Roger Goodell's Cowardice Shows in Handling of Tom Cable Situation

News today out of the NFL is that if Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable is implicated by police in the assault of an assistant coach, then commissioner Roger Goodell will act, and Goodell expects to receive a report from the police “in the next couple weeks.”

For someone who has attempted to paint a picture of himself as this get-tough commissioner who will not tolerate anyone tarnishing the NFL brand through his off-the-field actions, Goodell's handling of this matter strikes me as rather cowardly.

In case anyone does not remember, this situation stems from an incident that happened in August, over two months ago. A story of a head coach of one of the NFL’s teams possibly breaking the jaw of an assistant coach occurs, and the commissioner doesn’t deem it necessary to get involved.

What is he waiting for?

The answer is that Goodell is afraid to make a decision one way or the other on his own and is clearly going to use the cover of this expected police report to insulate himself from any criticism. If the police implicate Cable, then Goodell will take action, and if anyone is upset, he will just point to the police report.

If the police don’t act, same excuse for his inaction.

This is his league; he runs it. Why does he have to wait for anyone or rely on what anyone else concludes?

I respect not having a knee-jerk reaction to situations. But that is not what is going on in this case. If Goodell wanted, he could have stepped in and determined on his own what happened that day and if any punishment was warranted. He obviously has no inclination to do so.

Whether or not the police act should have no bearing on this situation. The police, and prosecutors, have other factors to consider before moving ahead with criminal charges against a person.

Goodell has one thing to consider—the good of his league. He doesn’t have to prove anything in court beyond a reasonable doubt. He just needs to know what happened.

Why can’t he himself speak to those involved and to those who were there to determine if there is any validity to the story? The only reason is fear of getting his hands dirty. If a person tries to hide behind a lawyer or says he can’t speak because of an ongoing investigation, Goodell is free to let that person know that they can remain silent all they want, but he will factor that into any decision.

Instead, Goodell waits and waits and waits, and is content to sit back and allow the burden to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the police. 

Allowing this story to drag on does the league no good. If true, Goodell could have stepped in a long time ago and taken decisive action against Cable.  If false, Goodell's unwillingness to get involved forced a head coach and its fans to operate under this negative cloud all season.

Let’s contrast Goodell’s inability to act with similar actions from another commissioner, David Stern.

What Goodell is doing would be the equivalent of Stern having waited for the police report until he decided how to discipline Ron Artest and the other players involved in the fight in Detroit.

Or maybe a better comparison is when Latrell Sprewell choked P.J. Carlesimo at practice. Stern acted immediately, suspending Sprewell for the entire season. He didn’t have to wait for a police report.

Here, if Goodell wants his decisions and his punishments to be taken seriously, he needs to stop using police reports as shields for his actions.

Unquestionably, there are times where facts are unclear and where the NFL may need to let the police process run its course. This is not one of them, especially when it appears all those involved, participants and witnesses, fall under Goodell's NFL authority—Goodell should have spoken to those involved, made a determination, and not allowed this to linger for months on end.

If he had wanted to act, he would have done so. Instead, he continues to hide behind whatever it is the police ultimately do or don’t do in this case. That isn’t leadership; it is an act of cowardice not befitting the image of a so-called get-tough commissioner.