Last week, an NFL owner was parading around lobbying to land Super Bowl LII for his team.
Normally, this wouldn’t seem weird, but the owner doing so was Jim Irsay, who is somehow still under investigation by the league for getting arrested while driving under the influence back in March.
And it wasn’t like the Colts owner was just allegedly driving after having an extra glass of wine with dinner. Irsay was allegedly pulled over with $29,000 in cash and “numerous” bottles of prescription pills in the vehicle according to police.
And after this news broke, it was revealed that Irsay has been battling personal demons of this ilk for a while and that nobody has been able to get through to him.
So, it’s probably a good thing that the Super Bowl didn’t go to Indianapolis – the last thing you want to do is reward someone who is still under investigation.
But why is this investigation taking so long, Roger Goodell?
There is a fair amount of hypocrisy in this whole thing, which was pointed out quite eloquently by Washington safety Ryan Clark.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24569362/ryan-clark-jim-irsay-case-shows-hypocrisy-of-roger-goodell
Clark was on the Steelers when Goodell banned Ben Roethlisberger for four games due to his involvement in an alleged rape – a case that never went to trial and was ultimately dropped.
Now we have an owner that has been actually charged with two offences and the commish is sitting on his hands.
We just witnessed his NBA counterpart Adam Silver – just months on the job – strike quickly and deliberately against Clippers owner Donald Sterling, though it should be pointed out that situation is much bigger than a DUI charge.
Goodell can’t drag his feet anymore. He’s already not a favourite among the fans or the players and needs to improve his image of being completely in the owners’ pocket.
At least Irsay has entered rehab, but that shouldn’t cut his punishment too much. After all, Browns all-pro receiver Josh Gordon is facing a potential season-long ban for testing positive for marijuana, which is actually legal in some states now.
If Irsay and the Colts aren’t fined a big amount and possibly even forced to forfeit a mid-round selection in next year’s draft, I’ll be very disappointed.
A statement has to be made that the rules are for everyone – owners included.