Rodger Goodell Puts Pittsburgh Steelers In Precarious Situation
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had their fair share of dealing with player conduct and domestic violence over the years. They’ve stayed fairly ‘clean’ for a while now, at least as far as we know.
After all this fallout from TMZ publicly releasing the Ray Rice elevator tape and Goodell vehemently denying that he never saw that tape nor had any ability to get the tape despite efforts to do so, who’s to trust anything about the NFL or its media partners. Mark Madden points this out very well.
Yet here we are. A corrupt commissioner who has decided to take it up on himself to open up an investigation into…. himself?… and other officials within the NFL in order to get to the bottom of what just “really” happened. Or didn’t. An independent investigation. However, it’s ludicrous to call this investigation independent. The very nature of the term means that a 3rd party, one removed from any connections with the other parties involved, leads and oversees the procedure.
Who’s been tapped to oversee this investigation? Two NFL owners. And not just any NFL owners, two of the larger powerhouse franchises in the league who quite frankly are very near and dear to Rodger – Giants owner John Mara and Steelers owner Art Rooney II. Mara is a close crony to Goodell who’s already defended the commissioner in his decision making of the Ray Rice incident from the very beginning. Well that seems fair. Rooney was one of the major proponents to have Goodell instated as the new commissioner. Well nothing wrong with that, right? If those things don’t get your blood going a bit, it must also be noted that the person who is doing the actual investigating is former FBI Director Robert Mueller III. Mueller, if you care to think back that far, was appointed by George W. Bush in the early 2000’s. Goodell’s family has close ties to both men. Swell.
The NFL and it’s fans are standing at the edge and staring right down the rabbit hole. How far does it go? We may never know because of those three men. Thus the precarious situation the Steelers find themselves in. Rooney is damned. He is going to either lead the charge and take down Goodell and assuaging the masses taste of blood in the water while tarnishing and damaging an already dinged up “shield” OR he will find nothing wrong with what Goodell did and be seen as just an evil man as The Emperor himself.
If team that Rooney oversees concludes anything but the NFL having the “smoking tape” prior to suspension, then Rooney will have smeared the Steelers. He will be vilified. Just as much as a player and his conduct effects public opinion of an organization in general, so does that team’s owner. The Steeler Way? Redefined. The Steelers will no longer equate to the organization that strives for class and grace. They will be defiled. The public perception of the Steelers will shift from one of hate but respected for being an upstanding and successful organization, to one of just hate for having an owner that protected his buddy over the good of the NFL and battered women everywhere.
Don’t think the stakes are that high? Come see me again when the proceedings are over and Goodell is left to continue his reign over the little country he calls the NFL.