Roger Goodell is the embodiment of power in the NFL, and not only the players, but the league’s owners had to recognize this fact. Goodell owes that power, however, to the United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.
The current commissioner of the NFL should write a thank you note to Judge Barrington D. Parker. Without the opinion that he wrote siding with the NFL in the “Deflategate” litigation, there may not be a Roger Goodell contract extension right now.
Goodell is now under contract as the NFL’s commissioner through March of 2019. This new deal is a clear sign that Goodell, not the owners of the NFL’s 32 individual franchises, has complete control over the league.
When the 2-1 decision from the 2nd Circuit Court came down nearly a year ago, a lot of fans focused on its effect on the New England Patriots and their quarterback, Tom Brady. That wasn’t really what the Deflategate drama was about, however.
What was really at stake for the 2nd Circuit Court to decide was, were Goodell’s powers as NFL commissioner truly limited to the letter of the law written into the collective bargaining agreement? When the majority opinion came down on the NFL’s side, the answer to that question was no.
The resulting effect is that Goodell has become omnipotent in the realm of the NFL. It didn’t take him long to exercise his newfound power. Just four months after the 2nd Circuit Court decision, Goodell demanded that players identified in an Al-Jazeera America story on performance-enhancing drug usage appear in person for an inquiry into the report. Goodell put teeth to his demands by threatening to suspend the players. The collective bargaining agreement gives him no explicit authority to do that. Nonetheless, the players acquiesced and the owners were silent.
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The NFL is now embroiled in a bevy of ongoing litigation on several subjects like painkiller abuse, concussions, insurance policies and PED suspensions. The league dealt with a significant drop in television ratings, and there is discussion about whether or not teams have blacklisted quarterback Colin Kaepernick. It’s hardly the stuff of heaven in the NFL right now.
To be fair, the length of this extension doesn’t look like a ringing endorsement. It’s less than half of the length of his last extension. The owners could technically choose not to renew Goodell’s contract in just under two years, or not long after the 2018-19 NFL season ends. In the interest of being objective again, we don’t know whether or not Goodell wanted an extension on that short of a term. Perhaps he wanted to leave room to give himself a raise after two more seasons.
This job is likely Goodell’s for as long as he wants it because the league’s owners realize that not only does he hold all the cards in dealings with the players, but them as well. After the courts in the United States made him the equivalent of a god in the NFL, who is going to deny him anything he wants?
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