Alan Petersime/AP
Goodell’s Irsay Problem
Colts owner Jim Irsay faces four felony counts of possessing a controlled substance and a DWI charge. He’s subject to the same personal conduct policy as NFL players, but will the commissioner be the same disciplinarian when punishing one of his bosses?
By Peter King
I’ve been listening to people in and out of my business talk about the Jim Irsay story over the past 24 hours and I’ve heard a couple of themes: This is going to be a very tough disciplinary call for Roger Goodell because Irsay’s one of his bosses … and … the players are going to be watching this case to see if Goodell is as tough on one of his 32 employers as he is on the players.
I’m not buying that this decision will keep the commissioner up at night. I don’t think this is going to be a tough call for Goodell.
History says it won’t be, even though Goodell has never had to discipline an owner for substance abuse or driving while impaired in his eight years on the job. Irsay was arrested in Indiana early Monday and charged with operating a vehicle under the influence. He was also charged with four felony counts of possessing a controlled substance; police found prescription drugs that weren’t prescribed to him in the car he was driving. Irsay is due in court next week to address the charges.
This is the sort of case few commissioners have had to deal with. The fact that Irsay has a substance-abuse problem that results in such a public black eye for the league and for himself is a sad story, and it could have been a tragic one: Who knows if this was the first time that Irsay—allegedly—has driven while impaired? He said in a 2012 interview about his sobriety that he has spilled more alcohol than the interviewer has drank, a line many in recovery have used. But Bob Kravitz of the
Indianapolis Star quoted a source with knowledge of Irsay’s situation as saying, “He’s a sick, sick man. He desperately needs help.”
The first step here will be for Irsay to deal with the law, and to get the help he needs. Then Goodell will step in with discipline. An owner is subject to the personal conduct policy the same as a player. What we don’t know right now is whether Irsay has done anything prior to this point to be put on notice by the league. That, obviously, would make the potential league sanction worse.
Goodell and Irsay before the start of Super Bowl XLIV. (David J. Phillip/AP)
But Goodell’s history shows he’s short on sacred cows. I once saw an exasperated Dan Rooney, the Steelers owner who was Goodell’s biggest champion when he ran for commissioner in 2006, tersely complain to him that he was too hard with his fines on Pittsburgh players. Patriots owner Bob Kraft remained a close ally after Goodell—rightfully—took a first-round pick away from New England and fined Kraft’s coach and organization $750,000 over Spygate. Goodell fined the late Tennessee owner, Bud Adams, $250,000 for making an obscene gesture to a crowd in Nashville in 2009. And he stripped New Orleans owner Tom Benson of his coach for the 2012 season, and his GM for half the season, after a long investigation into a bounty system with the Saints.
The closest case to Irsay’s was in Detroit in 2010. Club president Tom Lewand was arrested for driving while intoxicated, and Goodell gave him a $100,000 fine and a 30-day suspension from his job (later reduced to 21 days because Lewand complied with all the recovery steps the Lions and the league mandated).
Goodell knows everyone is watching the Irsay case. He knows he’s going to have to be compassionate but tough on Irsay. I think he will be. I think anyone who can strip a playoff team of its coach for a year isn’t going to have a hard time disciplining an owner if he’s found guilty of crimes as serious as felony drug possession and driving under the influence.
What’s the right punishment, if Irsay is guilty? A fine, certainly. But I can tell you from knowing Irsay that a fine won’t be such a big deal. Banning him from being around his team for a period of time would be much worse. Irsay loves being around his team. He loves being an owner. He loves the life, and what he can do for people because of that life. For goodness sakes, he tweets transactions. He gives out tickets in Twitter contests. When a former Colts beat writer, Len Pasquarelli, was ready to be discharged from a Phoenix hospital after bypass surgery while covering the Super Bowl in 2008, Irsay sent word that he wanted to ferry Pasquarelli home to Atlanta on his private plane, with a nurse on board. On Monday, Pasquarelli wrote about that for a story on his site,
pickthedraft.com, just to show people that Irsay is a big-hearted guy who, obviously, has some demons.
I think a fine plus a suspension from any team-related activities will likely be Goodell’s discipline if the charges against Irsay are true. And if true, the discipline will certainly be justified.