The 5 worst decisions Roger Goodell has made as NFL commissioner

When Roger Goodell took over as NFL Commissioner in 2006, he seemed to be the elixir for some troubles that were brewing in the areas of personnel issues off the field and player safety.

Goodell came in with a heavy hand, promising that the discipline problems that been building year upon year and which were tarnishing the image of the league would be a thing of the past. This new commissioner made it his primary duty to “protect the shield” at all costs.

Within his first year, a number of high profile players and coaches had been suspended or fined under Goodell’s newly implemented personal conduct code, including Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam Jones, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry,  Chicago Bears defensive lineman Tank Johnson, New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison and Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson,

It seemed like Goodell’s sweeping changes regarding the discipline of players was having the desired effect, as embarrassing off-field incidents were on the decline, and his authority was rarely questioned in cases of players becoming involved with drugs or undesirable behavior.

But the golden rule of any job, no matter how insignificant or seemingly important, is that you will always be faced with situations for which you received no training, no preparation and have no real answers.

It didn’t take long before Goodell was faced with some very unusual situations, and although at times his motives might have been coming from the right place, his actions ended up making things even worse.

And sometimes — to be quite frank — Goodell simply blew it. Here are his biggest gaffes as commissioner of the NFL.