fans that cheating in the NFL is discouraged but in the end tolerated. The NFL will be heading down the path of professional wrestling.

If on the other hand Goodell wants to solve the problem of cheating in the NFL for good, he must emulate the excellent example of Pete Rozelle in 1962 where stiff penalties were exacted on popular payers for much less serious offenses than Brady's or the Patriots': Goodell must suspend Brady and Belichick for at least a season.

This is the way to send a clear signal that cheating in the NFL will not be tolerated. If this is done, fans will be able forget about the risk of cheating in the NFL for years to come. They can be confident that players and coaches will be playing the game of

[ramjet]

I think this is dumbest thing I have ever seen them back big deal about......

The league did not have its house in order so they do not have leg to stand on.

Prevent it in the future at the begging of the game NFL of foal uses a machine to pump all the balls to 12 PSI gauge. Both teams use those balls. At half do it again problem solved.

[npope]

I think the diversity of perspective on this issue is interesting. While I think the PSI of a football is a trivial issue, the fact that the Pats were still cheating (they have the emails of those two equipment managers to prove it, as well as some elusive commentary by Brady) and they should be punished accordingly (especially as a repeat offender, no less).

As an parallel, consider the student who shows up for an exam with crib notes that only contains answers to a few questions. Near the end of the exam, the kid is caught using the crib sheet. In my mind, the kid gets a zero (which is a pretty severe punishment). The punishment is not a function of how many answers he had but rather, it is a function of his intent to cheat and the fact that he crossed the line.

So, I am fine with dropping the boom on the Pats - I think the author in the article makes some very good points.

[Ivan Stankowski]

I am thinking if it is so trivial why go to such lengths to cheat? It is obviously important to Brady!!

Bottom line is they did things on purpose outside of the rules, doesn't matter if we, Joe public think they are stupid, or trivial, they broke the rules, Brady knew what was going down, Now accept the punishment.

[imnofish]

Decades ago, my father stated that professional athletics would destroy the integrity of their amateur counterparts.  In many ways, he was correct.  It seems that changes have been based on entertainment (and the resulting monetary) value and have filtered down to the most basic levels of sport, crowding out lessons once learned through honest competition and hard work.  Maybe clamping down on these "minor infractions" can be the first step toward reclaiming some of what made sports attractive to us in the first place.

[Ivan Stankowski]

Decades ago, my father stated that professional athletics would destroy the integrity of their amateur counterparts.  In many ways, he was correct.  It seems that changes have been based on entertainment (and the resulting monetary) value and have filtered down to the most basic levels of sport, crowding out lessons once learned through honest competition and hard work.  Maybe clamping down on these "minor infractions" can be the first step toward reclaiming some of what made sports attractive to us in the first place.

+ 1

[npope]

I am thinking if it is so trivial why go to such lengths to cheat? It is obviously important to Brady!!

I don't think that the cheating that took place would be described as "such lengths." They essentially had some low level knucklehead who was in charge of transporting the balls from the refs' locker room to the field stop in the bathroom for one and a half minutes while in route and quickly let some air out of the balls. I suspect that all seemed pretty quick and easy; a small transgression that provided the Pats with an edge, however small. Conversely, I think the efforts to cover it all up could be described as "lengthy."

Its all just a trivial little maneuver to gain a minimal edge that constitutes cheating - and they got caught...again.

If you are gonna' cheat, at least do it well.

[imnofish]

Well, it looks like the recommended spankings turned out to just be a few swats for the Pats; a million $ is chump change for them.  Brady's wallet and image will take a big hit, though.  The loss of a 1st round draft pick next year sounds like a good call, too!

[ramjet]

The league looks like complete idiots in this thing they are and were as incompetent in this entire thing as anyone.

[easytopin]

Roger No Goodell shouldn't lecture anyone on ethics.  I believe he makes it up as he goes.  Is he going to give back a million dollars for his gaffes over the past year.  Brady is probably in the know and being suspended is what he gets (Aaron Rodgers says he likes his football over-inflated)....should the Packers be worried over that statement. 

Lots of confessions lately of cheating by Jerry Rice, John Randle, Broncos and Redskins offensive lines, Atlanta and Minnesota pumped in noise, the list seems to go on and on. Some chat lines are questioning if Clay Matthews has had some improprities as well.  What I do not understand is if the blame is being put on Brady why was the teamed penalized draft picks. Wells report clears Belicheck and Kraft of any wrongdoing. 

Goodell is a clown who makes 44 million a year to screw up....thats my kind of job.

[imnofish]

I suspect that there is no shortage of guys willing to do the job, whom are even less qualified than Roger.  If the NFL would offer another $10 Million, they could have the commish they've been yearning for.   

[npope]

What I do not understand is if the blame is being put on Brady why was the teamed penalized draft picks. Wells report clears Belicheck and Kraft of any wrongdoing.  

The team did not fully cooperate when it refused to make their equipment manager available for follow-up interviews. I guess the going rate for that stubbornness is a cool million and some draft picks.

Today the Pats put out a lengthy rebuttal to almost every contention of the Wells report - sometimes laughingly so. The report claims that the equipment jockey who referred to himself as the "deflator" did so because he was trying to lose weight. The rebuttal also claims that the team's refusal to make that same equipment guy available for a second interview was because 1) the "rules of engagement" said that they could get only one crack at any Pat personnel and 2) Wells didn't say why he wanted a second crack at him. And that's supposed to be a transparent and rational defense for the Pats? Yikes!! They look like they are grasping at straws - which makes them seem even more guilty to me.