Roger Goodell and his NFL Commissioners office seems to be using different sets of guidelines when it comes to judging how it’s players and coaches perform. Players talking trash in the locker room, as NFL players have been doing since the leagues inception, has now led to the suspension of a Super Bowl winning Head Coach and the suspension of players whose conduct otherwise is beyond reproach.
Now the former defensive coach caught on tape suggesting all sorts of gruesome injuries to opposing players is being touted as the chief witness for the prosecution and even announcing that he plans to return to coaching soon in spite of the loud outcry after his now infamous locker room speech in which he call for players to “affect the head of the quarterback” and “take out his outside ACL”. Many writers thought at the time that Williams should be banned from professional sports for life. Now Goodell wants him to testify. If that is the case the league could tie reinstatement for Williams to his participation in the hearings. That could get awful sticky. In other words he would be rewarded for his testimony against players that he once coached and his own words and actions would be simply overlooked.
Goodell and Williams might just have picked the wrong player to push around in Jonathan Vilma. Vilma stood up to the accusations and fought back.
Goodell backed out when the heat got to be too much and appointed former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue to oversee the case. They have been stalling the proceedings ever since and the current NFL football season is running out of games. Their latest move was to schedule hearings on Thursday and Friday knowing full well that the Saints will be playing in Atlanta on those dates and thus denying Vilma or any of the Saints a chance of attending the hearings and representing themselves in front of Tagliabue.
Mr. Goodell & Co. had better have more solid ground to stand on if they expect that Williams’ affidavit or live testimony will provide justification for any future re-assignment of Mr. Vilma’s suspension. Especially when it is likely that Mr. Vilma can produce a multitude of affidavits from others within the locker room who could corroborate his side of the story. As Chris Berman and his buddies say on TV, Come On Man!
