Lombardi: Roger Goodell fails once again at applying his powers consistently with confounding Tyreek Hill decision

[Cotton]

By Michael Lombardi Jul 22, 2019

Everyone has an opinion on what makes a great leader, about what traits each successful leader must retain and about why leadership can often fail. Throughout my 35-plus-year NFL career, I have been blessed to work for two of the greatest leaders in all of sports — Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick. In Gridiron Genius I identified what I believe are the four areas all great coaches and leaders share, and Walsh and Belichick excelled at all of them.

The areas are:

1. Command of the Room, which means a leader/coach has a plan of action.
2. Command of the Process, which means he can explain the plan of action concisely and understandably.
3. Command of Self, which centers on the leader’s ability to be honest about his faults and mistakes.
4. Command of Trust, which means every action the leader takes must be consistent.

Players trusted Walsh and Belichick always to be fair, to be consistent with their actions regarding discipline and to never have double standards. There is an old saying in coaching: “You can be tough with the players, but you have to be consistently tough.”

When the NFL announced Friday that Kansas City wide receiver Tyreek Hill could return to the Chiefs without serving any suspension time, my initial reaction was that Commissioner Roger Goodell does not command the trust of players. No one who listened to the tape of Hill and his fiancée, Crystal Espinal, talking and who heard his aggressive language toward her could believe that conversation was not a damaging stain on the league. And as we have heard many times before last Friday, if any player creates a “black eye” for the NFL, the commissioner has unilateral power to do whatever the hell he wants. In the past, Goodell has made that authority clear with his words and actions.

This column is not to judge Hill’s innocence or guilt when it comes to his parenting skills or what happened to his young son, but rather to wonder how Goodell can suspend Cowboys running back Zeke Elliott six games when the city attorney in Columbus, Ohio, did not press charges, yet let Hill return unpunished. Again, I am not judging Elliott’s innocence or guilt, just the message the commissioner sends from his lofty office on Park Avenue. Consistency matters for all leaders, and for Goodell to allow Hill to waltz back onto the field sends a horrible message about his ability to be trusted.

Hill was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in 2016 because he was thrown off the Oklahoma State football team for a domestic-violence charge. He made a plea deal and tried to enroll at the University of Akron before being allowed to continue his football career at tiny Division II West Alabama. Initially, West Alabama football coach Brett Gilliland said no to allowing Hill to enroll after reading the Oklahoma State police report, but after more research, he was willing to give Hill a second chance. And I am all for Hill getting a second chance. However, he walked into the NFL without having to serve any penalty, and now after this more recent incident, he avoids the commissioner’s wrath once again.

Does Goodell honestly believe that the Hill audio and the receiver’s past behavior don’t warrant some action? Does Goodell even care what others around the NFL might think about his leadership skills? For the record, no team I have talked with since Friday can believe Hill is back without penalty.

This lack of consistency allows all the conspiracy theorists to have a field day. Did Goodell suspend Elliott as retribution toward Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who was slowing down contract extension talks for Goodell? In the past, I thought this theory was ridiculous; now, I am not sure.

Tom Brady, a great ambassador of the game and one of its greatest players, was forced to serve a four-game suspension for allegedly deflating footballs, which was never proven. I realize the integrity of the game and off-the-field discipline lie in two separate silos. However, the stain of the action, whether justified or not, creates the “black eye” that supposedly Goodell is there to protect. I completely disagreed with the Brady suspension and the removal of draft picks from the Patriots in 2017 — it was unjust and out of line. However, it was within the power of the commissioner’s disciplinary action, and that power does not need proof to be invoked. All it needs is doubt and harm toward the league. So tell me again: Why is Hill coming back without paying some price?

Hasn’t Goodell learned from his past non-actions? Hasn’t Goodell taken time to study his past mistakes when it came to domestic violence issues regarding former Ravens running back Ray Rice or Giants kicker Josh Brown? Most high-level executives who have ignored the Rice or Brown incidents would not continue to hold power.

I want what is best for the NFL. As we celebrate the NFL’s 100[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary, I will be writing a column in the coming weeks that lists the 100 reasons why I love this league. Goodell’s stupefying lack of consistency on matters of deep importance will certainly not be one of them.