Roger Goodell is judge, jury and executioner

NFL Commissioner is up to his eyeballs in disciplinary cases. He must long for the day when he was a public defender trying to help some youngster beat a speeding ticket.

Alex Marvez, FoxSports.com:

Jim Irsay found out the hard way.

Mere hours after the Indianapolis Colts owner pled guilty Tuesday to operating a vehicle while impaired, Goodell suspended Irsay for six games and fined him the maximum amount allowed ($500,000) under rules of the NFL's constitution.

After 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, Irsay is barred from the team facility. He is prohibited from speaking with the press or engaging in social media (Irsay loves communicating with fans on Twitter and has more than 278,000 followers). He cannot represent the Colts at NFL meetings or participate in any of the committee functions that help shape the league's business plan. And he cannot attend any Colts practices or games.
There was more to the arrest than driving under the inluence. Jim Irsay also had oxycodone and hydrocodone in his system. He will lose his driver's license for one year. Not only does he face random drug testing from the court, but from the NFL as well.

Commissioner Roger Goodell may have thrown Jim Irsay a lifeline when he did not punish the Indianapolis Colts as well as the owner.

Alex Marvez, FoxSports.com:

As the commissioner explained in an NFL press release, draft pick and cap penalties weren’t levied because Irsay’s conduct “did not have competitive consequences,” as when New England was fined $250,000 and stripped of 2008 first-round draft pick following the Spygate controversy.

It really is time for the owner of the Colts to grow up. He has beaten addiction to prescription pills in the past. His net worth of $1.4 billion won't be of much use in owning an NFL franchise if he stumbles again.

Roger Goodell is raising the penalty on each case that comes across his desk. The next one for Jim Irsay will be the final one.

Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

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