seperated from the swine

Roger Goodell flexed his muscles as NFL commissioner today, doling out suspensions to Chris Henry and Adam "Pacman" Jones- 8 games and the entire 2007 season, respectively. Sounds like Bengals fans seem to be split on this decision; either they're tired enough Chris Henry that they support a harsh punishment, or they feel that Henry is being used by Goodell as an example for his new tougher conduct policy. I fall in the latter category. Half the season is too unreasonable. I think Henry's punishment is far too strict considering what has already transpired:

• Henry already served a two game suspension for the first two of his offenses (a suspension given out by Goodell)
• The two offenses he is being punished for now both occurred before his first suspension (the league cannot punish players before matters are finished in court. All four of Henry's arrests occurred before he was punished at all; the first two cleared up faster and he was suspended for two games last year. These last two took longer to get resolved in court, so he could not be punished until now)
• According to the article on Bengals.com, Henry's suspension is twice as long as any previous suspension for such a situation (not counting drug or gambling offenses)

I had expected Henry to get a very harsh suspension. I expected Goodell to make an example of him, but I didn't foresee that being more than a six game suspension at worst. I am glad Henry is being punished because the kid clearly needs some straightening out, but I don't support the way Goodell went about it. Needless to say, I hope Tab Perry and Antonio Chatman are ready to go this season.

His harsher conduct policy was also announced today, and I was alarmed to see that, under the new code, "Clubs will be subject to discipline in cases involving violations of the Personal Conduct Policy by club employees" (link). Basically, they will start punishing the clubs themselves for problems caused by their staff or players. On the surface this looks good, but the problem has already been that the teams' hands have been tied when it comes to disciplining their players. Everyone has heard someone remark that they wish the Bengals would just cut Henry. The reality is that under the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and players, there is a rule that players can only be cut for skill reasons and for conduct detrimental to the team. If the Bengals cut someone like Henry, they could face a challenge by the NFL Player's Union, which would lead to the team being punished. Also, as mentioned before, players could not be punished until their matters were resolved in court. This is why Marvin Lewis has benched Henry twice in the past two seasons.

Owners like Mike Brown have been advocating for more leeway for teams to punish their players. There's no indication that the teams are going to be given any more ability to punish players. Instead, Goodell is going to start punishing the teams themselves. He's not untying the teams' hands to let them punish players; it appears he's going to leave them tied up and resort to kicking them while they're restricted. Sounds fantastic.

Things are not off to a great start for the Goodell era as commissioner.