Sports World Reacts to Mueller Appointment as Special Counsel

A friend sarcastically joked on Wednesday that he couldn’t wait to hear what the sports world thought about the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to the Trump/Comey/Flynn investigation.

Little did he know, he would find out.

A little background first. Some may remember that Robert Mueller investigated NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his handling of the Ray Rice case.

According to the Sporting News, “After conducting an investigation into the NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice case, Mueller, a former director of the FBI, exonerated commissioner Roger Goodell in January 2015. The investigation determined that no one at the league had received video of Rice punching his wife in a casino elevator before the video was published by TMZ.

“The report, however, also found the NFL did not aggressively pursue new information about the Rice case.”

That exoneration has caused some to view Mueller as nothing more than a cover for the establishment. Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation, referred to Mueller as an “institutionalist.” George Atallah, executive director of the NFLPA, believes the “fix” is in, with far greater consequences this time around:

Mueller saved Rog Goodell’s behind w/his independent investigation of whether Goodell tried to cover up Ray Rice video. An institutionalist. https://t.co/KKkJTjA2Mf

— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) May 17, 2017

Between Bob Mueller appointment & transcripts published it’s 2015 all over again except the stakes are…um…inflated. [ducks for cover]

— George Atallah (@GeorgeAtallah) May 17, 2017

Of course, to an arch-leftist like Zirin, no one scoring below a Michael Moore on the Marx-Lenin scale should get to investigate the White House. Yet, did Mueller really cut Roger Goodell a break? Or, did Mueller simply not find evidence that Goodell had received the Ray Rice video? One can believe whatever they want about Roger Goodell, the same way they can believe whatever they want about President Trump.

But, if Mueller exonerated Goodell due to lack of evidence of guilt, then he did his job. That makes Mueller a law man, not an institutionalist.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn