NFL Commissioner Goodell Faces Heat Before Super Bowl LVI – Orange County Register

INGLEWOOD – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stepped off the stage and toward Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the LA County Department of Public Health.

“There’s not a single question about COVID,” he said Wednesday to SoFi Stadium, the home of Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI, as his multibillion-dollar backdrop.

It was one of the few things that happened to Goodell on a day where he was in a state of constant heat that had nothing to do with a 84-degree February afternoon.

He faces a constant barrage of questions about the NFL’s lack of diversity – especially among coaches – and other controversies that have dominated game-building discussion between the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.

For years, Goodell’s Super Bowl press conferences have featured a potential Los Angeles return as a major theme. This could be celebrated in the wild as it was the first time during his tenure that he was actually in the Los Angeles area.

Instead, Goodell responded to criticism that was hardly new but enhanced when the former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the league and its teams on February 1. He complained that the league had not made any gains in hiring coaches of color – two were fired this cycle and two were hired (both after Flores sued) – and insists the NFL will examine all of its operations to try to improve.

“If I had the answer right now, I’d give it to you,” Goodell said. “I will do it.

“I think we have to keep looking and looking and step back and say, ‘We’re not doing well here.’

Legal experts have debated the merits and viability of Flores’ case, and some say he’s in high spirits that needs to be resolved to win court.

However, Goodell tried to stay away from the duel and said he wanted to focus on the message Flores conveys about his experience and that of other black coaches.

“For me it is more important for us to listen to the Coach (Flores), understand what he and the other coaches are going through, what our club is going through, also reassessed everything we were doing,” said Goodell, not all far from the Arena, where Art Shell served as the league’s first Black coach with the Raiders starting in 1989.

Some of the NFL’s harshest critics of racial issues point to the lack of Black team ownership in a league where about 70% of players are Black. That could change with the sale of the Denver Broncos. Former comedian-turned-entertainment mogul Byron Allen has said he will jointly bid to acquire the team.

Goodell said he spoke with Allen about his pursuit as well as other potential buyers.

“He’s not the only one interested in buying an NFL team that’s black,” Goodell said.

Other topics Goodell has addressed include:

New allegations of sexual misconduct among team executives were recently renamed the Washington Commanders;

Flores’ claim in his lawsuit that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offers to pay him $100,000 for every game he loses during the 2019 season to improve the team’s draft position;

The most recent arrest of a player in Las Vegas, although the person was a participant in the tournament’s Pro Bowl, was not a member of the Raiders.

“Bad decisions happen in other markets, too,” says Goodell.

While most of his press conferences cover areas that may have caused Goodell to hop on one of the planes that pass by SoFi Stadium – especially with the airline known for its “Want to go away?” campaign – he gets a brief opportunity to reflect on all it took for the Super Bowl to land back in the LA area.

Sunday’s Super Bowl will be the first tournament in the region since 1993, a gap that seems unlikely as seven of the first 27 – including its 1967 debut – were at the Coliseum or Rose Bowl.

But when the Rams left for St. Louis and the Raiders returned to Oakland after the 1994 season, the NFL had no plans to host its championship here without a local team and, equally important, a first-rate venue.

“We needed to have a modern stadium that gives us the element of awe,” said Goodell.

He said he expects SoFi Stadium to become a regular part of the Super Bowl rotation, and noted that the next available stadium to be awarded will be the 60th.

“I would hardly think they wouldn’t be at the top of everyone’s list on every possible opportunity,” says Goodell.