In 2007, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell determined that the New England Patriots and its head coach,

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
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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?

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