Why Roger Goodell is an even bigger liar than Kareem Hunt

Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL’s top brass have shown themselves to be unethical and irresponsible in their investigation of Kareem Hunt.

There’s not a single party who looks responsible at this point.

Kareem Hunt himself said on Sunday that he’s sorry for his behavior last February, when he shoved and kicked a woman, Abigail Ottinger, early one morning at a hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. From there, however, Hunt is only one of several figures whose behavior is suspect, to say the least, as more information emerges about the physical altercation involving the star running back.

On Sunday, the National Football League announced that the league would continue to investigate Hunt and the victim further to “pursue a complete understanding of the facts.” Here’s the complete statement issued by the NFL per a press release emailed to reporters:

"More from Arrowhead AddictFormer Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las VegasChiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract newsChiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in GermanyPodcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battlesKC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching acceleratorThe NFL’s investigation began immediately following the incident in February. Consistent with standard investigatory practices, the NFL continues to pursue a complete understanding of the facts. The NFL’s ongoing investigation will include further attempts to speak to the complainants involved in the incident. It will include a review of the new information that was made public on Friday – which was not available to the NFL previously – as well as further conversations with all parties involved in the incident."

Here is what is hard to stomach about the NFL’s announcement: the only reason they are even interested in pursuing the facts is that a video from TMZ Sports emerged in the first place. Hunt might have been the one physically on camera, but the spotlight from the coverage falls on the player, the team and the entire league at this point. And no one looks good in this light.

Back in February, the incident came to light that Hunt had been involved in an alleged assault on Ottinger. Hunt also filed a cross-complaint, claiming Ottinger was the actual assailant. Charges were never filed on either party and as quickly as the news emerged, all aspects of any issue regarding Hunt were dropped. Four months later, Hunt was involved in another alleged assault, this time at a resort in Ohio where the running back reportedly punched a man. Again, no official charges were filed and Hunt seemed to skate through the offseason. If anything, eyebrows were raised but not a single action was taken, at least publicly, by the team or the league.

Fast forward to December and we’ve learned a lot more. It’s been made clear that the Chiefs have been keeping a close watch on Hunt for some time, and that they also wanted to follow-up with their own investigation. Specifically, team executives wanted to view any potential video of the incident from February but, per a report from The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, the NFL reportedly told them to back off. If the Chiefs were trusting the NFL to follow-up and do its own investigation, they were sorely let down because the NFL let it rest from that point forward.

Hunt added insult to injury to the league when he confirmed that the NFL never once interviewed him about the incident, even after telling the team to back off of their own investigation. Now the NFL insists it wants to gain a “complete understanding of the facts.” At this point, it’s too little, too late.

This is a textbook power play where the powers-that-be hope that sweeping the issue under the rug will make it disappear. No one wants a rookie rushing title holder to go from emerging star to embattled suspect. Not only is that completely irresponsible, unethical and flat out wrong, but it’s also ignorant to hope in the digital era for any such evidence to just go away. Of course, there is a video.

For a commissioner that wants to fine Tyreek Hill for throwing up the peace sign while running in a touchdown or penalize players for expressing their personal opinions about political issues, Roger Goodell sure has a problem doing the right thing when it’s blindingly obvious.

A woman shouldn’t need a video to exist in order to believe her.

An assault investigation shouldn’t rely on a video to exist to at least speak to the parties involved.

The NFL shouldn’t wait to find out a video exists to “pursue a complete understanding of the facts.”