It's pretty clear what Goodell is doing. It's to put the NFL in a positive light/ protect the shield and use the first person that they could make an example of .. Like Bountygate with a team that supposedly put bounty on injuring opposing players when they was dead last in such thing. They were trying to make themselves look good with the CTE case looking. They trying to recoup their image with women after they blatantly covered up the Ray Rice Video.It's a little different because the the NFL basically told itself the evidence is shotty and inconsistent and recommended no suspension. Goodell did it anyway, which any court would see as peculiar at best and biased at worst.
