Given that a vote of confidence often is viewed as a kiss of death, maybe it’s a good thing that Giants co-owner John Mara has opted not to provide a vote of confidence to Commissioner Roger Goodell. The better explanation could be that Mara gets it.
In an interview with Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB.com, Mara chose not to discuss his level of confidence in the league’s Commissioner.
“That’s something I’d rather not get into,” Mara said. “Just because of this [Robert Mueller] report, and my position on it, I’d rather not comment right now.”
Mara and Steelers co-owner Art Rooney II are overseeing the investigation conducted by Mueller, a former FBI director.
Silence doesn’t mean Mara lacks confidence in the Commissioner. It means that Mara realizes (unlike some of his peers) that the report to be issued at some point by Mueller could change perceptions and realities, perhaps dramatically. Until everyone knows what Mueller concludes, no one will know how to properly react to it.
So when will we have a chance to react to it?
“Not sure yet, but hopefully sooner rather than later,” Mara said. (Some of his peers may be hoping for later -- as in later than the Super Bowl.)
But while Mara seems to understand that it’s too early to make any decisions about Goodell, Mara doesn’t seem to realize the potential implications of Judge Barbara Jones recent ruling in the Ray Rice appeal.
“Well, look at what happened,” Mara said. "[Goodell] issued a two-game suspension and received a lot of public criticism for that, and rightfully so, and then upon viewing the tape, he suspended him for the year. If he had done that in the first instance, we probably would not be having this discussion. But that was not the case. He tried to correct what he viewed as a mistake and, as a result, he took some criticism for it. But hopefully, we’ll have better procedures in place going forward.”
The attempted correction came not via a legitimate attempt at rectifying the error but via an accidentally inaccurate at best (deliberately concocted at worst) claim that Rice had lied to the league when describing what happened in the elevator. Ultimately, Judge Jones found that Goodell and two of his top lieutenants testified that Rice said something Rice actually didn’t say.
Mara may see that as an effort to correct a mistake. Mueller may see it differently. How Mueller expresses his perception could go a long way toward shaping Goodell’s future.
