Report: There is ‘universal’ support for Roger Goodell among NFL owners

The topic is fun to talk about but ultimately doesn’t matter: Is Roger Goodell going to lose his job as NFL commissioner?

Goodell might have a low approval rating among players, fans and some media, but the only people who matter to Goodell’s job security are the NFL owners. And they still love him.

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In Kent Babb’s excellent piece on Goodell in the Washington Post, Babb quoted an unnamed owner as saying there is “universal support” for Goodell among owners.

“Overall,” the owner said, according to the Post, “everybody thinks he’s doing a very good job in a very, very challenging environment.”

Again, those are the only men whose opinions matter when we have the endless chat about Goodell’s job security. Even Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has been publicly irate at the league over its handling of the deflate-gate controversy involving his team, “is said to view Goodell like a son — and therefore isn’t expected to hold a grudge,” Babb wrote. The other owners are “probably happy” in seeing Goodell take on a longtime ally in Kraft over deflate-gate, the story said.

Babb’s piece is as good as has ever been written on Goodell. It is fair and insightful. It paints Goodell as operating as a politician in the commissioner’s office. That makes sense considering his father Charles was a former U.S. Representative and Senator. Charles Goodell, Babb writes, spoke out about Vietnam in an act of rebellion against the White House, and Republicans made sure he’d never hold office again. Worth noting.

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Babb’s story also gives interesting perspective on Goodell’s approach to deflate-gate. Babb includes that Goodell was upset that his predecessor Paul Tagliabue overturned the player suspensions in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, hoping to avoid further litigation. Although Tagliabue agreed with many of Goodell’s findings in that case, anything less than a complete victory was unacceptable for Goodell. Babb wrote that Goodell and Tagliabue haven’t spoken much since.

As we wait for a federal judge’s ruling on deflate-gate, it’s worthwhile to read Babb’s profile of Goodell and how he approaches his job. Because from the sounds of it, no matter how much noise there is to the contrary, it doesn’t seem like Goodell is going anywhere for a while.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab