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NFL needs better leadership at the top

Heading into Week 4 of the National Football League season, we can only speculate on what type of misconduct will crop up next in the NFL.

It saddens me about a sport I've so thoroughly enjoyed since I was a kid. I've always loved the Chicago Bears, and I talk about them like parents talk about their kids - you love them, but sometimes they disappoint.

As a huge fan and longtime supporter of the NFL, I hate what is happening in the game today.

On the Bears pregame show with Dan Jiggetts, we were asked about Commissioner Roger Goodell. Jigs said he thought the owners' support would go a long way for Goodell, and I agree, but I said he should still be fired for several reasons.

It's not just the Ray Rice situation, which smells like a cover-up by Baltimore and the commissioner, but also the myriad situations mishandled by Goodell.

I've heard others say Goodell shouldn't be fired because of one mistake. They must be kidding - right? Since "Roger-Dodger" has been the main guy at NFL headquarters, we have rarely seen him at his best, and more aptly at his worst. The New Orleans Saints' bounty gate scandal was a debacle of unfair punishment as Goodell insisted the Saints could not use ignorance as an excuse. Now, however, he uses his ignorance as one.

Look, Goodell became the top dog in 2006, and domestic abuse surfaced numerous times before Rice punched his fiancee in that elevator.

It's not a new problem, so why isn't there a better plan in place already? What took so long? Goodell's news conference on Friday was sad and pathetic, and he had nine days to prepare for it.

He is not a good leader for the NFL. A leader needs to be trusted, and I doubt many players, fans, media or sponsors trust him now. He is only satisfying the 32 owners, but should or will that be enough to keep his job?

Some of those powerful owners are having problems of their own. Jimmy Haslam of the Cleveland Browns has a truck stop company that agreed to pay a $92 million penalty for what authorities said amounted to cheating customers out of discounts and rebates. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been named in a sexual assault complaint, and the Baltimore Ravens' Steve Bisciotti finds himself defending charges of a cover-up that could damage the NFL for a long time.

What a total mess. I don't think it is a stretch to say that the $44 million Goodell is paid is not well spent. And by the time this column actually appears in print, another problem could surface.

Whether it's Goodell, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, Carolina's Greg Hardy, San Francisco's MacDonald or Rice, it doesn't look like positive changes will occur until Goodell is replaced.

Program notes:

Follow me on Twitter@ north2north, and listen to Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman and myself from 5-8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Fox Sports radio, and check me out on iHeart radio or Foxsportsradio.com.

• Mike North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary appears Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.

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