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Closing Bell

Roger Goodell Addresses Settlement, Redskins Name In League Address

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hit on various topics Friday at his annual State of the League address. He began the press conference by addressing the fact Super Bowl XLVIII is being played at a cold-weather site and said, “One unique aspect about the focus for this year's Super Bowl has been on the weather. Of course, we cannot control the weather." At this point, it began to "snow" on stage. Goodell: "I told you we were going to embrace the weather."

Goodell said District Court Judge Anita Brody, who is presiding over the $765M concussion settlement case, is “taking her time" before deciding whether the "agreement we reached is going to work the way we intend it to work.” He noted, “The No. 1 thing for us right now is to get the money in place so that we can help the players and their families, if they need it, and that is our priority."

Perhaps Goodell’s strongest comments were reserved for a question dealing with the Redskins name. Goodell said he has "been spending the last year talking to many of the leaders in the Native-American communities" about the name, adding, "We are listening." Goodell: "We are trying to make sure we understand the issues. Let me remind you, this is the name of a football team, a football team that's had this name for 80 years and has presented the name in a way that has honored Native-Americans.” He noted in Native-American communities, "Nine out of 10 supported the name."

He addressed the ongoing battle between the at-home experience versus the in-stadium experience and said, “I don’t take the challenges we had on Wild Card weekend as any kind of a reflection on our fans’ passion. Those were mistakes that were made by us -- the NFL and our clubs.” Goodell said the “experience at home through our broadcast partners” is “incredible.” He noted stadiums adding new technology and “making people feel safe when they are in our facilities is a critical component.”

Following the 40-minute address, NFL.com’s Judy Battista said, "The first thing that struck me is he is talking in the future tense about bringing replay in-house. That sounds like that is going to happen and it's going to happen imminently.” NFL Network’s Michael Silver said, "We're going to get expanded playoffs, unless the owners push back” (NFL Network, 1/31).

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