Roger Goodell conducted a 48-minute news conference this morning, addressed the allegations of deflated footballs in his opening statement and fielded eight questions related to the matter. Here is the transcript of those questions and responses.
Portion of opening statement: "On the issue of footballs used in the AFC Championship Game, Ted Wells and our staff have been hard at work conducting a thorough and objective investigation. As you would expect, we take seriously anything that potentially impacts the integrity of the game. We are focusing principally on two questions: Why were some football used in the game that were not compliant with the rules? And was this the result of deliberate action? I want to emphasize we have made no judgments on these points, and we will not compromise the investigation by engaging in speculation. When Ted Wells has completed his investigation and made his determination based on all relevant evidence, we will share his report publicly.
Robert Kraft said he felt Goodell and the office owes him an apology if the Patriots are cleared of any wrongdoing. What are your thoughts on that?
Goodell: "My thoughts are this is my job. This is my responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. I represent 32 teams. All of us want to make sure the rules are being followed, and if we have any information where the potential is that those rules were violated, I have to pursue that. And I have to pursue that aggressively. This is my job. This is the job of the league office. This is what all 32 clubs expect and I believe our partners, our fans expect. We will do it vigorously. It’s important for it to be thorough and fair."
The NFL pays for its internal investigations. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?
Goodell: "I don’t agree with you in a lot of the assumptions you make in your question. I think we have had people that have uncompromising integrity. Robert Mueller is an example, who I think you asked me the same question last fall about a conflict of interest. Their integrity is impeccable. Ted Wells’ integrity is impeccable. These are professionals. They bring outside expertise and outside perspective. Their conclusions are drawn only by the evidence and only by the attempt to try to identify that truth. I think we have done an excellent job of bringing outside consultants in. Somebody has to pay them, so unless you’re volunteering, which I don’t think you are, we will do that. We have the responsibility to protect the integrity of the league, whether we have an owner that is being investigated or we have a commissioner that’s being investigated, they’re done with the highest level of integrity and quality."
Will Bill Belichick be held to the same standards as Sean Payton for Bountygate in regard to your comments that ignorance is no excuse?
Goodell: "We don’t know enough of this investigation to know who is responsible or whether there was even an infraction. When we get the facts from Ted Wells, we will certainly take all of that into account, and we will make the right decision to protect the integrity of the league."
Has the NFL ever tested the air pressure of footballs in the middle of a game?
Goodell: "I think we were pretty clear we tested them at the AFC Championship at halftime."
Have they ever been tested in other games as a frame of reference to that?
Goodell: "I don’t know the answer to that question. That will something that Ted Wells can look into and will provide that information for."
How do you react to the allegations of giving Robert Kraft preferential treatment, and will you avoid taking pictures at owners’ houses before future conference championship games?
Goodell: "No, I won’t. I was at the Krafts’ residence along with season ticket holders, sponsors, media partners the night before as part of an AFC Championship party. That’s part of what we do. I was there to participate in a program with our partner, CBS, taking questions from an audience. It’s something I do on a regular basis, so that’s not unusual. It’s also not unusual that I work very closely with ownership, particularly with someone like Robert Kraft, who serves on multiple committees, the broadcast committee and spends an awful lot of time on that. He is on the finance committee. He works on several important league issues. Professionally, I have a relationship with him, and I also admire, respect and think very highly of him on a personal level. There is no hiding from that standpoint. Since he knows me so well and he knows me in that I am not going to do anything to compromise the integrity of the league, I think he has no doubt that I’ll do the right thing for the NFL."
How is a deflated football different from a spit ball in baseball?
Goodell: "I can’t really respond to what happens in baseball and other sports. We have rules. We’re a league of rules. The 32 teams, our partners and every fan expects us to follow those rules. If there are rules that dictate the pressure of the football or there are rules about how the game is played between the white lines, we’re going to enforce those rules. They’ll be enforced, whether they’re enforced with penalties, with financial penalties, with suspensions, with draft choices. Any number of things can be used in the context of that if it’s a violation of those rules. Whether a competitive advantage is actually gained or not is secondary in my mind to whether that rule was violated. That’s the integrity of our game. When those rules are violated, we will take that seriously."
You made a series of proposals in 2008 following Spygate of increased penalties and a lower threshold of proof regarding future penalties for a competitive advantage. Have those standards come up in any case since then and are they in effect now?
Goodell: "We want the truth. That’s what I think our fans want. That’s what our clubs want. So what we want to do is make sure when we find that truth, if there are violations of the rules, we take them seriously, particularly when the deal with the integrity of the game and the rules. The standards are always reevaluated. We will make sure that if the penalties that exist in any given circumstances don’t fit those violations, we’ll adjust that. We’ll increase that. That’s important for us to do as we continue to make sure the league is run in an appropriate way and with the right integrity."
Portion of opening statement: "On the issue of footballs used in the AFC Championship Game, Ted Wells and our staff have been hard at work conducting a thorough and objective investigation. As you would expect, we take seriously anything that potentially impacts the integrity of the game. We are focusing principally on two questions: Why were some football used in the game that were not compliant with the rules? And was this the result of deliberate action? I want to emphasize we have made no judgments on these points, and we will not compromise the investigation by engaging in speculation. When Ted Wells has completed his investigation and made his determination based on all relevant evidence, we will share his report publicly.
Robert Kraft said he felt Goodell and the office owes him an apology if the Patriots are cleared of any wrongdoing. What are your thoughts on that?
Goodell: "My thoughts are this is my job. This is my responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. I represent 32 teams. All of us want to make sure the rules are being followed, and if we have any information where the potential is that those rules were violated, I have to pursue that. And I have to pursue that aggressively. This is my job. This is the job of the league office. This is what all 32 clubs expect and I believe our partners, our fans expect. We will do it vigorously. It’s important for it to be thorough and fair."
The NFL pays for its internal investigations. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?
Goodell: "I don’t agree with you in a lot of the assumptions you make in your question. I think we have had people that have uncompromising integrity. Robert Mueller is an example, who I think you asked me the same question last fall about a conflict of interest. Their integrity is impeccable. Ted Wells’ integrity is impeccable. These are professionals. They bring outside expertise and outside perspective. Their conclusions are drawn only by the evidence and only by the attempt to try to identify that truth. I think we have done an excellent job of bringing outside consultants in. Somebody has to pay them, so unless you’re volunteering, which I don’t think you are, we will do that. We have the responsibility to protect the integrity of the league, whether we have an owner that is being investigated or we have a commissioner that’s being investigated, they’re done with the highest level of integrity and quality."
Will Bill Belichick be held to the same standards as Sean Payton for Bountygate in regard to your comments that ignorance is no excuse?
Goodell: "We don’t know enough of this investigation to know who is responsible or whether there was even an infraction. When we get the facts from Ted Wells, we will certainly take all of that into account, and we will make the right decision to protect the integrity of the league."
Has the NFL ever tested the air pressure of footballs in the middle of a game?
Goodell: "I think we were pretty clear we tested them at the AFC Championship at halftime."
Have they ever been tested in other games as a frame of reference to that?
Goodell: "I don’t know the answer to that question. That will something that Ted Wells can look into and will provide that information for."
How do you react to the allegations of giving Robert Kraft preferential treatment, and will you avoid taking pictures at owners’ houses before future conference championship games?
Goodell: "No, I won’t. I was at the Krafts’ residence along with season ticket holders, sponsors, media partners the night before as part of an AFC Championship party. That’s part of what we do. I was there to participate in a program with our partner, CBS, taking questions from an audience. It’s something I do on a regular basis, so that’s not unusual. It’s also not unusual that I work very closely with ownership, particularly with someone like Robert Kraft, who serves on multiple committees, the broadcast committee and spends an awful lot of time on that. He is on the finance committee. He works on several important league issues. Professionally, I have a relationship with him, and I also admire, respect and think very highly of him on a personal level. There is no hiding from that standpoint. Since he knows me so well and he knows me in that I am not going to do anything to compromise the integrity of the league, I think he has no doubt that I’ll do the right thing for the NFL."
How is a deflated football different from a spit ball in baseball?
Goodell: "I can’t really respond to what happens in baseball and other sports. We have rules. We’re a league of rules. The 32 teams, our partners and every fan expects us to follow those rules. If there are rules that dictate the pressure of the football or there are rules about how the game is played between the white lines, we’re going to enforce those rules. They’ll be enforced, whether they’re enforced with penalties, with financial penalties, with suspensions, with draft choices. Any number of things can be used in the context of that if it’s a violation of those rules. Whether a competitive advantage is actually gained or not is secondary in my mind to whether that rule was violated. That’s the integrity of our game. When those rules are violated, we will take that seriously."
You made a series of proposals in 2008 following Spygate of increased penalties and a lower threshold of proof regarding future penalties for a competitive advantage. Have those standards come up in any case since then and are they in effect now?
Goodell: "We want the truth. That’s what I think our fans want. That’s what our clubs want. So what we want to do is make sure when we find that truth, if there are violations of the rules, we take them seriously, particularly when the deal with the integrity of the game and the rules. The standards are always reevaluated. We will make sure that if the penalties that exist in any given circumstances don’t fit those violations, we’ll adjust that. We’ll increase that. That’s important for us to do as we continue to make sure the league is run in an appropriate way and with the right integrity."
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