Chas Dickas, Matthew Jones, & Phil Mosley

Dr. Shin
SAM 6280.01
Sport Leader Profile
The National Football League is arguably the most powerful and lucrative professional
sports league in the entire world. The NFL dominates the professional sport landscape in
America through its multi million dollar marketing, merchandising, and television deals. The
NFLs crown jewel championship, the Super Bowl, is also regarded as one of the most popular
television events of the year. Perhaps just as powerful as the league itself is the man who sits
atop of the NFL mantle, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell, who took over as NFL
commissioner in 2006, has often been portrayed as one of the most powerful men in the sport
industry. With that said, Goodell did not just wake up one day as the NFL commissioner. In this
paper, an examination of Goodells work history, current position and involvement, and major
life events will take place. An examination of Goodells contributions and controversies as the
current NFL commissioner will follow. The paper will close with an examination of Roger
Goodells leadership style, one that is both clear-cut and sometimes highly criticized by the
players in the league.
Roger Goodells tenure as NFL commissioner has not exactly been the most peaceful
with the NFL players. Goodell has been at the center of several controversies and major events
that have taken place in the NFL. The first major controversy, or policy, that Goodell enacted
when he took office in 2006 was harsh player conduct penalties. The NFL player conduct policy
was originally enacted prior to the 2007 NFL season ("Goodell suspends pacman,," 2007). The
policy was unique to Roger Goodell because it essentially made Goodell the judge, jury, and

appeal for all player-conduct violations. The player conduct policy also focused much more on
the off-field behavior of NFL players and how that behavior could be deemed detrimental to the
league. Some of the more notable suspensions that took place were of Tennessee Titans CB
Adam Pacman Jones for the entire 2007 season and Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry for
the first 8 games of the 2007 season ("Goodell suspends pacman,," 2007). Goodell also dealt
with the 2009 suspension of Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick after the infamous dog fighting
ring that Vick was sent to jail for in 2007. Goodells strict off the field conduct policy and the
fact that he makes all the decisions when it comes to suspensions has not made him popular
among many NFL players. While the NFL player conduct policy is a major dispute in Roger
Goodells tenure as NFL commissioner, it is not the most controversial.
Perhaps the biggest controversy that Roger Goodell has been involved in during his time
as NFL commissioner is the 2011 NFL lockout. In March of 2011, the owners of all 32 NFL
teams locked out the players of the league (Marvez, 2011). The lockout lasted from March till
July and banned all players from NFL facilities, contact with coaches and team doctors, and put a
temporary hiatus to all player paychecks (Marvez, 2011). The lockout stemmed from a
disagreement about revenue share that the owners and players had. The owners wanted more of
the revenue share than they had been previously given during the 1993 Collective Bargaining
Agreement (CBA) (Marvez, 2011). A new CBA was finally reached but not before the NFL
Players Association and Roger Goodell (who essentially represented the owners during the
lockout) took the battle all the way to congress. Once again, Goodell did not gain much favor
with the NFL players over the lockout. He was very strong headed in his position during the
lockout and that position was to side with the owners of the NFL teams rather than the players.

Roger Goodells stance and position in both the player conduct policy and the 2011 NFL lockout
are clear evidence of the type of leader he is.
It is evident from the research on Roger Goodells tenure as NFL commissioner that he is
clearly an Authoritarian type of leader as well as a Transactional type of leader. Goodell
does not run the NFL as a democracy, but rather as a dictatorship. He tends to have the final say
in most decisions that come down to the players, whether it is through player fines and
suspensions, the player conduct policy, or the 2011 NFL lockout dispute. It appears that Goodell
is also much more concerned with being a task oriented type of leader rather than a
transformational type of leader. He runs a punishment and reward system, as evidenced by the a
fore mentioned NFL player conduct policy. While Goodell is hard with punishments with the
players, he has also suspended and come down hard on coaches and GMs in the past. During the
2011 Bounty Gate scandal, where New Orleans Saints players were paid to hurt opposing
teams players, he suspended New Orleans Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams. While
Goodells approach as a Authoritarian leader and a Transactional leader are certainly
controversial, no one can argue that they are not effective. Under Goodells leadership, the NFL
has continued to grow in popularity and dominance in professional sports in the U.S. and is still
the highest grossing professional sport league.

Works Cited
Goodell suspends pacman, henry for multiple arrests. (2007, May 17). Retrieved from
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2832015
Marvez, A. (2011, Month 12). Nfl owners lock out players. Retrieved from
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/NFL-Players-Association-union-decertifies-labortalks-owners-031111