John Lynch: Goodell's reputation 'has taken a hit,' league getting 'sloppy' FOX SportsAUG 05, 2015 5:23p ET 
video linkThings looked so promising when Roger Goodell took over as NFL commissioner in 2006. NFL on FOX analyst John Lynch remembers that time well, saying the tenure of previous league commish Paul Tagliabue had grown stale."[Goodell] was a breath of fresh air," Lynch said during an appearance on "America's Pregame" on FOX Sports 1 on Wednesday.Fast-forward to the present and Goodell finds himself wrapped up in the Deflategate controversy with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. As a court case looms, Lynch says the issue has shifted from being a black eye on the Patriots organization to one that has started to make the league look bad."[Goodell] has taken a hit perception-wise because he kinda came in like John Wayne and didn't really care about precedent," Lynch told "APG" host Peter Schrager.Goodell's approach is in stark contrast to Tagliabue, who in Lynch's view made every decision based on precedent. And while Goodell was able to make his new attitude work early in his tenure, things have started to slip, despite his good intentions."When you don't operate on precedent, things can get sloppy," Lynch said. ". . . The last couple of offseasons have been sloppy."
