Does Roger Goodell Have Too Much Power?

Bit of a different discussion for you all this afternoon. As many of you probably know, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was the judge, jury, and executioner in the Saints bounty scandal. The NFL has released certain amounts of evidence that seem pretty damning to the Saints, but Goodell ruled his punishment before the evidence was ever released in any amount.

Part of the complaint from the players' side is that Goodell pretty much has the power to do what he wants, as well as suspend who he wants, when he wants. The NFL seemed to have done a thorough enough investigation on the bounties to give Goodell enough evidence to warrant a concrete decision, but the only people who know exactly what went on are Goodell and the investigators.

In my knowledge of recent NFL history, I have never felt that Goodell abused any power to be the Dean of Punishment in the NFL, but that doesn't mean that this question can't be asked.

As Falcons fans, most of us probably have little-to-no sympathy for the Saints, but if it had happened to us, we'd be up in arms, ready to fight.

Thankfully, it hasn't happened to us, but does Goodell have too much power? Perhaps we're not supposed to know the evidence, since we're just the fans and, ultimately, not a part of the investigation, but Goodell did bring down the suspensions without first revealing any evidence at all, to my knowledge.

I imagine a lot of you guys have differing opinions on what it means to have power over something, since we all have different kinds of jobs. Does Goodell have too much power as an individual over the NFL?