Read the debate intro and Loyal Homer’s opinions.
To paraphrase Ned Nederlander, IN-definite is when you’re MORE than definite. This man Roger Goodell is not just definite, he’s IN-definite!
I have SO many problems with indefinite suspensions:
1. What kind of a message does this send?
It’s the equivalent of a parent saying “Go to your room until I can think of a punishment.” Heard THAT a LOT while I was growing up!
This is what people do when they do not know what to do. That’s okay if you were surprised by what happened. But, in Donte Stallworth’s case, Goodell has already had three months to think about it. The message he sends is that he is afraid – or unwilling – to take a formal position, preferring to wait until the media frenzy dies down. It’s cowardly.
If that is not the case (and he truly does not know what to do), then he demonstrates incompetence as commissioner. Either way it diminishes his authority because he is intentionally avoiding the situation.
2. It excessively punishes the player.
I’m not talking about the moral aspects of right and wrong. That is handled in the courts. What I am referring to is the fact that the player under indefinite suspension is left with absolutely no definition of what to expect. He doesn’t know if or when he’ll ever be able to play again.
I’ll say it again – I am not advocating the rightness or wrongness of the offense. If what the person did was so heinous that he deserves a lifetime ban, then give him a lifetime ban. Don’t just make him sit and wait by the phone, hoping each day that he’ll get THE call that will finally provide him with closure.
An indefinite suspension is like being thrown in jail without ever knowing when you could be released (which is, by the way, unconstitutional). It is like your sentence ends based on the whim of a judge.
While under indefinite suspension, the player is both deprived of his established means for income and intentionally left in the dark on when that opportunity will return. He doesn’t want to give up training, because he might play again. On the flip side, if he never does get to play again, than he’s wasted precious time where he could have begun looking for livelihood outside of professional sports.
3. It punishes the athlete’s team.
Once again, using Stallworth as an example, the Cleveland Browns are now in a position where they have to decide between two evils. If they stick with Stallworth and the suspension runs longer than they anticipate, then they are wasting time and resources on an ineligible player when they could have replaced him with an eligible one. On the other hand, if they cut ties, they run the risk of it being a shorter than anticipated suspension, and he could wind up signing on elsewhere… and potentially coming back to hurt them.
The Cleveland Browns are being punished because they are forced to interpret a very non-descript and vague decision by a cowardly commissioner.
4. In Donte Stallworth’s case, this punishment hurts the victim’s family.
Part of Donte Stallworth’s sentence is to pay restitution to the Reyes family for what he did. While the stipulated amount is confidential, I assume that it is substantial. Assuming Stallworth doesn’t have millions of dollars stuffed under mattresses somewhere, he will have to continue earning money in order to make good on the payment.
By placing Stallworth on indefinite suspension, Goodell is actually preventing Stallworth from the means necessary to pay the Reyes family, and he is basically telling the Reyes family they, too, will have to wait until he feels like addressing the situation again.
Without a definitive ruling there can be no closure. It is unfair to the player, their team, and the victims to string them along while the commissioner grapples with his unwillingness, indecisiveness, incompetence, fear, and/or ignorance to address the situation.
If Goodell really is NOT comfortable making the decision just yet he should at least set a date for when he WILL decide. Rather than suspend the player indefinitely, suspend him until date mm/dd when he WILL make a decision about the player’s fate. It at least shows that he has some kind of a plan in place to actually resolve the matter!
Set a timeframe, and let the world move on.
