Roger the Dodger Press Conference Game Thread

tims4wins

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Jul 15, 2005
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I don't have access, anyone watching? Apparently the Krafts are sitting front row - may be tied to an announcement they will be playing in Mexico next year?
 

jsinger121

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Jul 25, 2005
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I'm watching. Nothing was announced on Mexico yet. He is taking questions now.
 

Dr. Gonzo

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First question is about Oakland and Las Vegas

Integrity of the game, drink
 

Dollar

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Did I hear his answer about gambling and the NFL correctly? "Make sure there is a fine line" between NFL and gambling?
I believe he said, "make sure there is a fine line between sports, gambling, and the NFL." Gotta make sure sports and the NFL aren't tied together in any way.
 

scottyno

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He seriously said with a straight face that the league office try to be transparent, I suppose that's true in that his office leaks so much that everything comes out
 

bakahump

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Another RG lie. He said if the Krafts invite him he'll come back. Except, he's the one who sets which playoff games he goes to.
Thats funny.

RK (or more likely JK) ought to run with this.

"We prefer that the commissioner not come back, so we wont be inviting him".
 

Morning Woodhead

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Why isn't nfl.com streaming this? They have no faith in this guys ability to get through a press conference without pissing down his leg.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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No, he said the court validated that there was a violation. If he said what you said, he'd be right.

IIRC, in one of the written opinions a judge wrote about overwhelming evidence that Brady was guilty. That's what Roger was hanging his hat on. (This was in response to Curran's question.)
 

Rheal With Cheese

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I know he was there and sat in the stands during the 2015 Ravens playoff game, but I don't remember Goodell being physically at Foxboro for the Pats-Colts game.

We know Vincent, Kensil and the guys stealing K balls were there in Foxboro that night but I thought I had a memory of him RG at the Packers-Seahawks NFC game. Wasn't he on the field when the bird flew in at the beginning of that game. I could be confusing games but was he really in Foxboro? Because he keeps saying the " I was there 2 games in a row in Foxboro 2 years ago" thing.

If he was there its kind of weird how the wells report and subsequent decisions talk about Vincent being there but not Goodell. or that he Roger doesn't mention it in his artfully drawn conclusory written pieces of BS
 

E5 Yaz

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espn: Roger Goodell said George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush will be part of the coin flip before the Super Bowl

***

Is there a prop bet on either surviving the flip?
 

PedroKsBambino

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No, he didn't. The video is like three posts up. I don't need a tweet to understand English.
Goodell said "...it was litigated extensively, as you know, and validated by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals"

The setup to this quote was a description of a violation, discipline, and a process---so whether the 'it' in his quote refers to those collectively or just the last one he mentioned (process) is not clear.

I find McCann's interpretation the more likely one (as I think Goodell was seeking to describe validation of the entire set of NFL actions), but yours (that the comment is just about process) is certainly also viable. However, Goodell did not say the court validated the league's process specifically. As others have noted, it is accurate to say that 2nd Circuit validated NFL's process, and inaccurate to say it validated that there was a violation or that discipline was appropriate, imo.
 

ifmanis5

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Full transcript in the spoiler
NFL COMMISSIONER GOODELL PRESSER ESPN


>> To begin, the city of Houston, mayor turner, the host committee, all of the officials here in Houston, you've done an incredible job preparing for this. We are excited to be here and I know you're going to shine as the super bowl week continues. To Bob McNair who I see over here and his family and the Texans, we wouldn't be here without your leadership.


2:05:51 PM


This is a great accomplishment to host a super bowl and it's a tribute to you. So thank you for that. And to the thousands of volunteers in this great community in general, you can feel the enthusiasm, you can feel the way we are being embraced here in this community and we thank you for that. We are even seeing it in the first few days at super bowl live and the NFL experience where we are seeing record numbers, over 250,000 people in the first few days, and well on pace to exceed 1 million people attending these events. We hope the people of Houston will attend and get a chance to experience a little bit of the super bowl. And congratulations to these two incredible teams. The patriots and the Atlanta falcons. Extraordinary seasons. And we had an incredibly competitive season. In fact, maybe one of the most competitive seasons in the history of the NFL.


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By average margin of victory, it was just slightly over 10 points a game, which is the lowest since 1935 when I believe we averaged about 24 points versus our 46 now. We also had a record number of games decided within seven-point margin. All all adding to the excitement of the season. But, also, more and more of a tribute to the two great teams, the patriots and the falcons that we have in the super bowl. They were dominant through the season and particularly dominant throughout the postseason and no one could argue these two teams are the most deserving and the ones that should be here. The number one defense in the NFL versus the number one offense. It's going to be a great matchup and I wish both teams well. Finally, let me thank our great fans for the support all year long. They make the difference for us.


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They are the reasons why we do what we do and I know they are the ones that inspire our teams. So thank you for all of your support. I'm happy to take your questions.


>> Hi, Roger. Barry Willner from the associated press. The raiders have sort of proved to move to Las Vegas but the latest news seem to have put that situation in peril. Is the NFL confident that Las Vegas remains a viable location raiders and decades opposing gambling to the league officials believe that legalized gambling in the NFL can -- this? Thanks.


>> Barry, in your first question, we haven't made a determination about Las Vegas as an NFL market. That's part of the relocation process. The raiders submitted an application. It's one that we are considering carefully. But there is a great deal more work to be done and there are several elements of that. Financing of the stadium is just


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one. Obviously, the stadium project, itself, the depth of the market, all of those are things that we have studied over the last several months. But that will increase in intensity over the next month or so as we move forward in that process. Second as it relates whether gambling can coexist fountain NFL, in fact, it does. It's happening today. Sponsored by governments. It exists throughout our world. What we have always said is we need to make sure that there is a fine line between team sports gambling and the NFL. We want to protect the integrity of our game and that is line we will always do.


>> Roger, John McClain, the "Houston chronicle." You guys offered president bush a chance to toss the coin. Has he accepted?


>> Yes. President bush 41 and Mrs. Bush, I approached them back in December and they were very


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enthusiastic about wanting to participate. We are honored to have them. Obviously, you all know that both of them had a little bit of a setback health wise recently, but I've heard from both of them and they are excited and anxious to be here. So as I say, we are honored to have them. I think it will be a great way to start the game. Yes?


>> Roger, Ben Bolden from "The Boston globe." My question is about deflate gate. Last summer, Texans owner Bob McNair said we allowed it to become a mountain out of a mole hill. Last week, Robert Kraft said to Peter king you got bad advice from the people around you and the league didn't handle it well. What is your reaction and in hindsight do you have you got bad advice to handle deflate gate?


>> No. We had a violation. We went through a process and applied the discipline in accordance with our process. It was litigated, as you know,


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extensively. And validated by the second circuit court of appeals. So with we are moving on from that. That's part of our history. But it's something that we are comfortable with the process, the decision, and as I say, we are focusing on the game now.


>> I'm from Mexico. After the Redskins say the NFL have the system in the game in Mexico City with the raiders and the Texans, will the NFL go back next season to Mexico?


>> Yes. We had a great experience last year. The Texans and the raiders, we couldn't have asked for a better reception from our fans in Mexico. We always envisioned that it would be more than a one-year commitment. We are going to come back next season. The raiders and the patriots will be playing there next season.


>> Roger, I'm from the "L.A.


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Times."


>> Yes.


>> For the past 20 years, I've asked the question, when will Los Angeles be getting an NFL team and now I'm tempted to ask when will Los Angeles stop getting NFL teams? Just following on Barry's question, though. You know, you detailed the process of the -- in the coming weeks about evaluating the Las Vegas market. Are you confident that you can complete that evaluation in time for a vote in the March meeting? And I'd also ask if Las Vegas were to fall through, could San Diego be a viable option for the raiders?


>> Well, a couple of things. One, we are confident that our process is thorough, that it will examine all of the issues that need to be examined to make the best possible decision from the ownership. If, for some reason, we can't complete that by March, we will deal with that.


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But the ultimate objective here is to make the right decision and I've said it many times before, relocations are painful and you want to be intelligent, you want to be thorough and you want to make sure that we do it with a great deal of sensitivity. We want to make sure we are doing in the best long-term interest of the NFL. So we will see on the timing but we have been working on this the last couple of months analyzing this. But we have now more information and we will have to get more information as we go forward. The second part of your question, Sam, just so I'm clear? Oh, San Diego. Listen. I've made this clear before. We were disappointed to have to leave San Diego. We couldn't get a stadium done. As you know, we had a referendum just last November that did not pass by the voters. And I think for any team to relocate to San Diego at this point in time, we have to find a solution to that stadium problem and one we couldn't do after


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probably 15 years of effort. That doesn't mean it can't happen in the future. In fact, there is a history of markets that get these projects done once a team leaves. That's unfortunate. Because I think it's a painful way to do it, but this is something that we, obviously, would work towards, but we are moving forward at this point.


>> Roger, Kevin from the San Diego union tribune. You noted defense several times and relocations a painful process, I think you said a couple of weeks ago, in Englewood we are all hurting over the chargers leaving. Hoping you could reconcile that with how enticing you made it for the chargers to go to los Angeles, the owners a year ago made it pretty easy. And is there anything the NFL can do better to prevent or to have prevented the chargers from leaving or any other team?


>> Well, Kevin, when you say we made it easy for them to move to Los Angeles, I would


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exactly argue the exact opposite. The NFL owners did something that was unprecedented when they gave another $100 million on top of the $200 million. A total of $300 million to help build the stadium in San Diego. Never been done before. Never been offered before. So I think we worked very hard as a membership and as a league, and as Dean Spanos and his family in San Diego, to try to get that done, to try to be creative and try to bring solutions to getting the stadium built. So, obviously, when we made our decision on the rams relocating back to Los Angeles last year, the chargers made a decision, despite having that option to move to Los Angeles to say we want to stay one more year. We want to try to make this work. Let's give this another shot and the referendum failed. There was a lot of other efforts in addition to that. But that's disappointing for all of us because we didn't get it done. The answer to whether we can do things better and different,


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absolutely. Always. And we will always strive to do that. And if there is a better way we can accomplish these, but as you know, this is not a new issue. This isn't something that came up a year ago or three years ago or five years ago. This is probably 15 years of inability to get a stadium done, and we will all take a shared responsibility in that.


>> Roger from the Las Vegas review journal. You recently said on a national radio show that if the raiders move was approved by owners, you would not compromise the league's values. Were you referencing gambling and would you be opposed or the ownership be opposed to a casino having partial or full ownership either as a team or a stadium?


>> Well, we have always said we are going to maintain the integrity of our game by making sure is there a separation between sports and gambling and


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the NFL. That is competitive for us. We want the fans to nope the game they are seeing unfold on the field does not have any undue influence. We recognize gambling occurs out in the marketplace. As I said to the first answer. But this is something from our standpoint we have rules that are in place. The raiders have not asked us to compromise those rules as it relates to our policies. We will continue to have that separation going forward. So I don't see an ownership position in a team from a casino. That is not something that is consistent with our policies. Not likely a stadium either. [ Inaudible question ]


>> I don't know. I'm not part of the negotiations.


>> Roger,essy of "The Boston globe." Tom Brady was talking about you last week. You have not been in Foxborough since the deflategate


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investigation. It appears you are avoiding Foxborough. The patriots are in this game and back home it feels like there is a war between the patriots, their fans, and you. How would you characterize the situation and is it not awkward?


>> I will tell you it is not awkward at all for me. We have a job to do. We do our job, as I said. There was a violation. We applied a process and discipline. And we came to a conclusion that was supported by the facts and by the courts. From our standpoint, we understand when fans who are loyal and passionate for a team object and don't like the outcome. I totally understand that. That's not an issue for me. And I was in Boston two seasons ago for two consecutive playoff games the same way I was in Atlanta this year. That happens. From our standpoint, this is just about making sure we take care of business and do it the way that is right and uphold the integrity of our teams and our


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rules for all 32 teams. [ Inaudible question ]


>> No. If I'm invited back to Foxborough, I'll come.


>> Roger, I'm from "The Washington post." The union has said it's preparation a proposal that would take a less punitive approach to recreational marijuana use by players. Obviously, you made some steps in the drug policies with regard to marijuana. You say in 2014. But also the league's stance with marijuana. Has that sometimes been tried to the federal prohibition and also waiting for more advice from the medical advisers? Are you willing to make meaningful steps if the union does propose that?


>> Well, as you point, they haven't made a proposal. We certainly haven't seen it. I read it in the paper also and I've spoken to Dee about it. But I think what it's signaling, mark, from our standpoint is that the labor agreement we have has worked incredibly well for the players, for our clubs, and for, I think, the game in general.


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It's encouraged investment. We see the salary cap which may be projected to increase by $15 million a club. In the last four years alone, the salary cap has jumped almost 1.7 billion, including benefits. That is an extraordinary and historically has never come close to being achieved before. So what we have is a labor agreement that is working well for all parties. But we sent the union last spring several pages or a list of issues that we wanted to address as the league and as ownership. And I expect, and we put on that list drug policy as one of those issues. So we would love to engage but I think what we are seeing here is a reason why we should all sit down and get at the table, begin negotiations so that if we want to reach a different policy on either the drug policy or any other matter, we can all begin that earlier and do it in a way that is responsible.


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>> Roger, Tom Curran, csn-new England. The courts didn't uphold the investigation but uphold the right to do what you did. But that is not the question --


>> Tom, if you look at the second circuit court, the decision they said is that they were compelling, if not overwhelming facts here and that is the point that I just made.


>> Okay. From prominent players within the league to fan bases in San Diego, St. Louis, new England, to the media, there seems to be an erosion of public trust in you and your office. Do you acknowledge that? And is there any way you would go about repairing that if you would even seek to do so?


>> Tom, the thing you have to always do every day is earn that trust, earn that credibility, and it's by how you act and how you do things. Being transparent, making sure people understand the decisions you make. I don't expect for one second for people to agree with every


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decision I make or we make as a league. Those are always difficult, sometimes contentious and sometimes less than perfect decisions. But you do them in the best interest of the long-term health of the game and the NFL. And I think we do that. We always seek to do things better. I will always seek to do things better, and that is how we will continue to operate. If we can do it differently, we will do it differently.


>> Hi, Roger. Sophie Snyder.


>> Nice to see you, Sophie. How are you doing?


>> I'm doing good. How are you?


>> I'm good. Are you ready for your big job?


>> I think so. My question will seem a lot easier compared to all of this madness! The NFL sponsors play 60 program. Thanks for that, by the way. What plans does the NFL have to continue promoting and supporting health and wellness in the next generation?


>> Well, Sophie, you and I talked about this in Kansas City a few weeks ago.


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And the father of twin daughters who are just a little bit older than you, they are 15. We believe very much in having our kids be active and healthy, and to living a healthy lifestyle. And the "Play 60" program was our way, along with the players, our clubs, and the league to make sure we encourage that in our communities and our schools. And so the leadership that you're providing in your school and others are doing, I think, leads to a better generation, a generation that thinks better, achieves higher levels for the success, and, frankly, lives a higher quality of life. So for us, we are not going to rely on that. We think it's something authentic to us and who we are and what we do.


>> Roger here from Nashville and espn.com. Last year, here, you expressed continued concerns about the titans ownership structure. Jerry Jones and John Mara have both said they have no such


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concerns. Does the league continue to have an issue? What is it specifically? And Amy Adams has been in control for nearly two years now. When can we expect a team and the league to resolve it?


>> Well, the issue that we have had over the last couple of years was a designation of who is going to represent the clubs. That's changed to some extent over the last couple of years. The fundamental aspect of our policy is to make sure that we have an individual who has the ultimate authority over that franchise and can make those decisions, including legal decisions, as well as -- league decisions as well as local by. It's clear to the ownership group and also clear to the membership. So that is the issue that the committee has been addressing. They have been in violation in the past. I'm hopeful that we are getting to the point where that is going to be resolved once and for all. [ Inaudible question ]


>> They were not fined a second


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time. They were fined once. [ Inaudible question ]


>> That is for the ownership to tell us. Is that they have full control. It's not for the membership to determine that. It's the membership and the committees to determine have they taken the necessary steps where she has full control.


>> Ian Rapoport, NFL network.


>> Hi, Ian.


>> Hi. There seemed to be a national discussion this year on falling ratings, some tied to the election obviously. Some not. I noticed late in the season there was some changes to broadcast, in-game commercials, for instance. What in-game adjustments are you and the competitor owner willing to make to help make the game more watchable? Thinking things like play clock, officials' conferences, anything in that realm.


>> Ian, we have been focused on this long before this year. In fact, a year and a half ago when we had the over-the-top game with Yahoo! We actually took commercial inventory out to


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try to address this. What we are trying to do is to make our product as exciting, our games as exciting, and act hundred-packed as possible, so it comes on various different levels for us and we have not dismissed any theories about how we can continue to engage our fans more extensively, either on television or in the stadium. That's what we do and what we work towards all the time. In respect to what the specifics we could do, we are going to have the competition committee focusing on on several issues. One is on instant replay, would we bring the surface tablet to the sideline to try to speed that process up so they can make a decision more quickly? And resume the game as quickly as possible so we don't have unnecessary delays. Who we look at a clock that could occur from the moment an extra point is kicked to the kickoff so that we don't have unnecessary delays getting the teams assembled and back onto the field so there could be a


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play clock that would essentially dictate when the teams have to be prepared for the kickoff. We are going to look at a number of other changes with the way we manage the game, whether we make announcements on replay before the replay starts, or whether we just go and do the replay. So there are a number of things where we think we can shorten the management of the game, focus less on stoppages of the game and more on action. From a commercial standpoint, we did test in week 16, and we tested it in the Yahoo! Game last year, we want to look at should we have the same number of breaks? We have five breaks per quarter. We think we can do it in four breaks per quarter. That is something that we are leaning very heavily into. That's not a competition committee issue, but it's an issue with our membership and our broadcast partners. We see opportunities to do that. And maybe remove some of the


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stoppages, as well as some of the commercial aspects of the game. We think less is more in this area and do. With the right balance that improve the quality of experience either in the stadium, or also on television. And that is what we are focusing on. So I expect to see a lot of those changes this off-season.


>> Hi, Roger. Alex Flanagan with NFL network. Following up with what Ian said. Could less also be more when it comes to "Thursday night football"? What is the future of "Thursday night football"? And how does social media play a part of the league moving forward?


>> Well, "Thursday night football" is something that we are very committed to. "Thursday night football" ended up being the number two rated show on all of prime time on NBC this year and number four on CBS. So we see our fans reacting positively to that. There has been a lot of discussion about the safety of the game, but we have seen absolutely no indications that there is any further risk of injuries and injury rates are actually slightly lower. On Thursday night than on Sunday.


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And as it relates to the quality of the game, we have seen that be incredibly positive also. We have seen less turnovers. We have seen less penalties. On almost every aspect of what you would say the quality of the game, we have seen high quality football on Thursday night. We put all 32 teams on there. That is something we did. We are thinking about whether we re-evaluate that and maybe don't have quite the number of teams. Maybe even change the staggering of our Thursday night games so that you have consecutive games on CBS, consecutive games on the NFL network, and then consecutive games on NBC, because we heard from our fans a great deal, where is the game? We want to know where the game is. We are going to look at all of that and continue to build on something we think has gotten off to an incredible start and we are very optimistic about the future on that.


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>> Good afternoon, commissioner. Michael David Smith with profootballtalk. This week, the popular, if at times, provocative sports media bar sports was barred from all activities. Don't you think that any media at all should be credentialed to the super bowl and couldn't you risk perpetuating the view that the league you're running is the no-fun league? When you bar an outlet that is popular, especially with young fans.


>> I'm not familiar with this. I really don't have any information about who is credentialed and who is not. I'll take you at your word for it. I assume there is a reason why a particular organization may not be credentialed to be here but I think you can see by looking around, we have pretty open arms about who attends the super bowl as a media outlet. I've never heard that in the context of no-fun league. We hear it, obviously, as it


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relates to celebrations after the -- on the field. That is something we will look at in the off-season. But it's also something that we have been dealing with for well over 35 years since I've been in the league in same concept in balancing sportsmanship, avoiding taunting, and trying to allow players the ability to express themselves in an exuberant way and to celebrate. We think that is great. We want to see more of that and see the players do that, but see them do it respectfully to their teammates and their opponents.


>> Jim Thomas, St. Louis post dispatch. Do you see any path in the future where St. Louis could return to the NFL and also as a league on any level had any discussions with officials in Missouri or St. Louis on this subject?


>> I had some conversations with your new governor in Missouri, but it was around the Kansas City playoff game where we had the inclement weather and


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dangerous weather, frankly, when we had to modify the kickoff time, but not about the stadium or what it would take to return as an NFL city. We have a lot of respect for the community, for the fans there. And if they want to engage in that, we would.


>> Commissioner, John from ESPN.


>> Hey, John.


>> For decade, the NFL has helped families from Mexico and the U.S. Bond together, watch the game. I grew up watching NFL games with a Mexican father and an American mom. Nowadays, what can the NFL do outside the field to help build a better relationship between Mexico and the U.S. And not necessarily build other things?


>> Well, John, one of the things that we truly believe in our hearts is that the NFL really does bond communities together.


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And can be a bridge in that way. And it unites people. We are going to see it this weekend with the super bowl, where millions of people are going to tune in and they are going to celebrate, and they are going to all forget about other things for at least a short period of time, and really focus on having fun and being entertained by the super bowl. That's something that we are proud of. And by having the patriots and the raiders play in Mexico next year, we hope that is a very positive experience to show that we are reaching out to our fans in Mexico, we are reaching out to our Hispanic fans here in the United States, and we are going to continue to do those things. We think they are positive and they can be helpful overall. [ Inaudible question ]


>> I'm sorry. John? [ Inaudible question ]


>> We haven't decided that, John. I think right now, we are learning toward a Sunday game on the basis that playing on Monday night on a holiday weekend that


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was the Thanksgiving week, it was difficult for the teams getting home that late at night on a short week. So we are reconsidering that and seeing if there is a better alternative for our teams.


>> Roger, I'm from Bloomberg news. You've been pretty outspoken about 25 billion as a revenue goal for you in the next decade. I'm curious if another year under your belt, the better understanding of technology, media, consumption, if you think that is getting easier to attain or harder?


>> Well, I really haven't been outspoken on it. I've been asked about it. We all have goals but our goals are much broad than that. Our goals are about how we continue to grow. How we continue to make this league more successful than it is, reach more people, continue to expand our business internationally. Yes, revenue growth is important as it is for our players who share in that. So all of these things are important to us. That is not a singular goal for us. We believe that the changing


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media landscape is good for people that have high quality content like the NFL. We believe in our content. We believe in the value of our content, frankly, we believe that it can help technologies. So we actually think that is very much a positive in our long-term goals to continue to grow and be successful.


>> Roger, Albert Breer. You said a minute ago that if you were invited back to Foxborough, you'd go. To the best of your knowledge over the last month, have you been welcome in Foxborough?


>> By whom?


>> The team.


>> I'm not sure of your question. I have no doubt if I wanted to come up to a patriots game and I asked Mr. Kraft, he would welcome me back. That's up to him, though.


>> How is your relationship with the team changed over the last two years?


>> Listen. We have a disagreement about what occurred. We have been very transparent about what we think the violation was. We went through a lengthy process. We disagree about that.


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But I continue to respect and admire Robert, Jonathan, the entire organization. They are an extraordinary organization. And they are extraordinary people, in my view, so I have a very deep and close relationship to them. But that doesn't change that we have to compartmentalize things that we disagree on. I'll be honest with you, I have disagreements with probably all 32 of our teams. I'm not afraid of disagreement and I don't think disagreement leads to distrust or hatred. It's a disagreement. You take your disagreements, you find a commonplace, and you move forward. That's what it is. It's not -- it's not all personal in nature, which I know people like to make it. But for us, it's about making sure that we do what is right in the long-term.


>> Roger, Tom with "Usa today." I remember you stood up at the super bowl press conference last year and talked about how you wanted to have a two-strike objection rule potentially that was instituted on a one-year basis for unsportsmanlike


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conduct. Do you expect the owners to keep that and expand it to other fouls and related to that confusion among some players such as Antonio brown about what exactly constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct in terms of celebration. Would you like to see the rules made more clear, perhaps instituting things like a strict two-pump limit?


>> I haven't really thought about, that Tom, but it's an interesting one. But listen. We always seek to clarify rules. The reason we put it in as a one-year experiment, we also did the same with our kickoff rule so that we can see what the impact is of the rule change. Both the intended impact and the unintended consequences of that. And that is something that we have done very successfully, very effectively. I think the unsportsmanlike conduct with two fouls seem to be a very positive thing. We will look at it again through the competition committee. It will have to come up for another vote. If we modify it, that's great.


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If we can clarify it and make it sharper, and the same with our kickoff rule. I think both of those will be looked at, as well as number of other rule alternatives and proposals that we will have.


>> Commissioner, Ken from "The New York Times." Two-part question. Other sports league have clarified the position on the temporary ban on refuges from certain countries, including the NBA. Where does the league stand? Secondly, are you all concerned the political events unfurling are overshadowing the super bowl?


>> Ken, you know, we are aware of the conversations that are going on and the division. As commissioner of the NFL, I'm singularly focused on the super bowl right now. As I said before, we have a unique position to have an event on Sunday that will bring the world together. They will have an opportunity to be entertained, feel go about what we are doing, and that is


2:39:36 PM


something that we feel very proud of and it's something that we are going to continue to be focused on through this game.


>> My name is Marco martas.


>> I'm sorry. I don't? Where is he?


>> Hi, commissioner. I'm Kelly with WPRI from Providence, Rhode Island. You handed Tom Brady a lot of trophies but you saw him in court a lot. Since you haven't been to Gillette all year, have you had a chance to talk to Tom at all this season?


>> I never talk about whether, when I have conversations, who I have conversations with the players. If they want to disclose that, that is their prerogative. But I think people, when we communicate, expect a level of confidence that I am not going to take that outside of the circle. And that they can call offer communicate and can I do the same with them without having to read it in the newspapers every


2:40:37 PM


time. So I don't disclose when I talk to players or communicate with them. I do it frequently. I get a lot of tremendous input from our players. I respect our players and their views, and any time they call or any time that they contact me, I listen carefully.


>> My name is Marco martas. I played in the NFL for eight years. NFL Europe for eight years with players such a is Kurt Warner who made a name in the game. Does the NFL have a plan in the future or a project to start a league or to get a league to help all these players that they don't know why they aren't the NFL level but they just need a push between college and NFL?


>> Yes. We have discussed at length the alternative creating a developmental league. As you mentioned, NFL Europe


2:41:38 PM


served one aspect of that. But I think if we did it, we would be focused exactly on that point, which is the development of players, coaches, officials, trainers, other medical officials to try to expand on the number and the quality of people that are involved in our game. We have a debate that goes on this on several fronts with football people. Some of the coaches would prefer to go with an expanded practice squad roster and have them in the facilities and have them composed to their system. Those are legitimate points of view. And something that we consider very carefully. But the developmental league is something that we are actively considering.


>> Roger, Howard eskell from Philadelphia. Where does the investigation stand on the cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott on his


2:42:39 PM


domestic violation issue and when do you have that completed?


>> I'm not putting any pressure on our investigators. We have highly trained and highly skilled investigators that are looking into this. We do not put timetables or pressures on them to make those decisions. We want them to be thorough. We want them to be fair. And come to the right conclusions. So when they do, they will notify me and then we will take it from there. But at this point, there is no timetable.


>> Hi, Roger. Marty from the money 1090 in San Diego. A beautiful city now without a football team. What kind of message do you think the league is sending to its fans the chargers were allowed to leave after 56 years in San Diego of great support, largely because the owner rah was not able to finance his own stadium and relying on lots of public money and money from the league?


>> Well, as I said before, these


2:43:40 PM


are painful processes. It is hard on our fans. We understand that. It is not the outcome that we were hoping for. We hoped to get an outcome where we could keep the chargers there for another 50 years. A stadium and, I think you live in the community, it's taken quite a while to recognize that a new stadium was needed, but I think every party in San Diego recognizes that a new stadium was necessary. The Spanos family, the NFL as a collective 32 clubs all worked very hard, but it's a process that has to identify a solution that is good for the community, as well as a team, so that they can, obviously, not only benefit long term. We weren't able to do that. I think it's something that is collective disappointment and a collective responsibility on all of us and we have to work harder to avoid those things from


2:44:40 PM


happening in the future.


>> Hi, Roger. Tom from the "Boston herald." Last media night, Monday night, numerous questions were asked from people in this room and others about the president of the United States. All of those those were deleted from the transcripts and the videos. Is the NFL or are you not comfortable with the idea of president trump?


>> I am not aware of anything being deleted from transcripts or anything else, so that's not --


>> No mention of the president in the United States whatsoever anywhere or in the videos.


>> I must tell you, that's one thing I'm not responsible for around here is the transcripts.


>> Roger, Dan Grazziano with ESPN. Josh brown, the former giants kicker gave an interview to ABC that is airing tomorrow. In that interview he said the league is continuing the investigation into his domestic abuse case and he would like an opportunity to return to the league.


2:45:41 PM


Is it true that the league, that investigation continues? And would you be open to a return to the league by Josh brown if a team wanted to sign him? Additionally, in light of that case and the Ezekiel Elliott case you just addressed, how do you assess your current domestic violence policies compared to the recent situations.


>> I think we have made very important progress, not only on domestic violence, but personal conduct policies in general. We have seen in the last two years, since we implemented this policy, 40% reduction each year, I believe, over the last two years in the number of arrests. So that's still every arrest we have is one too many. But the reality of it is the vast, vast majority of our players are extraordinary young men who do great things in their communities. The policy is there in hopes


2:46:41 PM


that we can help educate players, help them make better decisions going forward, transition in and out of the NFL more effectively. And give them the tools to make the right decisions. We do have an active investigation on Josh brown. You know from last fall that we didn't have all of the information from law enforcement. They released some of that at a later date. We now have that information. And we will continue that investigation until we have a final decision. We went be making a decision about anyone's eligibility on that front.


>> Last question.


>> Roger, I'm from the Denver post. Would the Denver broncos run by a group of trustees organ single ownership group? Is there any concern on behalf of the league and owners about pat Bowlen and there is a timetable for them to find a new owner?


>> Well, they have an owner. It's pat Bowlen.


2:47:42 PM


Unfortunately, he has significant health challenges right now. I worked with pat directly, so I know. He set up a system that was compliant with our rules. If such an unfortunate situation occurred. And pat is someone that I have deeply admire and respect. The trust has worked effectively in the short term, but it's a decision at some point the finance committee have to make whether that is compliant and whether any changes they can make beyond the trust will be consistent with our policies.


>> Okay, thank you.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
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Jul 15, 2005
37,054
Hingham, MA
I like that he said he had no knowledge of the Trump stuff being nixed from the transcripts. GENERAL AWARENESS, Rog.
 

ifmanis5

Member
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Sep 29, 2007
63,740
Rotten Apple
Curran's question:

>> Roger, Tom Curran, csn-new England. The courts didn't uphold the investigation but uphold the right to do what you did. But that is not the question --


>> Tom, if you look at the second circuit court, the decision they said is that they were compelling, if not overwhelming facts here and that is the point that I just made.


>> Okay. From prominent players within the league to fan bases in San Diego, St. Louis, new England, to the media, there seems to be an erosion of public trust in you and your office. Do you acknowledge that? And is there any way you would go about repairing that if you would even seek to do so?


>> Tom, the thing you have to always do every day is earn that trust, earn that credibility, and it's by how you act and how you do things. Being transparent, making sure people understand the decisions you make. I don't expect for one second for people to agree with every


2:22:13 PM


decision I make or we make as a league. Those are always difficult, sometimes contentious and sometimes less than perfect decisions. But you do them in the best interest of the long-term health of the game and the NFL. And I think we do that. We always seek to do things better. I will always seek to do things better, and that is how we will continue to operate. If we can do it differently, we will do it differently.
 

PedroKsBambino

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31,187
One of my friends from the DFG Legal thread may remember better, but I do not think this:

>> Roger, Tom Curran, csn-new England. The courts didn't uphold the investigation but uphold the right to do what you did. But that is not the question --


>> Tom, if you look at the second circuit court, the decision they said is that they were compelling, if not overwhelming facts here and that is the point that I just made.


>> Okay.
Is a reasonable descripton of the Second Circuit holding. I think he's citing a single judge's statement at oral argument, which is not controlling and does not constitute 'the decision'

Anyone have a different recollection of the opinion?
 

H78

Fists of Millennial Fury!
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2009
4,613
Well, if Brady was feeling a smudge of forgiveness towards the league, it just went out the window.

Burn that stadium down on Sunday, TB12.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
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Nov 17, 2010
14,425
One of my friends from the DFG Legal thread may remember better, but I do not think this:



Is a reasonable descripton of the Second Circuit holding. I think he's citing a single judge's statement at oral argument, which is not controlling and does not constitute 'the decision'

Anyone have a different recollection of the opinion?
Single judge statement in the 2nd appeal.
 

SMU_Sox

queer eye for the next pats guy
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Jul 20, 2009
8,878
Dallas
I'm confused. I thought that the commish goes to whatever game he wants to go to. Did Kraft used to specifically invite him and now doesn't? Do most owners ask him to watch a game at their stadium before he comes?

I don't like conspiracy theories but his answer smells fishy. You can't say though that there is bad blood between me and the owner/coach/players/fans of that team and that is why I am avoiding them. Maybe he gets invitations from the owners to see specific important games to the franchise and Kraft doesn't want him. He might have the ability to choose to go anyway (I assume he does) but doesn't want to which he didn't say or would want to say because that would lead to someone asking why he didn't choose to go anyway. He could respond with that he was asked by another team to attend a different game. Anyway, I've idly speculated too much. His answer(s) didn't sit well with m and left me feeling a mixture of confusion and irritation.
 

Gorton Fisherman

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The bottom line is: Denny Chin is an idiot, his appointment to the federal bench notwithstanding. There's no way any sane, informed, fair-minded person could look at the totality of the evidence on DFG and conclude that there was "overwhelming evidence" of ball deflation. Even the NFL's hired prosecutor/shill, Ted Wells, only went so far as "more likely than not". The fucktard Chin gave anti-Pats trolls like Goodell and Mike Felger something to cling onto with this one dumbshit statement.
 

Mugsy's Jock

Eli apologist
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Dec 28, 2000
15,069
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Tom E. Curran deserves a medal for the way he called out Goodell on lying about what the courts said.
If only he followed up to correct him on his calling one comment in a judge's opinion a finding of the court, he'd have deserved a statue.

Every time Goodell applauded his own "transparency", I was desperate for somebody to ask him why he was hiding the meticulously recorded post-DFG PSA readings
 

Stitch01

Member
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Jul 15, 2005
18,155
Boston
I'm confused. I thought that the commish goes to whatever game he wants to go to. Did Kraft used to specifically invite him and now doesn't? Do most owners ask him to watch a game at their stadium before he comes?

I don't like conspiracy theories but his answer smells fishy. You can't say though that there is bad blood between me and the owner/coach/players/fans of that team and that is why I am avoiding them. Maybe he gets invitations from the owners to see specific important games to the franchise and Kraft doesn't want him. He might have the ability to choose to go anyway (I assume he does) but doesn't want to which he didn't say or would want to say because that would lead to someone asking why he didn't choose to go anyway. He could respond with that he was asked by another team to attend a different game. Anyway, I've idly speculated too much. His answer(s) didn't sit well with m and left me feeling a mixture of confusion and irritation.
Kraft already responded "OK if we win the fans would love to welcome you to the 2017 opener"
 

Bleedred

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Feb 21, 2001
9,963
Boston, MA
Kraft already responded "OK if we win the fans would love to welcome you to the 2017 opener"
Serious Q. If NEP win the SB, and Goodell shows up to opening night, wouldn't it get very very ugly? Perhaps not physical violence, but "Go fuck yourself you pile of shit" type comments, screamed at him repeatedly, should he show his face on the field before the game, etc.? Would Kraft & Co really want this?