NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell's Punishment Towards Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots Was Far Too Lenient

Scribe Written on November 30, 2007

(Page 2 of 2)

So, we can clearly see why people in the sporting world think that the punishment given to Bill Belichick and the Patriots was far too lenient. In my opinion, the punishment does not send a strong message to the rest of the sporting world that the Commissioner is serious about protecting the NFL’s integrity.

The commissioner defended the punishment by saying that he told the team that if he became aware of more damaging information, the penalties would be raised (Sandomir). The main reason why people think that the punishment was too lenient is because in the past, Roger Goodell has severely punished players coaches and personnel for very minor things. So when a team such as the Patriots cheated against the Jets in week one of the regular season and they only got a slap in the wrist, many people around the league were outraged.

According to John Molori, the punishment was “harsh, too harsh in my opinion”. There are some people that believe that the Patriots and their head coach’s punishment should not have been this harsh. In Goodell’s defense, he did fine Bill Belichick and the Patriots the maximum amount he could have. In fact, no NFL coach has ever been fined as much as Bill Belichick for this incident.

This may be true, but most people around the league believe that Belichick should have been suspended for “cheating against a clearly inferior opponent.” (Bryant)

Works Cited

Allen, Mike. “Patriots Lawsuit: How Roger Goodell Is Destroying the NFL.” 30 Sept. 2007. 8

Nov. 2007 http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/2506-NFL-New_England_Patriots-

New_York_Jets-Goodell_s_decisions_will_destroy_the_NFL-300907

Battista, Judy. “Football: NFL fined Patriots and coach Bill Belichick for spying on Jets.”

14 Sept. 2007. 8 Nov 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/14/sports/nfl.php

Bryant, Howard. “Spying scandal tests Goodell’s law-and-order image.” 13 Sept. 2007. 9

Oct. 2007 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=3016267.

Lopresti, Mike. “Lopresti: Pats deserve stiff punishment for cheating.” No date. 8 Nov 2007

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/2007-09-12-belichick-cheating_N.htm

Molori, John. “Belichick's punishment an end and a beginning; Get involved with the

McDonough Foundation online auction.”15 Sept. 2007. John Molori’s Media Blitz. 8 Nov 2007 http://www.patsfans.com/molori/display_story.php?story_id=3132.

Sandomir, Richard. “Goodell Defends Punishment of Patriots.”17 Sept. 2007. 8 Nov 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/sports/football/17sandomir.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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