Goodell’s good policy good for NFL

I’ve never met the guy, but boy am I already growing fond of new NFL commissioner Roger… I’ve never met the guy, but boy am I already growing fond of new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

To put it lightly, Goodell has made it clear that he isn’t just here to take in some luxury boxes across the country and announce the first-round picks of the draft each April. He is all about laying down the law, and he doesn’t seem to care who or what tries to get in his way. He’s been in his chair not even a few months, but he is already taking control of a league so loved by the public that we are willing to ignore the ludicrous player conduct tarnishing its image.

This guy realizes that he is now in charge of the finest product in all of sports, and he isn’t about to let the recent wave of player issues ruin it for anybody.

Currently, he is working on a player-conduct policy that will pop a player in the jaw before going anywhere near his wrists. Wednesday reports hinted at the possibility of lifetime bans for “players involved in serious criminal activity,” said one published report.

Case in point, Goodell doesn’t just want his fancy John Hancock gracing the leather of each NFL football; he wants to put the conduct back in player conduct. He wants the thuggeration out of the papers and, more importantly, out of his league.

The policy is supposed to be announced within the next week, and I’m giddy with excitement.

Acting as the catalysts for a revamped procedure have been Tennessee’s Adam “Pacman” Jones and Cincinnati’s Chris Henry. Actually, almost all of Cincinnati, a team with nine arrests last season, had a part in pulling the wool over the eyes of the public. Goodell has seen these cases, and, rather than leave the punishments up to their respective teams, the newbie has decided to make an example of the duo right before the upcoming draft, where these players could easily be replaced.

In a Tuesday meeting with NFL Players’ Association executive director Gene Upshaw, Goodell revealed that neither Jones – whose five arrests and 10 police questionings (including an ongoing investigation regarding his role in a Feb. 19 strip-club fight that led to a triple shooting) since being drafted in 2005 must be records of some kind – nor Henry, who boasts a shrinking touchdown-to-arrest ratio, will receive lifetime bans. Season-long suspensions aren’t out of the question, though, and those decisions are still to be determined.

It appears, also, that Upshaw is taking the man’s policy seriously.

He told The Washington Post that under the new policy, a first-time offender would have to undergo counseling and be placed on probation and might be fined, said ESPN.com. A second-time offender might face suspension if “his infraction was considered severe.” These beginning steps are in line with what many initially believe will become a “three strikes and you’re out” policy.

“One thing was clear: Once a player has gotten himself into this fix, it’s going to be up to him to get himself out,” Upshaw told the Post.

It’s hard to imagine that this idea is new to anyone, but it’s a sad realization for some professional athletes. No contract should exempt a player from owning up to his mistakes, but that hasn’t been the case all the time. We live in a country that wants to forgive people, and we’ll even waive some of the stipulations for forgiveness as long as the villain can run really, really fast. If a player gets himself suspended, he should be left shackled until he shows he can ask for the key nicely.

Even in such a system, though, there are guys like Jones and Henry who are either too brash to lay off their antics or too stupid to know when to stop. Sometimes it takes a hard-hitter like Goodell to put these boneheads in place, and that looks like it is going to happen.

The last thing the NFL needs is the continuing decline of its public image. For a variety of reasons, the league is the best in all of professional sports, namely because of its balance and structure. We’re ready for some football every day of the week and every month of the off-season because the league is so addictive, but over time, the product will become less attractive if there is a good chance a team’s stud receiver is likely to miss next week because he has a party to go to on Friday.

Here’s where Goodell comes in, and his timing couldn’t be better. It’s not that former commissioner Paul Tagliabue was doing a bad job with the situation, but he knew his time was running out. Stepping aside and letting the new guy create the future policy made a lot more sense, and I think that is why we’ll see a decline in the number of arrests in the NFL in the coming decade. If this policy is as tough as it sounds, guys will be kicked out of the league long before they can catch a second arrest.

And the best way Goodell can show who’s boss is by laying the hammer down on Jones and Henry. Because of the severity of his Las Vegas incident and the fact that he is still being questioned about it, Jones should be out for the season. Nothing says, “you’ve got issues, you need to change,” better than forcing a top-10 selection to the sideline for reasons far from on-field performance or contract negotiations.

Henry has multiple arrests on his record, and, given his track record, he will get busted again soon enough. It’s irrelevant if he is suspended for the season or for a shorter period – he is going to drop the ball again very soon.

These two have been an embarrassment to West Virginia, their alma mater, their respective franchises and themselves. It’s about time guys like this are precluded from embarrassing the league itself, and that’s what I think Goodell is here to do