Time to Blame NFL Owners for Keeping Roger Goodell in Charge

"O’Donnell: Do you wish you had seen this videotape before it was released by TMZ? Goodell: Absolutely. O’Donnell: Why? Goodell: That’s why we asked for it on several occasions. Because when we make a decision we want to have all the information that’s available. And obviously that was the — that when we met with Ray Rice and his representatives, it was ambiguous about what actually happened. O’Donnell: But what was ambiguous about her laying unconscious on the floor being dragged out by her feet? Goodell: There was nothing ambiguous about that. That was the result that we saw. We did not know what led up to that. We did not know the details of that. We asked for that on several occasions."

Roger, you had all the Ray Rice information you needed in February. The police summons was clear: “striking her with his hand, rendering her unconscious.” So knowing what happened was worth two games, but seeing the video meant “indefinite suspension” after the Ravens released him?

By July, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen had sources who had seen the video, and during a radio interview, he recounted almost exactly what went down.

I don’t believe that the NFL did everything in its power to try and get the Rice knockout video (nobody does), and it was a gross injustice that Rice was only suspended for two games to begin with.

So Goodell, who has had a rough eight years running the NFL, needs to go, right?

The media and bloggers and twitter can rant and rail about why Roger Goddell should step down as commissioner of the NFL.

But is he walking away from a job that paid him $44 million in 2012?

Not unless the billionaires who own NFL teams – his bosses – force him to. It’s time for the media and fans to put pressure on NFL owners to dump Roger Goodell.