NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Q&A: Annual Meeting Press Conference Transcript
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held his Annual Meeting presser today. Here is the complete transcript of the wide variety of topics and his answers:
Reviving proposal on reseeding playoffs
RG: Well, I don’t know if it’s reviving it. The focus that I said to the Competition Committee is: what are the alternatives that we have to make sure that every game we play is as competitive as possible? And that we give our teams incentive to win. That’s what we’ve been focused on. The reseeding is something that we’ve talked about for several years, as you know. I think the debate was good. The debate was really with a focus towards – whatever perspective you came from — it was about the fans. It was about what’s in the best interest of the fans. I think the playoff side of it was really focused on postseason, and I’m really focused to a large extent on how we make the regular season the most competitive we can.
Were the integrity-of-the-game proposals discussed?
RG: They were. What happened is we went over this in the coach and owner session yesterday. The coaches and the owners felt so strongly about it that they moved to put a resolution behind it just to reinforce their commitment to this. They were all adopted and I think the commitment of the ownership and the coaches was very strong. It was 32-0.
Labor negotiations and the CBA and Bill Ford.
RG: Well, I think there are two things. Obviously Bill’s been involved with the NFL for a long time, and I think he obviously understands the dynamics that go on with the labor negotiation in the NFL. But he also, with his recent experience with Ford Motor Company and their labor negotiation, understands the dynamics from a broader industry standpoint. I’ve often mentioned to him that I thought it’d be great if we could get his input – his perspective on how we should be addressing some of the difficult issues that we have. And he’s willing to do so, which is great.
Progress with Matt Walsh
RG: I haven’t checked since I spoke to you all on Monday, but I assume I would know if we’ve made progress.
Ravens and Redskins hiring coaches who’ve never been coordinators before
RG: I think it’s great that we have that kind of diversity. There are great coaches not only in our league but obviously on the college level. I think the more exposure they get, the more opportunities they get, the better our coaches become. So the reality that they have to be a coordinator before they become a head coach – that’s clearly not the case. I think obviously the more experience – the more opportunities you have to be in that leadership position – probably the better prepared you are to do that job.
Integrity of the game issues – immediately in effect?
RG: Yes. Absolutely.
Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick’s statements on Tuesday
RG: We gave a report when we started the session. It is a special session which you all may be familiar with – it’s the commissioner and a very select number of our staff, along with the head coaches and the principal owner – and it’s an important session for us because we recognize the importance of the coaches in our business. We did a report that started with the integrity of the game, and we had a very lengthy discussion about this. We also gave a brief report on the whole Patriots matter, and Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick stood up and made comments, which I think were appreciated by the membership. They were sincere, and I think they were very effective.
Coaches wanting to expand rosters
RG: I think coaches would have rosters that, literally – it used to be 120 or 130. There were no limits on it. I think it’s just trying to keep the game competitive, and make sure that everybody’s operating at the same level – that 80 was sufficient — that we’ve been at 80. Yes, we’ve had exemptions from NFL Europa players, but that 80 was sufficient for what we were trying to do from a competitive standpoint and from a business standpoint.
Limit on number of coaches
RG: There have been owners that have raised that point, yes. But they’re not a union, so that’s not something that you can just dictate. We’re looking at how each of our teams operates and how they can put together the most competitive franchises. Coaches are certainly one aspect of that.
Is there a concern that the most important position in the game – quarterback – won’t have a breeding ground like there’s been in the past?
RG: I don’t think so. The reality is they get great experience by being in training camp also. There are a number of coaches who felt, I’d rather have them in my training camp where I can work with them. We have OTAs, we have opportunities to work with them, to understand the system better, and that that was valuable time for them. So I don’t believe that at all. Obviously, there’s also value in getting playing time. So there are two sides to that, but I think most of all the coaches feel pretty good about that.
Passing a rule on the number of coaches
RG: I think there are some labor issues. I can check on it for you.
Possibility of taking legal action against Matt Walsh
RG: I guess I would not take anything off the table. We feel that the best way to do this is try to address the concerns that he has and try to reach an agreement that he feels that he’s comfortable with. As you know, nothing prevents him from coming out and talking now. We would love to have him do that. We hope to get a resolution to this soon. If for some reason we believe that he’s just not going to do that, we would certainly consider other alternatives.
Letting the Matt Walsh matter go
RG: I don’t like anyone putting out accusations about the league or any of our clubs like that. That being said, it’s hard for me to read between the lines but it’s been portrayed as if he’s said that he has evidence, I would like to see that. I’ve said from the beginning of this incident that if there’s new information that comes to the public or to me, I have the right to reopen this issue and I will. But the reality is that we haven’t gotten any new facts here for seven months. If it’s just taping of defensive signals, we know that. The Patriots have admitted to that. He seems to imply that he has something different. That is something I would be concerned with if it was true. So I would like to see the evidence.
Would you be the one to say, ‘That’s enough?’
RG: I presume I would be and at some point I will run out of patience, because I think it’s unfortunate. I think the last time he was a Patriots employee was back in early 2000. So, we’re talking about six or seven years since he’s left the league. He’s certainly made it known publicly that he has something. I would like to see him present that.
Deadline for a lawsuit
RG: I am not threatening a lawsuit. Somebody raised the issue. I don’t know if we can get much softer than we have with respect to our ability to want to negotiate and to meet his demands. But at some point I will lose patience with that.
Pursuing the matter further
RG: I believe it’s important that if somebody has made an accusation like this, it is important to get to the bottom of it. And so I am going to aggressively pursue it as long as I think there is some information there or I think I can get to the bottom of it.
A couple weeks ago it seemed an agreement with Walsh was imminent and now it’s not. Does that indicate anything to you?
RG: I am trying not to read into this. I also understand that part of this is lawyers debating various issues. It would be irresponsible to read anything into it. I like to have facts and get the information. Until I know more it would be inappropriate for me to try to make a judgment about what it means or doesn’t mean.
Would the Patriots be willing to say that they would not sue Walsh?
RG: They already have. He wants certain conditions. They have agreed to certain aspects of it and I don’t want to get into the middle of it, but they are willing to have him to come forward.
CBA - Timeline when you say ‘that’s it’
RG: I don’t. It would be based on what transpires here over the next several weeks. I am still optimistic that we are going to have an agreement and I am going to stay with that until I lose hope.
NFL Network discussions with Time Warner/Comcast
RG: There have been no discussions. From our standpoint, we are still fully committed to it. We believe that the NFL Network is important for us strategically going forward. We will be patient. We have tremendous resolve in the ownership to continue this. I am optimistic that we will get those agreements at some point. As you can see, it’s a difficult negotiation.
Would you be willing to compromise?
RG: Absolutely. We’ve been willing to compromise. We have compromised. One of the things we feel that’s important is that this is available to the broadest possible audience. When you’re taken back into a sports tier, which is limited to a very small audience, and they want to charge the people in that sports tier what we think is an excessive amount of money, well beyond what we’re charging the cable operators, we think that’s wrong for our fans. And so we are not going to compromise on that point.
If there was a game of the Patriots-Giants magnitude on NFLN, would you consider airing it over the other networks again?
RG: No. That was a very unique circumstance. It was the last game of the year. It was a team that was going for an undefeated season, that had never been done before, at 16-0. There was such a tremendous amount of interest from an audience that reached 35 million people on the simulcast. I don’t anticipate or intend to do that again.
How much labor was discussed here
RG: We had a lot of dialogue. It was a very important issue to us. We spent the better part of Monday on it. We came back to certain elements yesterday. It’s certainly a priority for us right now. We’re intensely focused on it right now.
With labor issues, how much does that hurt the non-CBA relationship?
RG: The objective is to get a labor agreement, one that works for both parties. That’s what we’re working towards. Obviously as part of planning we have to look at various alternatives. The reality is, and I think the union understands this, and we certainly understand this, you can grow your business better if you’re in partnership. That’s what having labor peace helps you do. That’s one of the things we clearly understand. I believe the union fully agrees with that. That’s what we’re going to continue to try to do.
Next March - deadline - uncapped year?
RG: Next year we would still have a capped year in ‘09. We would have an uncapped year in 2010. The deadline two years ago was that free agency had to begin so they had to add the rules so that free agency could be applied. That is always a deadline. I think deadlines are helpful in trying to get things resolved. Any time a deadline can be established to force us into reaching an agreement on a particularly issue, that’s helpful to us.
Frustration with labor agreement
RG: Our intent here is to still get a deal and we’re going to do everything we can possible to get a deal. There may be a lot of steps that would go into getting to that point. We’re going to work very hard to get to that deal.
Supplemental revenue sharing and big markets - small markets
RG: It worked as expected. It’s an important part of our foundation. We have the most extensive revenue sharing in any sport and it’s beneficial to our sport and most importantly to the game, which means it’s good for fans. There’s a commitment on behalf of the NFL community to continue that and to strengthen our revenue sharing where appropriate.
Antonio Bryant update?
RG: I have to go back and get an update on it. I’ll go get you an answer.
HGH testing: once that test is readily available, would you adopt it?
RG: We had a report on it. It’s something that’s important to us. We would like to have a reliable, effective test that’s available to not only us but on a widely distributed basis. We’re working and investigating to get that. When it is, we certainly will consider that. There are a lot of ramifications. You have to think about the safety of the players, you have to think about how effective the program is. We are very interested in doing that. In the meantime, we will continue to investigate developing that test and we’ll also continue to work with law enforcement.
Has the NFLPA objected to it?
RG: Depends what the testing is. I think they would be very supportive of urine analysis. They have indicated to date that they might have some more objections to blood testing. We have to get to that point where we have that test and then we’ll see where we are.
Sunday playoff games later in the day like Saturday to get better primetime ratings?
RG: We did not have any discussion on that.
How much are you investing in HGH testing?
RG: I believe it’s about $3.5 million, at least over the last 18 months. That’s the number I would put on it.
Later Draft start time
RG: What we were trying to do with the changes we made in the Draft is make it more entertaining and make it more fun for the fans. There was a significant amount of time during the picks that teams just sat on their picks, waiting to see if somebody came to them. We felt that it was a time that was not necessary. So we shortened the rounds. By shortening the rounds, it gave us the ability to move it later in the day, which made it more convenient for a large part of the country, particularly the West Coast.
Raiding other teams’ staffs
RG: We have rules that dictate that. There are rules, as well as the issue of tampering. So my first concern would be is that those rules are followed. The second, as far as they have the ability to go within those rules, that’s a team decision and it’s certainly up to them. That’s a reality of our business right now. We’re a competitive business. High quality people are something all of our teams seek.
Retired players
RG: We had a report on it on Monday and also reported again yesterday. We made a significant number of changes. We’re happy to give those to you. Our focus has been on the medical and disability issues and we’ve made what we think are some significant strides to address those issues for our retired players. There is a long list of the things we’ve done over the last year.
Asking for the removal of Judge Doty - would it be limited to the Vick ruling?
RG: We have filed some briefs with the court and it’s up to Judge Doty. Judge Doty is reviewing those matters. He makes a determination first whether he removes himself. It’s a judgment that he has to make, as I understand it. Which he will do sometime in the next few weeks. Or won’t he. That’s up to him. It was an outgrowth of the Vick decision, in some ways, but that was not the real key issue.
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