The Goodell reaction?

After Roger Goodell took over as the Commisioner of the NFL, he knew he had to do something about the image of the players. For the most part, everything in the NFL was going great. Every stadium selling out, it has become the most popular sport to watch, heck even the NFL draft is a highly watched TV event. This sport that plays for roughly 6 months of the year, was grabbing the attention of every fan throughout the whole year.

But Goodell knew that if he didn't take care of the fact that some of the "bad apples" were giving the NFL a bad name, all those good things could start to back off. Goodell has taken a hard stance on "conduct detrimental to the game". Adam "Pacman" Jones was suspended for a year after his altercations, Tank Johnson was suspended eight games for his actions, Chris Henry was suspended eight games for his actions, and now Mike Vick has been suspended indefinitely for his recent actions.

What does this say to players who are in the League? It tells them to grow up and act like adults. You don't need to be carrying guns into stripclubs, you don't need to be the owner of 100 guns, you can't be drunk driving, or doing drugs, and you can be taking part in dogfighting, gambling, etc. Hopefully the message is getting across and it makes for a better NFL for everyone involved. Kids of all ages look up to these guys, want to play like them, want to be succesful like them, and now they need to be shown you can't act like them.

Personally, I think this policy is working, and we are already seeing the benefits. Why do you think Lance Briggs left his brand new $350,000 car wrecked on the side of the road? Because he can replace the car, but if he were to be suspended, he can't get those games back. Leaving the scene is only a misdemeanor, but had he been caught drinking or driving carelessly, it could be a different story altogether. I don't condone leaving the scene of an accident, but it was probably Briggs best way out of a bad situation. And who's to say Goodell still won't do something?

Now, when a player makes a personal decision to do something, they know that it can and WILL alter their playing time. The Goodell ERA will be a great one in the NFL.