Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’s reported bitching and moaning about Roger Goodell’s actions over the last season has earned him a dose of NFL justice, which is regular justice that comes with an even more hollow feeling. Ken Belson of the New York Times reports the NFL commissioner will fine Jones “millions of dollars.”
Jones, who reportedly tried to hamstring Goodell’s contract extension and loudly complained about the six-game suspension to Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, could be fined for conduct detrimental to the NFL, according to Belson. Goodell’s punishment will happen “in the coming weeks.” There’s a little added fuck-you to it:
Jones will be ordered to pay the legal fees that the committee incurred defending itself, as well as the legal expenses the N.F.L. spent defending its decision to suspend Elliott.
Jones clearly has (or had) more clout than most of the NFL’s owners, which he used at times to his advantage. He was fine with other owners and their players being punished, but when Goodell dropped the hammer on Elliott, and a lengthy legal process upheld that punishment, he changed his tune. And when the commissioner’s extension came up, Jones objected strongly, and lawyered up so he’d be in a position to sue the six-owner compensation committee.
Even a fine that’s “millions of dollars”—sounds like it’ll be around $2 million, which is technically millions of dollars, but will be trumped up as much more—is a pittance to Jones, but will he appeal it on principle even though it has nothing to do with draft picks or games missed? Will he prefer the drawn-out legal battle? Will he rack his whiskey-soaked, deteriorating mind for any damning dirt on Goodell, the other NFL owners, or all parties involved so he can toss it into the light, to achieve mutual assured destruction? The answer here is, “Hopefully.”
