NFL controversies, particularly the botched handling of the Ray Rice case, have led to calls in some quarters for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to resign. He says that will never happen.
Asked at his “State of the League” press conference whether there’s any set of circumstances that would result in his resignation, Goodell said he can’t imagine that happening.
“No, I can’t. Does that surprise you?” Goodell said.
Goodell did acknowledge that even though the NFL’s popularity has never been greater, he hasn’t had the best of years.
“It’s been a tough year on me personally,” Goodell said. “It’s been a year of what I would say is humility and learning. We, obviously as an organization, have gone through adversity. More importantly, it’s been adversity for me. We take that seriously. It’s an opportunity for us to get better. It’s an opportunity for us, for our organization, to get better. We’ve all done a lot of soul searching, starting with yours truly.”
That soul searching has apparently not included ever asking himself whether he’s the right person for the job. In Goodell’s mind, he absolutely is — and that won’t change.