At the conclusion of this week’s NFL meetings in San Francisco, commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the media, and while he took questions from reporters, he – unsurprisingly – didn’t drop any bombshells. Still, Goodell shed at least a little light on a few topics, so let’s check out a few highlights from the commissioner’s presser:
- As Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports details, Goodell strongly hinted that Tom Brady‘s best chance at reducing his four-game suspension would involve the quarterback handing over text messages and emails that he didn’t initially surrender to Ted Wells. Goodell was also asked directly if Robert Kraft‘s decision not to appeal the Patriots‘ penalties would factor into Brady’s appeal, and replied with one word: “No.”
- Contradicting a report from earlier this week, Goodell said that the NFL didn’t ask the Patriots to suspend the two staffers – Jim McNally and John Jastremski – who starred in the Wells Report (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).
- Asked about discussions with St. Louis, San Diego, and Oakland about stadium plans, Goodell noted that he had yet to hear from Oakland about a plan for the Raiders. While he didn’t go so far as to call it frustrating, the lack of a proposal has “clearly irked” Goodell, writes Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Goodell on the Oakland situation: “We don’t have a deadline, but this is not a new issue that we’re all dealing with here. This is something that the Raiders have been working on a stadium for years. This is something that’s been very publicly debated. So we do need to have a proposal from the people here about how they’re going to be able to keep the raiders here in Oakland.”
- Colts owner Jim Irsay said today that it’s just a matter of “when” – not “if” – a team relocates to Los Angeles, but Goodell cautioned that a return to L.A. isn’t “inevitable,” per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “There is certainly momentum, there are certainly opportunities,” Goodell said. “I can’t remember the last time we had two facilities that are actually entitled and are being developed. That’s a very positive development, and in fact there are actually even two more sites that have been entitled, but the two that we’re focusing on are obviously the Carson site and the Inglewood site. I think those are positive developments, but a lot more work has to be done.”