Roger Goodell Discusses State Of NFL During Appearance On ESPN
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Goodell Does Not Expect Lockout Season
Despite Owners Opting Out Of Current CBA |
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday appeared on ESPN's "Jim Rome Is Burning" and tackled several issues facing the league. When asked whether Cowboys CB Adam Jones' off-field issues or the Patriots' Spygate scandal was "potentially more damaging" to the NFL brand, Goodell said, "Both of them are serious." Goodell: "They both reflect on the league. They reflect on the competition. They reflect on the people who participate in it. I can't distinguish between the two other than I take them both very seriously and both of them have to be dealt with aggressively." Meanwhile, when asked if there could be a lockout season after team owners opted out of the current CBA, Goodell said, "No. There’s too much great football to be watched and to be played in the meantime. This is not something that will affect anything on the field until (at) the earliest 2011. It’s something that is the responsibility of the owners and players and myself to get together and try to find a system that will work for all parties and not forget the fact that we play this game for the fans." Goodell also still believes a team might be placed in England in the future "only because the reaction we’ve gotten from our fans has been extraordinary." Goodell: "It's clearly in our future. How long, anyone can guess." After the interview, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an in-studio guest on the show, said he and fellow guest ESPN's Stephen A. Smith "both jumped out of our chairs a couple of times, specifically for me when he made no distinction between Pacman Jones and the Patriots cheating last year. I thought that was the headline of your interview" ("Jim Rome Is Burning," ESPN, 11/19).
SPREADING THE FIELD: Following the controversial end to last Sunday's Chargers-Steelers game that impacted the game's point spread, Goodell said of the relationship between gambling and the NFL, "We are always concerned about that. We want to make sure that people understand that our game is not under the influence of gambling in any way. It is something that we have taken great steps to make sure that we separate the two" (ESPN, 11/19). But Shaughnessy Tuesday said of the disallowed touchdown, “We all know what the elephant in the room here is. It’s gambling which makes the NFL go and that’s what they don’t want to address.” Smith added the league does not like "anything to taint their image." Smith: "We all know if you’re going to gamble on anything, that’s what you’re gambling on. NFL is king, so this brings the kind of attention to the sport that they absolutely don’t want” (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN, 11/18). Denver Post columnist Woody Paige: “You can not talk about it, you can hide it under the rug, but gambling is as much of the NFL as anything else, including fantasy” ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 11/18). WFAN-AM's Mike Francesa: "The NFL has to be smart enough to understand -- they can’t have their heads in the sand -- understand that that’s a part of their popularity. Because if they don’t think it is, they’re wrong" ("Mike Francesa," YES Network," 11/19).
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