On the eve of one of the NFL’s biggest events, commissioner Roger Goodell delivered one of his harshest punishments yesterday.
Goodell might have hoped his conditional six-game ban of wayward Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wouldn’t overshadow tonight’s NFL Draft first round, but fallout from Goodell’s controversial decision figures to do exactly that.
Not only are the Steelers trying desperately to trade the radioactive Roethlisberger in the wake of the conditional six-game ban, but Goodell’s decision roundly was second-guessed by several of Roethlisberger’s NFL peers because it didn’t involve a criminal conviction.
CHAT REWIND WITH MARK CANNIZZARO
Roethlisberger initially is banned six games (it can be reduced to four) without pay for violating the NFL’s conduct policy and ordered to stay away from all team activities until he passes a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation by a league doctor in the wake of an alleged sexual assault in Georgia last month.
“How do you suspend somebody who didn’t get convicted in court? I don’t get it. How can you do it? Because Roger Goodell’s like a judge,” said Jets outside linebacker Calvin Pace, who served a four-game suspension last year for performance-enhancing drugs. “That’s a lot of games, especially for a franchise quarterback. A guy who up until this year, I never heard anything bad happen to him. It’s a situation where you’re dealing with somebody’s word against your word. It’s like people just kind of come out of the woodwork — ‘Oh yeah, this happened to me.’ But how do we know? Seriously. Does anybody have any tape?”
Chargers pass rusher Shawne Merriman — who served an NFL steroid suspension — joined Pace in second-guessing the ban.
“#aintnoway Ben Rothlisberger Deserves 6 games,” Merriman posted on Twitter.
Roethlisberger, the Steelers and NFL Players Association offered no formal protest. If Roethlisberger misses the full six games, it would cost him about $2.8 million.
The Steelers, in fact, were fined $200,000 per league policy because two of their players (Roethlisberger and receiver Santonio Holmes) were suspended within the same year. Holmes, set to serve a four-game drug suspension, was traded to the Jets earlier this month.
Goodell further cemented his “hanging judge” reputation by handing down one of his harshest punishments as commissioner to a two-time Super Bowl champion passer who has only been convicted in the court of public opinion.
One caveat to Goodell’s heavy hand: If Roethlisberger fares well in the league-mandated behavioral tests, he can take part in training camp, play in the preseason and have the suspension reduced to four games.
Goodell told Roethlisberger that, even though no charges were brought, the commissioner was troubled by explicit police reports describing the QB’s alleged behavior during the March 5 incident in a Milledgeville, Ga., bar.
Goodell also said that Roethlisberger admittedly providing alcohol to underage college students was enough to warrant a ban.
“You are held to a higher standard as an NFL player, and there is nothing about your conduct in Milledgeville that can remotely be described as admirable, responsible, or consistent with either the values of the league or the expectations of our fans,” Goodell said.
Goodell made the announcement shortly after appearing at a draft-related promotion in Central Park yesterday morning during which he repeatedly expressed his disappointment in Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger also was accused in a civil lawsuit last year of sexually assaulting a woman in Nevada, and other women have since come forward to relay other claims of overly aggressive sexual conduct.
“If there’s a pattern of behavior that’s troubling and reflects poorly on everyone, it’s important for us to have early intervention and correct that,” Goodell said at the event. “Forget about him being an NFL player. He’s got to live a productive life and change the way he’s doing things.”
Mark Hale contributed to this report.