The 5 worst decisions Roger Goodell has made as NFL commissioner

Bountygate – New Orleans Saints and Sean Payton

In March of 2012, Goodell announced that he had obtained evidence that players and coaches on the New Orleans Saints had participated in a “bounty program” where defensive players were given cash bonuses for deliberately knocking opposing players out of games.

OK, so the Saints had obviously done something wrong, the evidence was there. All that needed to be done now was to review the facts and come up with a punishment, right?

Guess again.

Goodell handled the entire Bountygate incident (as it came to be known) with all the grace and coordination of a three-legged camel running a military obstacle course.

The suspensions, fines and other punishments that were handed down to the Saints were so random and unprecedented, even former commissioner Paul Tagliabue (who rarely has much of anything to say about anything) vacated all the player suspensions when he overheard the appeals.

While there was definitely evidence to support that the Saints had broken certain rules, the fact remained that there was very little in the way of proof against particular players. If anyone was at fault, it was the coaches, who were suspended and/or removed from their posts. The one year no-contact-with-team suspension for head coach Sean Payton was the most egregiously imprecise, and it essentially ruined their 2012 season.

Goodell overstepped his authority in numerous ways in this case, and proved that his grasp of fairness and judicious oversight wasn’t even close to what was needed for someone in his position.