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Just how "independent" is the NFL's investigation?

In light of yesterday's Associated Press article, which reported that a law enforcement official sent the extended version of the Ray Rice tape to an NFL executive five months ago, commissioner Roger Goodell has decided to hire former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III to conduct an "independent investigation" on the matter.

So, why are some people saying that there's something fishy about this investigation? Well, because it's being overseen by NFL owners John Mara (New York Giants) and Dan Rooney (Pittsburgh Steelers), whom are connected to and have been highly supportive of Goodell throughout this whole controversy.

As Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun wrote:

"...The decision to put Mara and Rooney in charge of Mueller was another attempt to show that Goodell is going to be out of the loop, but it probably would look better if the NFL simply handed Mueller the keys to the kingdom and told him to perform the investigation without any input from anyone closely connected with the commissioner."

and

"...But the participation of two NFL owners who have been supportive of Goodell is still going to be an issue if the investigation ultimately concludes that Goodell was telling the truth when he insisted that no NFL officials - to his knowledge - had seen the video before Monday."

That's the thing. Along with Roger Goodell, the likes of John Mara and Dan Rooney have a lot at stake in this investigation, and at the end of the day, if the "independent" investigation concludes that Commissioner Goodell had no knowledge of the video prior to Monday, questions will still remain, including, "Is the NFL commissioner really that incompetent?"

If, surprisingly, the investigation does conclude that Goodell had prior knowledge of the video, then he's as good as done as the league's commissioner. However, if, as I expect will be the case, it concludes he was simply incompetent but not fully cognizant of the matter, unless sponsors threaten to cut ties with the NFL, I'll expect Goodell to remain commissioner for at least this season. As usual, what it will all come down to is money. If the league is bound to lose money with Goodell remaining as its commissioner, then the once loyal owners will flee his side. However, if that isn't the case, they'll place morality on the back-burner in favor of the dollars yet again.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11505460/former-fbi-director-probe-rice-case

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/schmuck-blog/bal-nfl-investigation-into-ray-rice-video-raises-more-questions-20140911,0,3260362.story

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24704465/ap-nfl-executive-was-sent-copy-of-ray-rice-video-in-april

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