COMMISSIONER GOODELL PRESS CONFERENCE
On how the Symposium has lasted this long and the concern about players in
their first year…
"The focus for us is how do we make these guys better men. What can we do to
help prepare them for the decisions they will have to make as NFL players? It’s
a big transition from college, so I think we’re providing some tools for them.
The big focus for us is how do we expand on this, how do we make it better? It’s
a great start but we want to make sure that we continue to promote these
messages and give the players the kind of resources and tools they need to make
good choices."
On the rookies and if they asked questions of him…
"Yes. I thought they were great. There were a lot of questions. They were
good questions, direct questions. I think that’s terrific and I’m glad they felt
comfortable enough to ask them."
On if this will help the players in the long term. Is the goal to help them no
matter what kind of career they have?
"The whole focus is how do we make these men better men, and how do we make
sure that they understand that the skills they learn here are life skills;
things that will help them throughout their lives and well beyond their NFL
career."
On how the message on player conduct is getting across…
"I think we’re being more clear with them of what we expect. There is a
higher standard of behavior being that they are football players. The vast
majority of our players do understand; only a select few of our players don’t.
They get a lot of focus, they get a lot of attention, and it has a negative
impact on the players in our league and the NFL in general. I think they have a
better understanding of what we’re going expect from them in the future."
On why they have a better understanding...
"Because we reinforce it at every opportunity. We feel very strongly here.
The clubs are doing it at the club level and I think what we’ve done with the
personal conduct policy came out just great. There are not many people who are
unaware of what our standards are."
On why some players still don’t seem to grasp it…
"I’d be naïve to think that everyone will understand it. We’re going to have
to make it a priority going forward. Again, we’re making players more aware of
our standards of behavior. Secondly, we’re giving them more tools and resources
to make sure that they can make those decisions, and hopefully that will have a
great impact."
On what he discussed with the players…
"Several things. I just tell them a little bit about my own background, being
in the league for 26 years. I told them about what I think is important with
respect to supporting the NFL shield. I did discuss personal conduct. I did talk
about our responsibility to them, and about the resources we’re providing to
them. I spoke to them about how important it is making their families proud in
everything they do both on and off of the field."
On the reaction of the players while he was speaking…
"I thought they were outstanding. It was a little difficult in the room to
survey every conversation. You could tell the players were engaged. They asked
very good questions, very responsive questions to what I had said, and I think
they listened very intently."
On the process of evaluating a violation of the policy…
"First we get the facts, and then once we’ve done that we make an evaluation
of where it sits in our personal conduct policy and make a determination."
On the overall goal of the symposium and this class of rookies…
"That we are concerned about them as men. Not only how they become great NFL
players but how they become great men. How they conduct themselves appropriately
for the remainder of their lives, not just in the National Football League."
On how the players asked questions. Did they raise their hand, stand up, grab
a microphone?
"They did both, they had a microphone. They asked a lot of questions about
the services they have available to them, what we could do to help them, am I
available, what is my perspective and how I go about making decisions. They were
very good questions."
On his perception of how the fans perceive personal conduct issues and whether he believes personal conduct is a problem in the fans’ eyes...
"The reaction I’m getting from the fans is quite supportive. We are standing
up; we are making sure our players are held to a higher standard. They want
that. People have put an awful lot of time, energy, money, into the National
Football League, and I want them to feel good about what they’re doing."
On whether the symposium always has the same focus…
"We adapt the symposium to whatever the issues are at the time. We obviously
have adapted the agenda here to some extent to make sure it’s responsive to
issues that they may be facing, that they’re comfortable making the transition
to pro football from college football."
On the Congressional hearing on retired players…
"The focus on retired players is that we have an obligation and a
responsibility to retired players. I think we’ve done some very positive things
for retired players and we’re considering doing some additional things that I
think are quite responsive to the issues. I’ve spent a fair amount of time
listening to retired players and listening to what the issues actually are. Both
Gene and I will be having a meeting with the retired players on July 24th to
talk about some of the ideas that we’ve been developing and hopefully we’ll be
able to move this forward. I think we’re being very responsive to our retired
players and I understand the interest in this. I hope were going to be seen in a
very positive light in terms of being responsive to this."
On the London Game and the loss of a home game for the Dolphins…
RG: I understand that and that’s why we’ve said all along that we’re going to
have a limited number of regular-season games overseas because we recognize that
it can be difficult for fans and they lose one of their eight regular-season
home games. It’s not going to happen on a frequent basis. Even if we did two a
year it wouldn’t happen frequently. On the other hand, any time a fan loses a
home game we understand it’s a negative. We’re glad it’s on television. It’s not
the same experience, but I think the club should be proud that their fans are
going to be able to see it on television and more importantly they’re expanding
on
a global basis. Hopefully some good will come out of that. There’s not much I
can say other than that. The fact is they are losing a regular-season home game.
On his reaction to Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson's latest issues…
RG: We’re waiting to get the facts. They’re both under suspension right now so
we’ll look at the facts and take it under consideration. They understand, as
part of their suspension, that we’ll be evaluating every activity that is going
on with them. They understand that so we’ll take that under consideration.
On hearing their names continually coming up in the news this offseason…
RG: I would rather them be making good choices. They know that and knew that
when I met with them, and they each pledged to try to make good choices going
forward. We’re trying to do everything we can to support them to make choices.
If they don’t, that’s the decision they make and it will affect their future.
On reaction to hearing these names again…
RG: Disappointment, more than anything else. Either they aren’t getting the
message or they don’t have the ability or the desire. It’s disappointing.