NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL

Jeff Haynes/Reuters

2012 ANNUAL MEETING MEDIA AVAILABILITY
PALM BEACH, FLA.
March 26, 2012

Today, we had our traditional opening where we had what is defined as a ‘Commissioner’s Report to the Clubs.’ I did that with several members of our executive team. My understanding is we are going to give you a summary of the key points that were raised with the clubs this morning. Then we spent a significant amount of time today talking about medical issues and our player health and safety initiatives. We had our outside doctors there. We finished the day with one of the fun sessions we’ve had. We had a group of 19 fans who came into the room, and we had an interactive session with them with a moderator, Frank Luntz, and it was terrific. It was a wonderful few minutes with us.

On fan questions in the session that differ from those typical of media members:
The first point was Frank Luntz asked the fans, ‘What is the most important thing that you want?’ They said integrity of the game. They asked to define that, and it was to make sure what we see is real and that everyone is playing by the rules. That was the first question. I thought it was terrific.

I don’t think there were any surprises, other than the guy who said, ‘If I was commissioner for the day, I’d do these three things.’ He had a long list, by the way. We stopped him at three, but he was great. They were all terrific.

On timetable for player discipline resulting from the bounty rule investigation:
I would like to do it as soon as is reasonable, but specific to (NFLPA Executive Director) De(Maurice) Smith, I said we would like to get a recommendation from the players. As you all know, they have their meeting; they should be concluding. I expect to talk to him before the end of the week.

On a recommendation for discipline by DeMaurice Smith and the NFLPA:
I have not gotten a recommendation. We have shared our confidential reports with him.

On his satisfaction with recent bounty-rule questioning at other clubs:
First, let’s be clear – we discussed this with the clubs today – it is fair to say that non-contract bonus payments have been happening around the league more frequently than we had liked. It is going to be discontinued. The problem is those payments escalate and you get to what is more specifically referred to as bounties where you are targeting players for injury. We have not found any evidence that it is happening around the league, where players, coaches or anybody else have identified players to take them out of the game.

We will continue to follow up on any information we have. We will not resist anyone who comes forward with that. We will look for continuing violations, and if we find it, we will aggressively pursue it.

On announcing that no evidence has shown that a bounty system was in place under St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams during his tenure with the Washington Redskins:
We haven’t closed the investigation. We have not stopped investigating. If we get information, we follow up on it. Because of the timeframe and because of the league meeting, we have not met with people who we will meet with as soon as these meetings are over with. We will continue it. We have not said that everybody has a free pass here. We are saying that we will continue to pursue any information that we get that is credible.

On parameters for Saints personnel under suspension:
They are suspended from their duties and they won’t be allowed into the training facilities during that suspension. I do not expect them to have contact with the team, but we will also have to be reasonable about that. But you are not going to be coach from home if that is what you mean.

On if Saints head coach Sean Payton could work in television:
That is for him to pursue. I can only deal with his NFL responsibilities.

On how Payton could have his suspension reduced on appeal:
It is a hypothetical. If he decides to appeal, we will go through the process. We did meet twice. We had extensive discussion, but I can’t answer that question. If he decides to appeal, I assume it is because he would like to discuss it further.

On if there is additional information Payton could provide to reduce his suspension:
You are asking the wrong guy. You are going to have to ask Sean that. I have the information that I have. I have discussed it with him twice. If he has something else he would like me to consider, I will certainly do that.

On if Saints owner Tom Benson is ‘completely in the clear’ regarding the violation:
He was fined $500,000 and (forfeited) a second-round draft choice this year and a second-round draft choice next year. I don’t know if you would consider that ‘in the clear’ but I think he was penalized aggressively, including losing coaches and potentially additional discipline against players.

On Benson’s attitude addressing ownership today:
Mr. Benson should speak for himself on that. He was very open with the clubs. He expressed his disappointment that this occurred and it was not what he is all about and he expects to take whatever steps necessary to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

On if the Saints can hire an interim head coach outside of their current staff:
Yes, but they can’t take somebody from another staff. They can take somebody who is not employed in the NFL right now.

On how many of the 22-27 players involved in the bounty investigation are on the Saints active roster:
I don’t have that number off of the top of my head. We can get it for you, though.

On if Los Angeles is considered a league market in terms of cross-ownership:
I am not sure specifically to cross-ownership but we do consider it a league market.

On if St. Louis Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke’s potential purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers would be subject to cross-ownership rules:
Yes, he is aware of it. (Major League) Baseball is aware of it. It would have to be addressed by our membership.

On considering discipline in the bounty investigation based on the violation and denials of the violation:
With all due respect, there are a couple of issues. One is it is a violation of a very serious rule. We have made player health and safety very clear as a priority. I have addressed it with owners, head coaches, general managers and all of our personnel several times a year. During the process of when this first was raised more than two years ago, there were denials. They frankly were not forthright with what was happening, and it continued and it continued throughout our investigation into the past several weeks.

It is a serious violation of our policy. It is something that has zero tolerance in the NFL. It is not acceptable to hide the issues, continue to violate NFL policy and put our players at risk. That is going to be dealt with very harshly.

On if he is concerned that Sean Payton could potentially be involved in hiring an interim coach:
That is not my decision. It is a decision that has to be made by the team. He is suspended as of April 1. So the Saints are going to have to make that decision. I believe the Saints are going to make the decision about who is going to be hired. That is their decision. You are dealing in hypotheticals. There is only one person who signs the check.

On if the Saints had a bounty in effect for any of their postseason games this year:
No, that is accurate. I sent Jeff Pash and our head of security, Jeff Miller, down to meet with Mr. Benson, I believe the Friday before the Saturday game. The point was to make it clear to him that we had new and credible information that a bounty program may exist, and that he should make it extremely clear, beginning with the game the next day, that there should be no bounty system in play while our investigation continues. We do not want to put our players at risk. That was the message.

On if he thinks Benson said anything to the team and if he thinks there was a bounty for the playoff game:
I don’t know. Our point was if there is one, you better make sure it is not in effect, because we are continuing our investigation.

On how quickly the league could turnaround a decision on cross-ownership with regards to Kroenke:
I have told Commissioner Selig this, if he [Kroenke] is ultimately the winning bid, then we would immediately move with our committees and our membership to have the discussion. So we would move as quickly as possible knowing that it is an important issue for baseball.

On the Dodgers stadium site and its attractiveness in Los Angeles:
We have often said that is an extraordinary stadium site up at Dodgers Stadium, and it is something we were interested in going back to the 1990s.

On if the Saints will need to comply with the Rooney Rule should they go outside the organization for a coach:
Yes.

On if he believes the Patriots received an advantage by re-hiring Josh McDaniels before the playoffs:
I did meet with the Competition Committee for an hour. We are going to have a full report tomorrow morning, and then Wednesday morning most of those issues will be voted on. We are going to discuss it further, and I would like to wait until I have had the benefit of the discussion on the floor. I have only met with the committee at this point.

On his reaction to Warren Sapp’s comments and what the league plans to do to protect whistleblowers:
I am not as familiar with what is going on. I have been updated by our staff with respect to Warren’s comments. Just like anyone in the media, you are held accountable for your statements and your sources. I think I would say to NFL Network staff as well as anyone else: you better be sure of your information before you report it.

On Sapp’s comments in light of the fact that he is a league employee:
That is a decision the NFL Network people are going to have to make. I have not spent any time focusing on that now – I am in the middle of a league meeting. As soon as I get done, if it comes to me, I will be willing to take a position on it.

On where the idea of the fan panel came from and if anything came from it that would change the in-game experience:
It was the first time we did it. It was something we discussed several weeks ago. You will see in our opening session one of the key points I made and our staff made this morning was that is one of our keys going forward. Respecting our fans, valuing our fans, listening to our fans, and making sure we are responsive to what they are interested in. It is not just providing more access and more information. They care about the game, and have a very important perspective. We heard that today. They did a terrific job of articulating themselves. They each had a very strong view. They heard some perspective back from many of the owners, coaches, and general managers as well as the commissioner. I thought it was a terrific experience for our clubs, and I heard a lot of great reaction from our clubs walking out. Will we change it going forward? Likely – we always like to think we can do things better. But it was a great first step for us, but I will let them speak to it.

On how the league performed with the new emphasis on player health and safety:
I think we have continued to make progress, and we obviously want to make more progress. We are going to continue to look at rules that will make the game safer. We are going to have several that are going to be introduced as Rich McKay mentioned today. There are still some things that we think we can do to take certain techniques out of the game and make it safer. But it is part of a culture change, and this is just part of the process. But I think the game is safer. I think our players appreciate it. I think our coaches appreciate it. And I know our fans appreciate it, because I heard from them today about it.

On the possibility of Saints LB Jonathan Vilma being banned for life:
I haven’t focused on it. As I said, I like before I make any decisions to hear from the players. I’ve heard from dozens of players already, privately. I obviously listen to them and respect their opinion and I would like to hear from the NFLPA before making any decisions.

On if Payton would be attending the meetings and did he encourage Payton to be there:
I have not spoken to him. He’s certainly welcome. I mentioned it to Tom Benson on Friday that it was his decision, Tom Benson’s decision. That he should work through that with Sean. If Sean wanted to be here, he was welcomed. I don’t know if he is coming or not.

On an ownership committee that advised him on the Saints matter and if the player penalties will be staggered through the league year:
There is no ownership committee. That is not something we have in existence. I’m also very aware of the competitive aspects of that. As commissioner, I have to seek input but I also have to be very careful of the fact that this league is very competitive. I take that into account. Second, I just haven’t gotten to that point.

On what the Redskins and Cowboys said to the other owners during their meetings about the salary cap issue:
No. I’m not going to repeat what they said on the floor. They are welcome to tell you if they wish but that’s not something for the commissioner to tell the media, I don’t think.

On Sapp’s comments and his opinion on the alleged whistleblower’s actions:
First off, you’re assuming it’s a player right? We have several sources on this. We’re not disclosing who our source is or sources. I didn’t see his comment, but he’s inaccurate. We’ll start with that.

On the rest of the owners voting to continue the sanctions against the Redskins and the Cowboys:
That’s not true.

On what further recourse do the Redskins and Cowboys have and the timetable of it being taken care of:
If they decide to pursue it further, they would go through arbitration through a special master.

On Sean Payton being able to work if he appeals suspension and the timetable for an appeal:
I said to them in the letter that they have to appeal by – I believe the date is – April 2. I may be wrong on that. If he decides to appeal, I would probably allow him to continue but I would expedite any hearing – and expedite my decision, of course, too.

On the league having any information regarding non-contract bonuses over the years:
Yes. In fact, part of the decision was that all 32 clubs are to meet with their staffs – their coaching staffs – certify that non-contract payments will be discontinued if they existed and that they are certifying that they will not be in existence going forward. I think we will see the end of any non-contract bonus payments. As certainly as it relates to bounty – if you want to put that in the context of targeting opposing players – that’s zero tolerance.

On the Redskins and Cowboys salary cap issue going to arbitration already:
I believed they filed papers but I think the question was, ‘If they continue, how would they proceed?’

On the salary cap issue not being on Special Master Stephen Burbank’s docket:
I assume he’s been noticed. I don’t know if it’s on his docket, but he’s been noticed that there’s a dispute. I assume he‘s scheduling whatever is necessary as far as disclosures and other information.

Posted by Necesitamos Mas Football on 11:35 a. m.. Filed under noticias , principal , Roger Goodell . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0