Fire rips through childhood home of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell
A childhood home of Roger Goodell in Bronxville, N.Y. appears to have been damaged badly by fire, according to The Journal News.
Although the report does not directly connect the home at 12 Elm Rock Road to the Goodell family, there are various published reports that indicate the home was owned by Sen. Charles Goodell and Jean Rice Goodell, Roger’s parents, when the future NFL commissioner was in his teens. Public records also list the address as one where Goodell previously lived.
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Multiple fire are departments responded to the fire, which started Tuesday morning and blazed for more than two hours. Firefighters even had to use chainsaws to cut through the roof as flames continued to rip through the house.
It appears there were no casualties or major injuries related to the fire.
“There were too many flames,” said Olinda Simon, the current resident of the home. “We couldn’t do anything, so we grabbed some keys and got out of the house.”
The three-story, five-bedroom, five-bath house is a 5,794-square-foot single-family residence that was built in 1925. It appears the Goodell family has not owned the house for several years. Charles Goodell died in 1987. Jean Goodell died in 1984.
Goodell graduated from Bronxville High School where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball and baseball. He went on to graduate from Washington and Jefferson College, but injuries prevented him from playing football there.
Goodell’s NFL career began in 1982 as an intern in the league office. After a year with the New York Jets in 1983, Goodell returned to the league office in 1984 and worked his way up to league commissioner in 2006.
His tenure will hit the decade mark on Sept. 1, and it has been a rocky road — despite great financial growth for the league — under his watch. Goodell has been connected to or blamed for many missteps in recent league history, including the league’s handling of concussions, domestic violence cases and disciplinary matters, including the deflate-gate saga against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, which went in favor of the NFL but marred all parties involved.
The NFL has not responded to a request to comment on this story.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
