Roger Goodell Went Too Far with Polamalu Fine

Roger Goodell has no good sense.

There is simply no other conclusion one can reach upon taking in all that he has done. In his brief tenure as the commissioner of the NFL, Goodell has instituted the Player Conduct Policy, an initiative that regulates behavior off the field by punishing often still-alleged actions with in-house fines and suspensions; made drastic changes to the way defenders are allowed to administer hits, and indeed the way defensive coordinators draw up their schemes; and broadly expanded other superfluous policies, such as those regarding dress codes and cell phone usage.

While most of these changes have been enforced with what would be politely called inconsistency, his tenacious adherence to one of these policies has us all scratching our heads.

This Friday, Steelers' Safety Troy Polamalu was fined $10,000 for using his cell phone on the sideline during Sunday's win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. As a headline, this doesn't sound controversial in the least, but upon closer inspection, the matter gets muddy.

For instance, the phone Polamalu used was not his own. It belonged to the team doctor, who, as a courtesy to the mildly concussed Steelers stalwart, called Mrs. Polamalu to assure her of her husband's well-being.

Understandably, Mrs. Polamalu wanted to speak with Troy directly, and so the doctor, as any decent human being would, handed him the phone. Cameras caught this, of course, and almost a week later, Goodell's office doled out a fine to the tune of 10 grand.

Had the fine come on Monday morning, perhaps I wouldn't have written this article. I might have simply chalked it up to a stickler's need for officialism, assumed that once Troy filed his appeal Goodell et al would repeal the penalty. But the fine came on Friday, four business days after the event.

In other words, more than sufficient time had passed for the league to review the tape, speak with the parties involved, and reach the same conclusion that we all did: Troy Polamalu did nothing wrong, and in fact acted responsibly by speaking with his wife to assuage her fears.

Unfortunately, that isn't what happened.

In a video released last year to all 32 clubs by NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson, it was stated in no uncertain terms that the NFL would review and judge each questionable hit on its own merits. One wonders why the same edict does not hold true for violations such as these. Surely, if the NFL had done its due diligence there would have been at the very least a less-severe penalty or perhaps none at all.

Whether Goodell and his cronies did their homework in this case, it speaks to the commissioner's ham-handedness and writes another entry into this dark chapter in NFL history, a chapter that will doubtless elicit cringes from later generations of fans and executives alike, and, finally, one that those future generations will likely seek to make right.

I have no doubt Roger Goodell will do far more harm to the league before his tyrannical reign comes to an end, but he can—and should—do this one thing right, and repeal Troy Polamalu's fine.

But even if he doesn't, perhaps some good can come from this after all. Last summer, lost amid all the ridiculous rule changes, like moving the kickoff up from the 30-yard line to the 35, and essentially neutering defensive players seeking to break up a catch, Goodell amended the atrocious rule penalizing blows to the head of the quarterback. Prior to this season, any contact with a quarterback's helmet resulted in a potentially game-changing 15-yard penalty; the new rule allows for incidental contact.

That only makes sense, given that a key responsibility of the pass-rusher is to swat at the football whenever he sees it, and contact with a quarterback's head is almost guaranteed to occur.

Maybe after this debacle (and you should all be out there commenting, trying to make this a debacle) Roger and his army of stuffed shirts will allow for some leniency here, as well, and the next football wife won't have to worry in silence while she watches her husband sit on the sideline, wondering if he'll ever be right again.