Sure, I’ll be in front of my TV for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I’ll even check if Idina Menzel sings the National Anthem in more than two minutes and one second, the length established in Vegas for bets. Yes, people win on that kind of thing.
At the kick-off, with a slice of pizza in my hand, I’ll have my eyes glued to the screen. The beginning of the Super Bowl is the most anticipated moment of the year for sports. We sense the tension of the players. After two weeks of waiting, they can finally express themselves on the field.
Yes, I’ll be there. But with a little less enthusiasm than last year. Not because of the quality of the match, obviously. But more because of the manner in which the NFL dropped the story of the under-inflated footballs as the big game approached.
For Commissioner Roger Goodell, protecting the league’s image is the number one priority, far ahead of the search for the truth. He has showed that around issues with a lot of social impact, like concussions and domestic violence, coming out of his torpor solely when public pressure became unbearable. It would have been naive to believe that he would act differently when it came to integrity in sports.
I know, under-inflated balls didn’t unilaterally influence the result of the AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts two weeks ago. But that’s not the issue. The rules exist to be followed, and if there’s a doubt about that, the investigation should be led with diligence.
Believe it or not, the NFL still hasn’t questioned Tom Brady, the Patriots’ quarterback! There was never a question that they would get in the way of his concentration before the battle. That decision summarizes the attitude of the NFL. When a 30-second ad is sold for $4.5 million during the Super Bowl, your first thought is to protect the goose which lays the golden eggs.
The NFL needed four long days to react to the ball controversy. A statement was published to say that an investigation was underway and witnesses had been met with.
The next day, Bill Belichick called an impromptu press conference. Without scientific data, he delivered a vague analysis of the reaction of the balls to the change in temperature, before concluding that he wouldn’t address the question any further. Sad to say, but his move was a master stroke.
The owner of the Patriots, Robert Kraft, added that he would demand an apology from the NFL if the investigation cleared his organization, which, let’s remember, spied on the New York Jets’ signals in a disputed match in 2007. That’s how he completed the jab-cross started by Belichick.
The Patriots have the right to be presumed innocent. Even if their footballs are the ones involved, nothing proves they’re responsible. But the NFL should have sped up the investigation.
During the last World Cup, the authorities quickly took action when it came to Luis Suarez, guilty of having bitten a rival. Baseball quickly suspends players who have broken the rules.
These cases illustrate that sports authorities can act quickly if they want to. If the NFL judges that the ball affair is not serious enough to merit that kind of treatment, then let them say that!
At the beginning of the month, the former director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, filed his report on the workings of the league in the Ray Rice affair. Without condemning the commissioner’s office, he concluded that the initial investigation should have been more thorough.
Unfortunately, the NFL hasn’t shown itself to be energetic on its own in reacting to contentious matters. That’s why independent entities should examine them. The investigation by Mueller, a member of a law firm close to the NFL, doesn’t entirely match that criterion. As for the investigation into the balls, despite the presence of a lawyer and an outside firm, the NFL is still responsible.
Richard Sherman, the cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, raised a pertinent question this week in declaring that the friendship between Goodell and Kraft represented a conflict of interests. Sherman made this commentary at the time that GQ magazine published a long article on Goodell, particularly illustrating his tight ties to Kraft, who, quick to defend the commissioner’s annual income of $44 million, might have pressured his owner colleagues during the Rice affair so that they would publicly support Goodell. To paint a picture of Kraft, an NFL employee considers him “the assistant commissioner.”
This week, analysts noted that Goodell kept up tight ties with other owners, as if that situation cleared Kraft’s name. It’s more like extra evidence that Goodell does not have the credibility required to investigate the affairs of the league, no matter what the team in question is. Otherwise, there is an appearance of conflict of interest. And an appearance of a conflict of interest means a conflict of interest.
The NFL Has a Governance Problem
This whole story of the balls lets the air out of the Super Bowl on Sunday. It’s too bad, since two formidable teams are facing each other.
Sunday night, Goodell will give the Lombardi trophy to the winning team. Despite the league’s troubles this season, he will console himself in thinking that 110 million Americans watched the game — and that the NFL has never done as well financially as it’s doing now. That’s clearly why the owners pay him $44 million per year, and nothing else.
It was great game.