You’re Probably Expecting a Long Bountygate Post

I had every intention of writing one. So much to talk about in the Tagliabue ruling. So much contradiction of the party line of the last few months. So much gold in the form of quotes like “none of the discipline of any player here relates to on-field conduct” which are mind-blowing in their damning of the punish-the-talk attitude of the NFL offices since the release of Gregg Williams’s silly speech and oft-incoherent slide shows.

I intended, in my post, to parse many of these quotes and break them down for their lunacy and faulty internal logic. 

But Reid already did so, and he did it better than I could have.  So go read it immediately.  I’ll wait.

Yeah.  So, all of what he said.  Well, with one exception.

At the end of his fantastic (and more accurate than anything in the Legitimate media) breakdown of the judgement, Reid expresses a common sentiment:

That’s a damning sequence of events for the commissioner, especially in light of the harshness of the penalties. This was a fuck-up of massive proportion.

It was a fuck-up. That much is true.

But I disagree with the premise that Goodell has been seriously harmed.  In fact, I feel that that premise, the one where Goodell just got kicked in the nuts by his predecessor, is not only in the best interest of Goodell but was cultivated for just that reason.

Let’s be clear about one thing: this will not harm Goodell’s perception in any way other than very temporarily, at least in the eyes of the rest of the league – and in the Saints’ organization/players/coaches/fans’ case, Goodell was already irreperably harmed.  The national media may crush Goodell for a few moments; they may state that he was, in fact, excessive in his penalization of crimes which did or did not exist.  But they’ve been on board from the start; whatever harms Goodell naturally harms his shills, and for this reason, the bountygate story will quickly disappear from the national consciousness.

Make no mistake: Goodell and Tagliabue (his fucking lawyer, remember) are fully aware of this.  The players’ case in court was rock-solid.  That is nothing short of a victory for the players, especially Jonathan Vilma.  It’s something we all know.  It’s something Goodell knew.  It’s something the legal team knew.  They acted too fast and too extremely, and the recourse consisted of two options:

1. Keep fighting

2. Admit as much

One was not an option.  Why?  Well, because they were destined to lose, and because a court judgement against the NFL in favor of the players would have been disastrous.  That kind of thing would have stuck in the minds of fans all over the country.  It wouldn’t have happened until the offseason, during a slow news cycle.

So what’s the plan, Tags?  How do you rescue your current commissioner from himself? 

You admit wrongdoing, but you blame it on the coaches.  You admit that the commish acted too quickly, that he was too severe, and that he made some mistakes.  You lash him in the appeal decision, because it makes the new appeal process look just.  Yet, while releasing the players from their punishments (cut-and-run), you attack them for what they’ve done.

Freedom, but not exoneration. 

You solidify your case in two aspects: in the courts against an accusation of defamation, and in the media against those who have no recourse, the coaches.

The players won, and I do not dispute that.  But Goodell and the machine that is the NFL won also; they’re winning the battle of public opinion.  They’ve found the solution that everyone outside of New Orleans will quickly forget.

They made that decision, conveniently, not in the slow news period of the offseason, but in the heat of the playoff chase, after the Saints were all but mathematically eliminated.

It was ultimately a genius move for an office that has made many a terrible mistake during this process that is now nearly nine months old. 

But make no mistake: Tagliabue is on Goodell’s side in every way.  He’s looking out for his protege.  And only time will prove my contention: that he’s done a bang-up job of it, and that the current commissioner’s image will not be harmed permanently in the minds of the fans or the media.