Will Roger Goodell Pin Embarrassing Courtroom Defeat on Underlings?

Ever since Ted Wells’ investigation was released in May, the NFL’s strong stance on Tom Brady has felt dubious. There was hedged language, fabricated independence, debunked science from a flawed process, phony arbitration, and weird PED distinctions. One element after another made the NFL look like a Mickey Mouse operation that squandered millions of dollars to come up with a case whose only chance at winning was that the NFL can whimsically wield discipline however it sees fit.

In a June podcast, Mike Florio theorized that one or more Goodell underlings was “out to get the Patriots,” and that the Commissioner had to go along with the kangaroo court that ensued because he couldn’t be perceived as going easy on his boy Robert Kraft, especially after he went too light on Ray Rice. The result of all this is that Goodell was, as noted by Andrew Brandt, said by a federal judge to maybe have “dispensed his own brand of industrial justice.”

“This court’s decision to overturn the NFL Commissioner again should signal to every NFL owner that collective bargaining is better than legal losses,” the NFLPA said in a statement that could be attached to thousands of memes and GIFs. The spotlight this morning is melting Roger Goodell, who is presumably studying tape of Cris Carter’s “fall guy” advice.

Earlier this week, the league’s head of PR “left” (don’t shed a tear, he’ll still working on NFL PR, but nominally for an outside firm as opposed to the NFL’s in-house branch.) Could we see similar demotions/dismissals/whatever of honchos like Troy Vincent, Jeff Pash, and Mike Kensil?

Whatever happens next, it’s apparent that Roger Goodell is a common thread in several vacated punishments, ranging from the decision of predecessor Paul Tagliabue to nullify Bountygate suspensions to courtroom smackdowns on Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Tom Brady. How many of these embarrassments can the Commissioner expect to, um, “shield” himself from before his bosses are tired of losing?

Having pissed off a key ally in the influential Robert Kraft, and, pending appeal, not having anything to show for it, what would you say the odds are that Roger Goodell still has his job in 24 months?