Goodell shouldn't rush to conclusions

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By Matt Muncy, April 15, 2010

In the past year, Roethlisberger has been accused of sexually assaulting two women.

The first incident happened in 2008, but was not reported until last July when Andrea McNulty decided to bring a civil suit against the quarterback.

 

And last month Roethlisberger was again accused — this time by a 20-year-old in Milledgeville, Ga.

 

In both cases, no criminal charges were ever brought and in both cases Roethlisberger was never arrested.

 

Despite never being arrested or charged with a crime, some people still feel that Roethlisberger deserves to be punished. But for what?

 

Roethlisberger has done nothing wrong, other than having sex with two women who then accused him of a crime only to drop the charges.

 

Does this sound like he ever committed a crime?

 

To me, no, but to Goodell the incidents could be putting a negative light on the NFL.

But before Goodell sits down to make his decision on whether or not any disciplinary action from the NFL will be taken against Roethlisberger, he needs to think hard about a couple of topics.

 

First, Roethlisberger was never arrested nor charged with a crime. This should be noted because anyone in the NFL can be accused of a crime, which will shed a negative light on the league. But if the charges are false, than it was not the player’s fault to begin with.

 

I feel like Roethlisberger has been through a lot already, why add to his misery?

 

The second thing Goodell needs to realize is that this case will set a precedent for similar situations in the future. Roethlisberger is in a different situation and is not like those of Adam “Pacman” Jones, Larry Johnson or Matt Jones. In each of those cases, charges were brought and arrests were made.

 

The final issue is what will happen if Roethlisberger is suspended. What kind of downfall could this have for other players?

 

This may seem a little far-fetched, but if just being accused of a crime could lead to a suspension, people may take advantage of that.

 

Would it really be surprising to see people accusing star players to give other teams a better chance to win?

 

Why would someone do this?

 

Someone could just really dislike a player. If someone did not like Peyton Manning or maybe was even pushed away by him, then it would not be unlikely for that person to accuse Manning of a crime just to see him and his team falter.

 

People like to bet on games and bet big. Taking an elite star like Roethlisberger away from his team would only better the chances of beating that team.

 

As far as we know, Roethlisberger just needs to make better decisions on where he goes and remember that he is a celebrity. He will always be a target for people looking to make a quick buck.

 

It is impossible for Goodell to know exactly what happened in either situation and if   Roethlisberger did anything wrong. But he needs to put a clamp on what is happening between the players and regular citizens.

 

Suspensions are not going to work and the accusations will not stop, but being able to come out on the winning side is what Goodell is going to have to figure out.