Roger Goodell has treated player discipline with the consistency of that annoying person you get stuck behind in line at Starbucks every morning.

One day, they want a Venti triple-foam frappé low-fat caramel macchiato topped with handmade artisanal whipped cream drained by pacifists from the udders of a cow that has attended global warming symposiums.

The next day, they order a black coffee. Small.

When he became NFL commissioner, Goodell wanted to impose discipline on every minor player infraction. He was going to make his name by cleaning up a league filled with violent young men.

Goodell proudly wore the badge he fished out of a box of Cracker Jack until Ray Rice punched his fiancée in an elevator, and Goodell's friends with the Baltimore Ravens told him to proceed cautiously, and Goodell blinkered himself like a skittish horse.

Goodell went overboard with player discipline, then effectively disappeared when he could have taken a dramatic stance against players performing violent acts, and particularly violent acts toward women. He went from Mr. Venti-Everything to, suddenly, Mr. Small Black Coffee.

This week, Adrian Peterson, who has admitted to the severe and cowardly beating of his son, got the Texas treatment in court. He was allowed to agree to a generous plea deal that allows him to resume his life and career. It's a wonder he wasn't presented with a gold star for upholding the tenets of traditional parenting.

This time around, Goodell can get it right. He can establish that he has higher standards than the anachronistic Texas courts, that he holds players, and especially players who have gotten rich because of the NFL's remarkable wealth, to a higher standard than the average citizen.

Goodell can and should suspend Peterson for the rest of the season. Doing so would improve Goodell's reputation, and save the Vikings and the league a lot of grief.

If Goodell ruled that Peterson could return to the field immediately, the football bosses at Winter Park would undoubtedly want to reinstate him. Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer are paid to win games. Peterson could help them win. Don't blame football guys for thinking like football guys.

The owners would face the more difficult decision. Zygi and Mark Wilf would have to decide whether the possibility of winning an extra game or two would be worth angering sponsors and fans, would be worth holding nationally televised news conferences at which reporters would shout angry questions to which there are no palatable answers.

Goodell is an employee of NFL owners. This is where he can do his bosses some good.

Peterson severely beat a child. He smoked marijuana, a relatively insignificant crime but one that Goodell has concerned himself with before.

If Goodell suspends Peterson for the rest of the season, he erases the possibility of another news conference that makes the Wilfs and the league look insensitive. He would begin to re-establish some credibility in dealing with player violence. He could set a powerful precedent for dealing with future transgressions.

The Rice saga exposed Goodell and the NFL as coldblooded, conspiratorial, simple-minded and greedy, and the Vikings' brass as tone-deaf.

The Peterson settlement offers Goodell a chance to do his job the way he should have done it when first presented with the circumstances of the Rice case.

He can establish standards. He can paint his league in a more sympathetic light. He can keep shy owners out of the spotlight. He can salve irritated sponsors. He can give Peterson time to recast himself as a changed man, whose return to the NFL could be viewed as deserved instead of rushed.

Goodell makes $44 million a year to make his employees, the owners, look good. He's never been given a better opportunity than this.

Jim Souhan can be heard weekdays at noon and Sundays from 10 to noon on 1500 ESPN. @SouhanStrib • jsouhan@startribune.com