Pat Leonard: Shame on Roger Goodell, NFL for refusing to condemn Steve Tisch over Jeffrey Epstein correspondence

NEW YORK — It wouldn't have taken much for Roger Goodell and the NFL to condemn New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch's documented association with Jeffrey Epstein, one of the most notorious sex criminals of the modern world. Even in the absence of any proven crime committed by Tisch, even in the naivest retelling or understanding of Tisch's correspondences with Epstein, his unacceptable relationship with this man deserves censure. The very least Goodell and the NFL could have done would have been stating that they do not condone Tisch's association with Epstein, especially since Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2010 for "solicitation of prostitution with a minor" — three years before Tisch's emails to him. But Goodell and the NFL's owners are refusing to do even that. They are proving they're not brave enough to take a stand. They are instead selectively choosing, it appears, to move on without much acknowledgement at all — with a backdoor solution to any future legal issues. Goodell was asked Wednesday in Phoenix if the league had found cause to take action against Tisch under the NFL's personal conduct policy. "There hasn't been," Goodell said. "As we said, we're going to follow the facts. We have been doing that. We've been very focused on making sure we understand everything that's out there. We've engaged with others to make sure we have that information." "As you know, the Tisch family also made some family changes," the commissioner continued. "Steve and John and Laurie actually did some transactions as part of their estate planning and are no longer owners. But we have not found anything that's a violation at this stage." It is not clear what Goodell means by the Tisch family being "no longer owners." Steve, Jonathan and Laurie Tisch didn't sell the team; they kept it in the family with their children. The Tisch family still owns a large chunk of this franchise. The Giants said in March that Tisch's involvement with the team was "status quo." And the Giants' website still lists Steve, Jonathan and Laurie Tisch in the "ownership/ board of directors" category atop the masthead. Tisch is identified as the Giants' executive vice president and chairman of the board. Jonathan Tisch is the treasurer and board director. Laurie Tisch is a board director, as well. Even if Goodell and the NFL's lawyers are using the transfer of ownership shares to the Tisch children as a way to distance the league from being legally complicit to any future evidence, doesn't the league remain complicit in spirit by refusing to acknowledge that what they already know falls well below any true standards, let alone their own? It is difficult to reconcile Goodell appointing an investigator to look into the deflation of footballs in 2015 and not open a single official investigation into Tisch here in 2026. But this appears to be confirmation of how subjective Goodell's application of the NFL's personal conduct policy is. The policy says "everyone who is part of the league must refrain from conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL. It is not enough simply to avoid being found guilty of a crime in a court of law. We are all held to a higher standard and must conduct ourselves in a way that is responsible, promotes the values of the NFL, and is lawful." So a crime doesn't have to be committed for someone to violate the personal conduct policy. They could simply be in violation for not upholding the NFL's "higher standard." How, then, can Goodell objectively say Tisch's connection to Epstein doesn't qualify? Granted, while multiple NFL owners have been forced to sell in recent years due to behavior that undermined the integrity of the league, Tisch's situation is not the same. Jerry Richardson sold the Carolina Panthers when several past settlements with team employees came to light. Daniel Snyder had to sell the Washington Commanders due to multiple examples of alleged workplace misconduct. These were litigated situations of proven misconduct. The implication of Tisch's association to Epstein, technically, is only that without concrete evidence of whatever actions may or may not have happened behind the conversations in those emails. Still, Tisch's uncomfortable dialogue with Epstein is damning in its own right. Or it should be. Tisch was featured among millions of documents in the latest release of the Epstein files in late January, trading emails with the disgraced financier about connecting with women. In one thread of correspondence in April 2013, Tisch emailed Epstein, then a convicted sex offender, to say he'd just had lunch with a friend of one of Epstein's assistants. Describing her as a "very sweet girl," he asked Epstein if he knew anything about her, the documents released show. "No but I will ask [redacted] (all confidential) I will get all info, did you contact the great ass fake tit [redacted]," Epstein wrote back in a typo-laden response. "Shes a character, short term, has an older boyfriend going to acting school, a 10 ass. "I am happy to have you as a new but obviosly shared interest friend." That was only the tip of the iceberg. "We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments," Tisch said in his own statement back in January. "I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with." Again, Epstein was a convicted sex offender three years prior to Tisch's documented correspondences with him, however, and settled lawsuits with numerous victims alleging similar behavior. Tisch, the Giants' executive vice president and chairman of the board, is the Academy Award winning producer of "Forrest Gump" (1994). He's also a cousin of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. He is the son of the late Preston Robert "Bob" Tisch, the co-founder of the Loews Corporation who purchased a 50% share of the Giants in 1991. Tisch and John Mara have functioned as the Giants franchise's controlling owners for their respective families since the passing of their fathers, Bob Tisch and Wellington Mara, in 2005. But Tisch has taken a major step back in recent years in the operation of the team since the passing of his daughter, Hilary, in 2020. Loews is now a publicly traded company active in insurance, drilling rigs, natural gas, pipelines and hotels. Epstein was arrested on sweeping sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and found dead inside a cell at the now-shuttered Metropolitan Correctional Center about a month later. His death was officially ruled a suicide. It is impossible to know the full extent of Tisch's involvement with Epstein, which would be true even if the full, unredacted Epstein files were released. But that doesn't matter. The very existence of Tisch's relationship and conversations with Epstein, which are not in dispute, should be enough to embarrass the NFL. Instead, the league has chosen to embarrass itself by refusing to take a position on what should be the world's simplest question: Is it OK to associate with Jeffrey Epstein?