ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Maybe, just maybe, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t a complete dunderhead.
Wouldn’t it be something if his ham-handed approach to various disciplinary issues over the years — “Spygate,” “Bountygate,” “Deflategate” and assorted domestic violence cases — was actually a diabolical scheme to goose up NFL interest? To make the league more like a maddening soap opera in which you hate the main character but can’t turn away?
That would be pure genius, which seems unlikely, unless others are pulling Goodell’s strings. But no matter the silliness of his decisions, they effectively keep the spotlight away from the gravest issue the NFL wants to downplay: The mental plight players can face.