Roger Goodell says he’s willing to give up NFL discipline control
In a fairly mundane ESPN Radio interview with Roger Goodell — Goodell is great at deflecting questions and the hosts rarely put him on the spot — the NFL commissioner said he is willing to give up control over player discipline after the deflate-gate debacle.
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The league lost in federal court when the NFLPA and Tom Brady challenged the league’s four-game suspension of the New England Patriots’ quarterback. Brady’s suspension was vacated. That led to questions about whether Goodell, who has had many high-profile cases overturned the past few years, should be in the discipline business anymore.
He said he has those questions too.
“I am very open to changing my role in that,” Goodell told ESPN Radio in his first public interview since Brady’s suspension was vacated. “It has become extremely time consuming. I have to be focused on a variety of other issues. That’s what I’ve discussed with many owners over the last couple years.”
Goodell said that perhaps a designated discipline officer or a panel could handle disciplinary matters for the NFL. He said he has discussed these issues with union chief DeMaurice Smith, as recently as last week before the Brady ruling came down. He also said the league opposes having an outside third party handle the cases, citing the standards of the NFL.
“We believe you don’t delegate that responsibility or those standards,” Goodell said.
Goodell said he wants a “better system,” and that “courts are not where we should be having these discussions.”
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Goodell touched on a few other topics during the interview:
• The most pointed question was whether the league asked the Patriots to suspend locker room employees John Jastremski or Jim McNally, who were implicated in deflate-gate.
“Absolutely not,” Goodell told ESPN Radio. “No. That was a decision by the Patriots.”
• On deflate-gate and the “fatigue” from fans over the situation: “I certainly understand the fatigue. To a large extent we have a fatigue. We went through a very extensive process here.
“I want to get back to football, focusing on football and that’s what I’ll be doing over the next several months.”
• On why Brady’s discipline was so heavy: “When it comes to competitive violations, those are very important, obviously to us. The appeal to our game is the fact that we’re all playing by the same rules. When someone seeks to gain an advantage outside of those rules, that’s something that has to be addressed.”
• On his relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft: “It’s the same as it has always been. We may disagree on this issue, but Robert and I continue to have a strong relationship. We continue to work on league matters that are important to us. We obviously disagree on this issue, but there’s a respectful disagreement about that.”
• Goodell said that he was at New England’s last two home games, in last season’s playoffs, when asked why he wasn’t going to be there for the season opener on Thursday. Goodell has attended every other Thursday night opener since he became commissioner.
“The focus should be on football,” Goodell said. “It should be a great night on Thursday night. I don’t want to be a distraction to that. Everyone wants to get back to football, and certainly I do.”
Goodell was asked if he thought he would be a distraction.
“I don’t know whether I would or wouldn’t, but it’s unnecessary to have that dialogue,” Goodell said. “I’ve been to their last two games, and we’re looking to have a great celebration. I’m going to a classic NFL game to start the season between the Packers and Bears and I’m looking forward to it.”
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
