Deflate-gate Perfect Ending To Rough Year For NFL

Roger Goodell probably would like a mulligan
on the 2014 NFL season.

If Roger Goodell could get a do-over for the 2014 season, he most certainly would.  This was one of the toughest seasons for the league in quite some time.  With the signature game nearing, it just isn't getting any better.

No, Deflate-gate is yet another black eye for a season that has seen too many of them.

We had the Ray Rice incident.  Not just the incident, but the inadequate punishment.  A punishment that got more severe when another video surfaced, which actually made the league look worse since there were rumblings of a cover-up.

We got the Adrian Peterson incident.  One of the best and well-liked players in the NFL sat most of the season after he went a bit too far punishing his kid.

There was the ongoing debate of the Washington Redskins nickname.  Various protests as well as announcers and publications refusing to say their name.

There was Michael Sam.  Not the fact we had the first openly gay player to get drafted in the NFL was bad.  That was great.  No, we got him falling in that draft and then never making an active roster all season.

There were cheerleaders suing the teams they worked for, claiming unfair work practices.  While not much came of this, we did get to hear about the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders' "Jiggle Test".

There was Colts' owner Jim Irsay who was popped for driving while impaired and found to have had a bunch of pills and a bunch of money on him.

We also had relocation talk, which is amazing from a league where it seems they are just printing money.  We also had a ton of Goodell missteps and bad press conferences to make your stomach turn.

Now we get Deflate-gate, where the New England Patriots are being accused of doctoring footballs during their AFC Championship game with Indianapolis.  The Super Bowl is ten days away as I type this, yet all anyone is talking about is the PSI of a football.

Look, there's always tough times, even in the NFL.  From replacement refs to replacement players to drugs to Spygate to Bountygate.  It happens.  But this year really shook the confidence in the commissioner and the NFL itself.  We will never look at Goodell the same again and maybe we'll never look at the league again.