A Controversial Season

In a season marred by controversy, Deflategate is a most fitting end. 

bgr.com

It was February 14, 2014.

Valentine's Day.

Just two weeks had passed since the Seahawks had claimed the Lombardi Trophy in astounding fashion: a 43-8 trouncing of Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

111.5 million viewers made the game the most watched event in television history, surpassing the record set by the game of the previous year, and was a fitting end to a season that earned the NFL close to 9.5 billion in revenue.

Roger Goodell was dishing out the last congratulations to the league officers and beginning to shift his focus toward the upcoming season, at that point 6 months from the first preseason games.

It was the beginning of the NFL offseason, and therefore the start of the mammoth media and marketing campaign that would aim to have fans salivating by mid-June.

On February 14, 2014, Roger Goodell was probably taking his lovely wife out to a romantic dinner to celebrate their marriage and the undisputed success of the National Football League. After the meal he would order a scotch (and a martini for his wife) and they would split a dessert-- chocolate mousse with raspberry drizzle. Then he would go home to bed, smiling and wholly oblivious to the fact that in the morning he would wake to find the league at the center of a national controversy.

Around the same time Goodell was closing his eyes, Baltimore Ravens' running back Ray Rice was boarding an elevator with his girlfriend in Atlantic City. When the doors opened, however, he was dragging her unconscious form through the lobby.

Ray Rice stands over his unconscious girlfriend

(dailymail.co.uk)

Before most had even digested the Super Bowl in its entirety-- Peyton Manning, for certain-- the NFL was center stage once again, in a very bleak and damaging spotlight.

The Ray Rice incident sparked national outrage and a call for Goodell to act immediately. The court system would take time to levy the punishment, but surely Goodell could condemn such a reprehensible act without hesitation while the charges processed.

No such action was taken.

In March, a grand jury indicted Rice on third-degree aggravated assault, a charge that carries a 3-5 year sentence but was later dropped in lieu of court-supervised counseling. Rice's girlfriend had agreed to marry him on the day after the incident, and the couple had chosen to chalk the incident up to "mutual intoxication".

"We vehemently deny that Mr. Rice committed an aggravated assault," said Rice's attorney. "Both Mr. Rice and Miss Palmer are together, they are happy and they're in counseling."

Many still looked to the league to condemn the act, and domestic violence, with more severity than a superficial and transparent media campaign.

Goodell responded with a two-game suspension.

He cited the absence of criminal charges and Rice's clean history as reasons he felt the meager punishment was adequate. Above all, he said, the league be consistent with other punishments.

Those other punishments include:

"Pacman" Jones currently plays for Cincinnati

(madamenoir.com)

Ben Roethlisberger-- 6 game suspension in 2010 for allegations of sexual assualt (later reduced to 4)

Donte Stallworth-- Suspended for the entire 2009 season for DUI Manslaughter charges.

Pacman Jones-- multiple suspensions, including the entire 2007 season and an indefinite suspension in 2008 for involvement in an incident at a Las Vegas strip club that escalated to a triple shooting. He suspension was reduced to 4 games as well.

Goodell had decided on the appropriate punishment and hoped to move on with the offseason, utilizing the NFL draft and the upcoming preseason to steal the focus. Eventually the regular season was upon us, and the Ray Rice discussion became centered around the impact of his suspension on his fantasy draft position.

Things took a turn for the worse, however, when the video of the Ray Rice incident surfaced online, clearly showing the 200 pound running back punching his girlfriend in the elevator. TMZ released the video on September 8, and the public reaction was immediate and intense.

The Ravens terminated Rice's contract immediately and Goodell was forced to change the suspension to indefinite. Already under fire for the paltry suspension initially issued, Goodell apologized again and admitted his initial ruling was not severe enough. The NFL announced a new domestic violence policy and hoped to put the story to bed once and for all.

Adrian Peterson in court

(abcnews.com)

Then on September 12, just four days after the Rice video surfaced, Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson was indicted for child abuse.

These scandals followed the commissioner for the duration of the season, and the integrity of the league was under fire from the very start. There were also on-field incidents that, although non-criminal, did nothing to bandage the fractured reputation of the league and its embattled commissioner.



Lions' defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, repeatedly voted the NFL's dirtiest player, was caught on camera intentionally stepping on the ankle of Packers' QB Aaron Rodgers. This was Suh's second stomping-related incident against the Packers alone, and the league has warned him numerous times to remedy his behavior.

Suh's first stomp

(foxsports.com)

The offense prompted a one-game suspension, which was immediately overturned and allowed Suh to start in the first round of the playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys.

That game too was marred by controversy, as a critical penalty for pass interference was picked up with no given explanation.

The Cowboys would advance only to be knocked out on an overturned touchdown-- the "rules" of the game dictate that the receiver did not maintain possession of the ball.

That allowed the Packers to advance to the NFC Championship-- an incredible game that was miraculously absent of controversy. That contest was followed by the AFC Championship, in which the Patriots* stomped the Colts, and now face allegations of intentional manipulation of equipment to deliberately gain an advantage-- cheating.

Yes, it seems that controversy has been a hallmark of this NFL season, and it is only fitting that the biggest game of the year-- and likely the most watched event in television history-- will come with the ultimate sour lining. Many feel that there is enough evidence to punish the New England Patriots*, via fine at the very least, and some have called for a suspension of Brady*, Belichick*, or both.

As the days pass it seems that no decision will be handed down until after the Super Bowl. The league is "thoroughly investigating" the allegations against the Patriots* but for some reason has deemed it unnecessary to speak with the man at the center of it all-- Tom Brady*.

(eonline.com)

To speak with the former "Golden Boy" would make the NFL complicit, and it would have no choice but to suspend the QB and spoil the Super Bowl. So they are turning a blind eye, just as they did with Ray Rice, and showing us all what they are truly made of.

Image.

Facade.

Shiny silver statues, hollowed as rotten oak trees.

Yes, being the commissioner of the money-making machine that is the NFL comes with a lot of responsibilities.

Justice and Integrity are just not amongst those.