It seems that all that gets talked about these days in the professional sports world is “Johnny Football”, LeBron James, or something stupid that some athlete decided to do. The National Football League (NFL) has been very good at the last part, with many NFL players in recent years being suspended for different violations of the leagues policy. However, these instances of players breaking the law, violating team and league policy, are things that celebrity athletes in the spot light should not be doing, but the problem with the NFL is the commissioner, Roger Goodell.

Yes, The problems with Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy and Josh Gordon are legal issues, and all people are innocent until proven guilty by the court of law. But the videos of Ray Rice knocking out his then fiancé and Adrian Peterson’s new reports that he was disciplining his children all but show how NFL players are people too, and shouldn’t be held any less accountable.

This whole situation started earlier this year when Commissioner Goodell suspended Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon a full year for using Marijuana. This was seemed as a very harsh punishment put down, considering he was suspended for using a substance that is legal in 2 states. Little did any of us know that at this point, the ball was only starting to roll on the mess that the NFL would find.

Greg Hardy, a defensive end for the Carolina Panthers was arrested after a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. He was arrested, but released on bail. His trial is set for later this fall. Hardy has denied all charges. Officials say that in May, Hardy drug his girlfriend around by her hair and threatened to kill her. Hardy was never suspended from any games, and even played in the first regular season game. Hardy has taken a voluntary leave with pay, until his legal issues are dissolved.

The biggest issue that has arisen is the Ray Rice incident, where a video showed Rice knocking out his then fiancé in an elevator, and then dragging her out of the elevator. The original video released by TMZ only showed outside the elevator where Rice is shown dragging her out of the elevator. After weeks of nothing, Commissioner Goodell suspended Rice only two games. This began the firestorm that began attacking the NFL, with reporters, women’s rights groups and other organizations expressing outrage over the decision. The NFL tried to come out with new regulations including a 3 game suspension after the first domestic offense, and a ban after the second. But this show was far from over. Later this year, a new video surfaced showing the inside of the elevator, which included Ray Rice knocking out his fiancé. After this video was released to the public, Goodell came out, and suspended Rice indefinitely. Reports quickly came out however, that the NFL wasn’t seeing this video for the first time. Reports are that the NFL received the video in April, months before the video was supposedly released. This started campaigns calling for Goodell’s job,

led by women’s rights groups and ESPN analyst Keith Olberman, who stated that it is “past the time for Goodell to resign” and that he should now be “overwhelmingly voted out of his position by NFL owners.”

Superstar Adrian Peterson is the most recent NFL player put on the bench after reports that he disciplined his child using a switch, the same kind that horse jockey’s use on horses came out. The Vikings deactivated Peterson, and Nike stores across the state of Minnesota have pulled all merchandise that has Peterson’s name or number on it. There has not been any action taken by the NFL, as the Vikings were pro active and took the steps necessary to suspend Peterson for the time being.

It’s ridiculous to think that the NFL didn’t receive the security footage from the elevator before it’s release. One would think the security would turn the video over to them or the police once they asked? The whole situation with Ray Rice is unraveling, and it is coming out as one big cover up.

All of these domestic disputes are terrible, and every individual that is willing to beat a child, or any person for that matter should be held accountable. However, the unreliable statements made by Roger Goodell and the way that he has handled these situations show that his office is shady at best when it comes to decisions like this. Goodell should be fired, and we will all see in the coming months what will happen, and for the sake of the NFL, and the players, we can only hope that Goodell and his indecisive judgment are removed before he can further damage the league.