Goodell Has To Go – From the Bird’s Nest

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came down on the New Orleans Saints and head coach Sean Payton in the "bounty-gate" investigation, he said "ignorance is no excuse."

When players have tested positive for banned substances and said they didn't know the substance was in medicine they took, Goodell's response was "if you didn't know, you should have known."

Yesterday, within an hour after a message to the owners explaining no one in the NFL office saw the Ray Rice video punching his then-girlfriend until this past Monday, the Associated Press reported a DVD of the video was mailed to an NFL executive  by a law enforcement official five months ago.  The official produced a voice mail that was sent from a phone number at NFL headquarters April 9th, where a woman was heard to say the DVD had arrived and was quoted as saying, "You're right.  It's terrible."

The league has since tabbed former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to conduct an independent investigation.

Now, let's assume for a moment the story is on the level.  Let's assume someone in the NFL office received the DVD.

Based on the statement issued yesterday by the Commissioner's office, only two conclusions can be drawn.

It is possible Roger Goodell knew nothing about the DVD and, therefore, was on the level when he said he had not seen the video before Monday.  If that be the case, see the quote he gave to the Saints.  Goodell would be, at the very least, a CEO who doesn't know what's going on in his office.  He would be, at the very least, someone who wasn't concerned enough to leave no stone un-turned in efforts to get the video.  He would be, at the very least, someone who approved the hiring of a person who had evidence in the case and withheld it.

The other possibility is Roger Goodell is a bold faced liar.

Those are really the only two possibilities.  He either didn't know what was going on in his office or he knew and covered it up.

It doesn't matter which.

If the AP story is confirmed, Roger Goodell has to go.

Because if he didn't know, he should have known.