Nate Davis

USA TODAY Sports

Sept. 1 marks 10 years since Roger Goodell took over as commissioner of the NFL. To say his decade-long tenure has been tumultuous would be an understatement. Here are 10 episodes that have defined Goodell's reign:

1. Prior to Goodell's promotion, the NFL had been criticized as soft on player discipline. But he was widely praised for a law and order approach, implementing a personal conduct policy in his bid to "protect the shield" after a rash of player arrests. He brought a heavy hammer down on some of his most serious offenders. In his first year on the job, Goodell suspended Adam "Pacman" Jones for the entire 2007 season, sat Chris Henry and Tank Johnson eight games apiece while also dealing with Michael Vick's dogfighting controversy. "I hope this sends a message to people in our league for how to conduct themselves," New England owner Robert Kraft said. "We have to be careful. People in America can't relate to overindulged athletes not acting responsibly."

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2. Goodell fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and stripped the team of its 2008 first-round pick and $250,000 after the New York Jets accused the organization of illegally videotaping its defensive signals during the opening game of the 2007 season. Even though Kraft had been one of his staunchest allies, the controversy wouldn't be the first time Goodell would come down hard on the Patriots, whose reputation as an evil empire is widely traced to “Spygate.”

3. After a rash of brutal hits early in the 2010 season, Goodell started issuing hefty fines to players who were delivering reckless helmet-to-helmet blows. Though Goodell said he was trying to protect the players, many — mostly defenders — were critical of his approach and accused him of making the game soft. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who was fined $75,000 for knocking out Cleveland Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, quickly became one of Goodell's most outspoken critics and continues to be so today. However concussions and CTE, a degenerative brain disease that has been found in some deceased players, continue to threaten the game's long-term viability. In 2013, the league reached a tentative $765 million settlement that covers 20,000 former players for concussion-related issues. The NFL continues to seek ways to make the game safer, including programs to teach proper tackling at the youth level, though Goodell was panned earlier this year for saying, "There’s risk in life. There’s risk in sitting on the couch."

4. By the end of 2011, Goodell had helped secure the league's financial future with Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN committing nearly $40 billion for league broadcast rights from 2014 through 2022, an arrangement that would allow all 32 teams to collect roughly $200 million annually during that stretch. Goodell has expressed his financial goal for the NFL to amount to $25 billion in annual revenue by 2027.

5. Goodell became the face of the five-month lockout of players during collective bargaining negotiations during the spring and summer of 2011. A 10-year CBA was reached in time to salvage a complete regular season and was generally viewed as a victory for the owners, Goodell's constituents. Without any fanfare, the pact also cemented the authoritarian powers of his office — an outcome which would later have a huge effect on Goodell's ability to discipline players. The lockout heralded in a new era of acrimony between the league and players union, which has only grown testier since and often in courtroom settings.

6. In his ongoing crusade to make the NFL safer, Goodell issued severe penalties to the New Orleans Saints in 2012 in what would become known as "Bountygate." Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was banned indefinitely for allegedly overseeing a program where defensive players were rewarded for injuring opponents. The team was fined $500,000 and stripped of two draft picks, while four Saints players were suspended. However Paul Tagliabue, Goodell's predecessor, eventually vacated the players' suspensions on appeal but affirmed Goodell's other findings.

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7. One year after locking out the players, the league used the same tactic with its game officials. The results were disastrous. The start of the regular season was marred by inconsistent (and incorrect) officiating, culminating with the Seattle Seahawks' "Fail Mary" victory over the Green Bay Packers — one official who witnessed the game-ending play ruled it a Seattle TD while another called it a Green Bay interception — in front of a Monday Night Football audience to cap Week 3. The regular crews were back at work a few days later, and Goodell admitted in a letter to fans that "you deserve better."

8. In what was probably the biggest public relations disaster of Goodell's term, he suspended the Baltimore Ravens' Ray Rice two games prior to the 2014 season when the running back was accepted into a pretrial intervention program after he was caught punching then-fiancee Janay Palmer (she later married Rice) at an Atlantic City Casino. Rice had been originally indicted on aggravated assault charges. But following Goodell's ruling, video surfaced of the incident, causing a public outcry. Goodell admitted he "didn't get it right" when punishing Rice and re-suspended him indefinitely (a ban later overturned by a former federal judge). Rice was released by the Ravens after the video became public and hasn’t played in the NFL since. The league strengthened its personal conduct policy in the following months, devoting far more focus to domestic violence and diversity issues. And it began using the exempt list, essentially paid leave, to take players like Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy off the field as their own domestic issues were legislated.

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9. On May 11, 2015, Goodell went after the Patriots again, suspending star quarterback Tom Brady four games for his alleged involvement in a scheme to deflate footballs during the 2014 AFC Championship Game. The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked two draft picks, including their first rounder in 2016. The "Deflategate" penalties were levied after the findings of independent investigator Ted Wells were released — and his conclusions were disputed in many quarters and especially by the Patriots. New England owner Robert Kraft defended Brady and Belichick but capitulated to the sanctions, a decision he'd later admit regretting while rebuking the league. Deflategate became a national punchline, but Brady ultimately accepted his suspension — which was temporarily vacated by a federal judge prior to the 2015 season — in July, choosing not to seek another stay. The union may still fight the legality of the ruling, though that would have to occur in the Supreme Court.

10. In January, the owners allowed the Rams to relocate from St. Louis back to Los Angeles, their home from 1946 until 1994. "Franchise free agency" had become a problem under Tagliabue, but the Rams became the first team to move under Goodell, who lauded the decision while understanding the financial ramifications of the league's return to the nation's second-largest market after a 21-year absence. The Rams' $1.8 billion stadium in Inglewood, Calif., is scheduled to open in 2019 and should become another cash cow that attracts Super Bowls and major events beyond football. It remains a possibility that the San Diego Chargers or Oakland Raiders could join the Rams in L.A., though the Raiders are also now considering Las Vegas as their next home. Goodell has steadily ramped up the league’s overseas presence — three games will be played in London in 2016 and another in Mexico City — but expansion abroad does not seem imminent.

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