NFL's Roger Goodell: "We've all done a lot of soul-searching"
In a season plagued by incidents of domestic abuse, growing concerns about concussions and controversies over deflated footballs, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell conceded that it's been a "tough year" for the league.
In his annual Super Bowl news conference Friday, Goodell said that the plethora of issues have taken a toll on him.
"It's been a tough year on me personally," he said. "We obviously as an organization have gone through adversity, but more importantly it's been adversity for me. We take that seriously. It's an opportunity to get better."
The NFL Players Association and the league have been at odds over the personal conduct policy since both groups began navigating the Ray Rice domestic violence case and later Adrian Peterson's child abuse case.
Earlier this month, a former FBI director hired to look into how the NFL pursued evidence in the Rice case said the league should have investigated the incident more thoroughly before it initially punished the player.
"We've all done a lot of soul-searching, starting with yours truly, and we have taken action," Goodell said Friday.
The commissioner also addressed the ongoing "deflate-gate" saga. As the league's investigation into the Patriots' use of deflated footballs moves along, Goodell said the league had made "no judgments" yet about whether the under-inflated balls used in the AFC title game were tampered with deliberately.
Goodell said that even if no competitive advantage was gained, the Patriots could face increased penalties if the NFL investigation finds they violated rules.
"We have rules," he said. "We're a league of rules."
The league appointed lawyer Ted Wells to look into what happened to the Patriots' footballs and Patriots owner Robert Kraft has said he expects the investigation to determine his team did nothing wrong - and he expects an apology from the NFL.
Goodell also announced that the NFL will create the new position of chief medical officer to oversee all the league's health policies.
He said the league would hire an executive who will work with the league's medical committees, advisers and the players association.
Goodell reiterated a statistic the NFL released a day earlier: That the number of in-game concussions decreased by 25 percent this season and that the number has fallen from 173 to 111 since 2012.
The commissioner also said:
- All three NFL games in London next season will start in the afternoon there, allowing the league to broadcast tripleheaders in the United States on those Sundays.
- The NFL hasn't yet zoned in on a specific team for a possible move to Los Angeles, and any move will be subject to the league's relocation policy.
- The NFL won't decide on any discipline for Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch until after the Super Bowl. Lynch has kept all his media appearances this week to five minutes or less and hasn't said much. He has also donned hats with logos of his own apparel line, which are not sponsored by the NFL.
