Roger Goodell Comments on NFL Disciplinary Policy, Integrity of League

It has been an eventful week for the NFL, in which Deflategate was brought back to the forefront when New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension was reinstated, and commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated Friday he has no intention of relinquishing disciplinary power for the sake of it.  

During an appearance on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike (via ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert), Goodell explained the league's disciplinary policy needs to be handled by someone who understands the integrity of the game:

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I am not going to hand off the integrity of the NFL to somebody who does not understand our business. That is what we're going to maintain when it comes to the integrity of the game. Maybe something as it relates to the drug program and whether proper protocol is followed? I get it. Go ahead. Somebody else can make that decision. But when it comes to integrity of the game, that is the commissioner's responsibilities and has been since the day the NFL was formed.

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DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said in March there have been discussions about neutral arbitration when it comes to the league's personal conduct policy. 

“We’ve been talking about changes to the personal conduct policy since October and have traded proposals,” Smith said, per Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal. “We looked at the league’s proposal for neutral arbitration. There is a common ground for us to get something done.”

However, per Seifert's report, Goodell said earlier in his interview with Mike & Mike that players "lost out on a more equitable disciplinary process by rejecting a recent NFL proposal."

Goodell did say there were "significant discussions" with the union over the past six months and that "there was some real beneficial changes to the system that at the end of the day the union rejected."

Criticism of Goodell's authority has gotten louder among some NFL players. On Tuesday, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees told SI.com (via ESPN.com's Mike Triplett) the commissioner "has too much power" and that he wasn't going to trust a league-led investigation because "it's not transparent."

There doesn't seem to be any question about Goodell's desire to maintain the integrity of the NFL. The problems come in when he issues a ruling, like in the Brady case, which seemed wildly excessive given the lack of concrete evidence provided by the league.

Goodell has proven himself to be so strong-willed that he won't change his mind on virtually any issue. Players have caught wind of how he is operating and are frustrated with the system, but it's not one he seems likely to change.