Goodell has no choice but to enforce the actions he has taken against players getting injured. This isn't about Goodell being soft, he is simply protecting his product against inevitable lawsuits that will be filed by former players. If a jury thought for one second that the NFL didn't do all it could to protect its workers from brain injuries, how many billions of dollars would be awarded? They could shut the entire league down with litigation.
Goodell has no choice. Its a different world today. People sue McDonald's because their coffee was hot. How much do you think you could get for permanent brain damage which could have been prevented?