Roger Goodell has punished many players and several owners for their off-field transgressions. So how will he deal with Robert Kraft?
Roger Goodell began his tenure as commissioner of the N.F.L. in 2006 declaring that disciplining the league’s 2,000 players for their transgressions would be a priority. True to his word, the number of suspensions and fines rose, and it remains high relative to what it was.
Disciplining owners, though, has been more complicated. As with players, the N.F.L. constitution gives the league commissioner broad authority to penalize owners for “conduct detrimental to the welfare of the League or professional football.”
But while the players essentially work for Goodell, and have little leverage to influence his decisions, Goodell works for the owners, and those owners include Robert K. Kraft of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Kraft, 77, was charged on Friday with two counts of soliciting sex as part of a wide-ranging investigation into prostitution and human trafficking in Florida. The police in Jupiter, Fla., used video surveillance that showed Kraft inside a massage parlor that, the police said, was used for selling sex.
In a statement, the Patriots “categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity.”
However the case is resolved, the episode is an embarrassment to a league that likes to portray itself as a pillar of moral rectitude but that has struggled to shake an image that its players, employees and owners treat women poorly.
The league has been rocked by a host of domestic violence scandals. Cheerleaders have detailed how they were exploited by their teams. Last year, Jerry Richardson, the former owner of the Carolina Panthers, was fined $2.75 million after an investigation confirmed claims that for years he sexually harassed employees .
Now this.
If Kraft is found to have committed a crime, even a misdemeanor, Goodell will be under pressure to penalize him to compensate for the embarrassment the league has suffered.
