Joining the public in criticizing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is one of the league's star quarterbacks. Drew Brees voiced his displeasure with the way in which Goodell has managed disciplinary issues in recent years, including the New Orleans Saints' bounty investigation.
Brees noted that he hopes the NFL's recent troubles will lead to new disciplinary policies that are fair and forthcoming and will include the NFL Players Association, along with independent experts. Brees said he doesn't agree with the "unilateral" system that includes "no checks and balances," ESPN reported.
"Too many times, I'd say especially over the last few years, a punishment's been handed down and nobody has really seen the evidence except for those in the league office -- supposedly," Brees said. "So decisions were made in kind of a, 'Hey, trust us.' But did the public see any of the facts? Did the accused see any of the facts? In most cases, no."
Those sentiments were echoed by other Saints players and the NFLPA following the league's punishments over New Orleans' bounty investigation. The drawn-out fight became so muddled that former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue vacated all of Goodell's player penalties. Despite the reversal for players, coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis were not given the same opportunities as Goodell passed the punishment and also heard the appeal.
"That's why you have multiple parties to make sure everyone comes together, cooler heads prevail. The decision isn't just based on emotion at the time, which I can say I believe has happened in the past in regards to commissioner discipline. It's been based upon emotion as opposed to maybe the facts," Brees said. "And (a new disciplinary policy would) prevent that from ever happening again."
Brees also shared the sentiment felt by many players and media members who believe that Goodell has not been held accountable for mistakes made during the investigation of Ray Rice's domestic violence incident. Many have argued that Goodell is not holding himself to the same standard to which he held many in the Saints' organization when he disciplined front office leaders, members of the coaching staff and players.
"I think it's a great tie-in because obviously the same things that I've heard, the same things that I feel (about Goodell) are the quotes that were thrown out at members of the Saints organization in regards to why they were being punished," Brees said. "Things such as, 'Ignorance is no excuse,' and, 'if you didn't know you should've known,' are things that would absolutely apply in this case, except the roles are reversed and it's going back at Commisioner Goodell and the league office."
Brees would not, however, go so far as to call for Goodell's resignation, as some have.
"That's not up to me. I'm more focused on the solution, as far as creating and then maintaining policies that you can be consistent with and open with and transparent with, and bringing together all parties that should be involved. The players association, the NFL league office and independent experts."
New Orleans offensive tackle Zach Strief, who also serves as the Saints' union rep, believes that while Goodell should be punished, he does not deserve to lose his job. Strief suggested a season-long suspension.
"What is the precedent for making a colossal mistake? The precedent has been you missed a season. It's very simple. The exact situation has already happened, and it happened here. There was a punishment and that was the punishment," Strief told reporters.
"Unfortunately for Roger, he set the precedent. He said, 'You made a big mistake, it cost the league, it's harmed the shield.' Here's what it was before. To me, that's the only fair thing. Not that that matters."
Strief also sided with Brees in regards to more transparency from the league.
"That's why the players have forever wanted an independent appeal process or arbiter, because at the end of the day Roger is not perfect. And the system is now in place with that assumption - that Roger is going to know exactly what to do in every situation, and it clearly is incorrect," Strief said. "It's been proven many times over, and to be honest with you, I don't necessarily think that Roger is trying to do the wrong stuff. But he's a human. And saying that he's the end-all, be-all no matter what in any situation is saying that he is always going to be right. It's silly."
"So there needs to be a system of checks and balances in place, and I think there needs to be transparency in how that all goes down. I'm tired of this veil of secrecy behind it. You get stuck in a situation where nobody has a clue what's going on, you deal with assumptions, and it's a circus."
Brees is one of the more high profile players to make such strong public comments on Goodell's status as commissioner. Although, he does say that many in the NFL share his viewpoint.
"I think that this has been a long time coming," Brees said. "It's really unfortunate that all of this had to happen in order for this to transpire or for this to become evident. But now the public knows, certainly the fan community knows, and it seems like that's gonna happen, which is a very good thing. And it's the right thing."
