From 1925-1999, a total of nine NFL players were suspended. NINE! Since 2000, there have been nearly 100, with the majority of them coming during Roger Goodell’s time as commissioner, which started in 2006. On the heels of his latest punishment — a four-game suspension for Tom Brady — let’s look back at some of Goodell’s most memorable punishments.
2006 | Albert Haynesworth | Suspended 5 Games for stomping on Andre Gurode’s head
Goodell had only been commissioner for one month when, on Oct. 1, 2006, Titans lineman Albert Haynesworth stomped on the helmet-less head of Cowboys center Andre Gurode. Haynesworth’s cleat opened a gash on Gurode’s head that required 30 stitches. The five-game punishment was only the second multiple-game suspension for an on-field act in NFL history, and remains the longest suspension ever for an incident occurring during a game.
2007 | Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones | Suspended entire 2007 season for strip club incident
This was Goodell’s first major suspension for a violation of the NFL’s player conduct policy. Titans cornerback Adam Jones was forced to sit out the entire 2007 season after a strip club incident on February 19, 2007 during the NBA All-Star weekend, the details of which are so absurd we’ll let Wiki take it away:
Jones and American rap artist Nelly patronized the club that evening. Nelly, along with someone known as Richard Rich, showered the stage with hundreds of one-dollar bills; an act known as “making it rain.” Jones then joined Nelly by throwing his own money for “visual effect.” Club promoter Chris Mitchell then directed his dancers to collect the money. According to the club’s co-owner, Jones became enraged when a dancer began taking the money without his permission. He allegedly grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head on the stage.
Three people were shot that night, and Jones went on to have a host of other off-the-field issues that led to more suspensions.
2007 | Michael Vick | Suspended entire 2007 and 2008 seasons for dog fighting ring
In what was easily the ugliest off-the-field scandal in NFL history, Michael Vick, who at the time was perhaps the biggest star in the league, was discovered to be financing and running a dog fighting ring based out of Virginia, his home state. Bad Newz Kennels cost Vick 23 months in federal prison, a two-year suspension, and forced him into bankruptcy.
2009 | Donte Stallworth | Suspended entire 2009 season for manslaughter
On the morning of March 14, 2009, Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was driving his Bentley in Miami when he hit and killed a man who was walking home from work. Stallworth’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit, but in large part because the man he hit was not in a crosswalk, Stallworth was able to get a plea deal that required only a 30-day sentence in a county jail. Goodell was less lenient, and he handed out a season-long suspension for Stallworth in August of that year.
2010 | Ben Roethlisberger | Suspended 6 games for sexual assault allegations
The Steelers franchise quarterback was accused by a then-20-year-old college student of raping her in a bar bathroom in Milledgeville, Ga. In the end, however, the DA determined there was not enough physical evidence to convict Roethlisberger, and the accuser no longer wanted to pursue charges anyway because of the intense media attention she had received. Nine days after charges were dropped, Goodell suspended Roethlisberger for six games, which was ultimately reduced to four games after the QB completed league-ordered treatment.
2011 | Ndamukong Suh | Suspended 2 games for stomping on Evan Dietrich-Smith
More stomping! This time it was Lions lineman Ndamukong Suh, who had developed a history of dirty play, stomping on the arm of Packers lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith … on Thanksgiving. Five days after the nationally televised incident, Goodell suspended Suh for Weeks 13 and 14.
2012 | A bunch of Saints | Suspended for involvement in bounty program
Following an investigation into the New Orleans Saints two-year “Bountygate,” during which players were given money for injuring the opposition, four players and four coaches/front office staff were suspended by the NFL. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma received the harshest player penalty, being suspended for all of the 2012 season. Head coach Sean Payton was also suspended for 2012, becoming the first head coach to ever be suspended by the NFL.
2013 | Multiple players | Suspended for helmet-to-helmet hits
The NFL decided it was going to make eliminating dangerous helmet-to-helmet hits a priority, and it did so by suspending three players for separate incidents during the 2013 season. Brandon Meriweather, Dashon Goldson and Michael Griffin were all forced to sit one game out for hits like this:
2014 | Ray Rice | Suspended 2 games for assaulting his fiance
After nearly a decade of handing out suspensions, this is the one that finally turned many fans against Goodell. Despite video evidence of Ray Rice dragging his unconscious then-fiance out of an Atlantic City elevator, the commissioner only suspended Rice for two games. It wasn’t until video from inside the elevator surfaced — along with loads of public pressure — that Goodell suspended Rice indefinitely. It was an ugly episode that forced the league to at least begin to change how it handled domestic abuse.
2015 | Greg Hardy | Suspended 10 games for domestic abuse allegations
Perhaps as a direct result of what happened with the league’s handling of the Ray Rice incident, Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy was suspended for the first 10 games of the upcoming season for domestic assault charges in North Carolina that were ultimately dropped. The case forced his former team, the Panthers, to bench Hardy for all but one game last season.
2015 | Tom Brady | Suspended 4 games for deflating footballs
It remains to be seen if this one will hold up under appeal, but the general opinion seems to be that this is Goodell overstepping his bounds. Making an example out of arguably the greatest quarterback of all time for allegedly knowing about slightly deflated footballs seems like a bad way to get public opinion back on your side. Although based on his past, it seems Goodell isn’t concerned with such things.
