Reference no: EM131657001

Question: In 2007, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell determined that the New England Patriots and its head coach, Bill Belichick, had violated NFL rules by videotaping opposing teams' sideline signals during games. Goodell docked the Patriots a 2008 firstround draft pick, and he fined Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000. In 2008, Goodell interviewed the Patriots' employee who had done the videotaping and concluded that the employee's information was consistent with the behavior for which the Patriots and Belichick had been disciplined in 2007. Therefore, Goodell termed the matter over and said it was not necessary to discipline further the Patriots or Belichick. Immediately thereafter, Arlen Specter, a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, called the NFL investigation "neither objective nor adequate." Specter stated, "If the commissioner doesn't move for an independent investigation,... depending on the public reaction, I may ask the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on the NFL antitrust exemption." Specter further stated that Goodell has made "ridiculous" assertions that wouldn't fly "in kindergarten." The senator said Goodell was caught in an "apparent conflict of interest" because the NFL doesn't want the public to lose confidence in the league's integrity. Terming the videotaping of opposing teams' signals a form of cheating equivalent to steroid use, Specter called for an independent investigation similar to the 2007 Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs in baseball. Can you identify the fallacies in Senator Specter's arguments?