Why Roger Goodell Won't Be Fired

Making money vs. stamping out domestic abuse.

Which do you think is more important to the NFL? That's easy. The NFL is a money-making machine. It's all about the dollar. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is a master at money-making. He's helped turn the NFL into the nation's most successful sport. He's a hero to the 32 owners of league franchises. So all this talk about Goodell being canned on the heels of the domestic abuse scandal is just talk. Chances of Goodell being ousted are very slim. That, of course, doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be fired.

When it comes to domestic abuse, the NFL has its head in the sand--and it's partly Goodell's fault.. The Ray Rice scandal wouldn't be a scandal if the NFL had been on top of things and recognized many months ago that domestic abuse is a hot-button issue. When Rice, a Baltimore Ravens RB, punched out his fiance, Janay Palmer (who's now his wife), in that elevator in an Atlantic City hotel last February, he should have immediately been suspended for at least six games. In addition, Goodell should have been all over the media right away, preaching against the horrors of domestic abuse and assuring us all that, in the NFL, there was zero tolerance for it.

Instead, the matter was handled with the kind of vision, delicacy, insight and dignity you'd expect from Curly of the Three Stooges. After the NFL dragged its feet for months, Goodell gave Rice a slap on the wrist, a mere two-game suspension. That sent a disturbing message. Based on a much more severe penalty handed out for minor drug abuse to Cleveland's Josh Gordon, it was clear that, to the NFL, smoking pot was worse than punching out a woman.

Then, early this week, TMZ released an ugly, graphic video--one few had seen--showing Rice knocking his fiance unconscious in that Atlantic City elevator. Outrage, once a rumble, mushroomed into a deafening roar this week. Goodell claimed he nor any NFL employees had ever seen the crucial video, but police officials say otherwise. Had he seen that video, Goodell protests, Rice would have been punished much more harshly. Rice, however, now swears he personally told Goodell he punched out his wife, meaning that the commissioner didn't really need to see the video to hand out a tougher penalty.

You can bet, in NFL management circles, there's a massive cover-up underway, designed to protect Goodell. That's just how big business does business when under fire. The league just launched an investigation, headed by former FBI Director Robert Mueller, to sort out this mess. But, according to insiders, he has ties to the league and certain owners, and is unlikely to report anything too damning. Heads, of course, will roll, but heads belonging to lesser people than the commissioner. Again, that's just how big business operates.

Frankly, Goodell is just too well-connected and too good at the NFL's number one priority--making money--to get the boot. Before this scandal dies down there's likely to be more revelations, some pretty nasty, that might make Goodell squirm.

He's walking a tightrope now, inching nervously along. Most likely though, he'll eventually tip-toe to safety