NFL Referee Lockout 2012: Labor Dispute Won't Tarnish Roger Goodell's Legacy

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell appears to have taken care of the latest labor dispute the league has had during his tenure, as Chris Mortensen of ESPN is reporting (via Adam Schefter on Twitter) that the NFL and Referees' Association are on the verge of a new deal. 

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As @mortreport is reporting, an agreement between NFL and NFLRA is at hand and both sides will work to have officials working this weekend.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 26, 2012"

This has been a trying time for everyone involved with the dispute. The referees have been trying to get what they believe to be a fair deal. The owners have been seemingly unwilling to budge on the deal they were willing to make. The players have been forced to deal with unqualified officials calling games. 

Then there is Goodell, who rightly or wrongly, is the poster child for all of the problems that the NFL has had in recent years. The referee lockout was just the latest incident in a long line of items that will be part of his legacy. 

One thing that is important to remember with both this dispute and the players' lockout from last year is that Goodell is not directly responsible for either item. As commissioner of the NFL, he works for the owners. It is incumbent upon him to present to the referees or players what they tell him to. 

Since we have to put a singular face to these things, and Goodell holds that power as commissioner, he is going to take the brunt of criticism. Again, rightly or wrongly, that is the position he is in.

Judy Battista of the New York Times talked about how Goodell has basically been put in a no-win situation because of the nature of his job. 

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The league that Goodell came up in, working for the commissioners Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue and many owners who had been in place well before the league boomed, is now populated by a disparate group of businessmen. Some of them have had their teams in their families for generations. Others are self-made successes in other fields. Many of them, regardless of background, are used to taking tough positions and not capitulating. 

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Ultimately, though, I don't think this one dispute is going to change the way the public sees him and how history remembers him. I think his place has already been cemented, even though he has only been at the job for six years. 

Goodell's defining moments are the ones he has made in the name of player safety. Suspending New Orleans Saints coaches and players as well as increasing rules violations, penalties and fines for violent hits are the things that we remember him for. 

As bad as the call on Monday night was, all will be forgotten when the NFL season ends. We have seen the league use replacement players in labor disputes; no one paid attention to those games, but it also wasn't a stigma that was held over the NFL forever. 

Goodell has done the best job that he could with this labor dispute, based on the people he works for. It was always going to take some drastic mistake in front of a national audience for owners to speed up the process. 

It does not make or break the way that Goodell is seen in the eyes of the public, nor will it alter the way his history is written. 

Those people that like the work he has done as commissioner are going to continue to support him. Those that don't—and I imagine there are a lot more of them out there—are going to keep booing him when he steps to the podium on draft night or is introduced at the Super Bowl. 

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