PHOENIX - There are full plates.

Then there is Roger Goodell's plate. A vocational to-do list that is full of a variety of high-profile issues staring the NFL and its commissioner squarely in the face.

Players' arrests, drugs testing, revenue sharing and just dealing with the wants and needs of 32 franchise owners trying to do whatever they can to win one trophy every year while trying to work together enough to keep their league atop the nation's sporting landscape.

Goodell, who took over for Paul Tagliabue last season, finds himself at the center of it all, in a time when the 2 4/7 coverage of the league never has been more intense, diversified or more global.

"It is one of the challenges of the job, certainly," Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said. "On one hand, the league is one thing, one entity, trying to do things that enhance that, but on the other, you have 32 different organizations with 32 different philosophies all trying as hard as they can to win. That's the way the league is."

Said Goodell: "I've said all along I've been with the league for a long time. I knew what I was getting into."

For the fist time since he officially was handed the keys to the league in September, Goodell opened a meeting Monday with the traditional commissioner's address to the league's franchise owners and top executives from every team in the league.

And the son of a former U.S. senator took the opportunity to make his stance clear on where the league is and where he would like it to go.

That has meant early on in his tenure, even given the other things that have taken plenty of his time and his attention, he has quickly drawn a line in the boardroom carpet on player conduct.

The off-field legal woes of some of the league's players quickly have become his signature issue. He went as far as to invoke the league's trademark logo in his remarks.

"I told the clubs (Monday) morning the shield is the most important thing, for me and for, I believe, everybody in that room," Goodell said. "When you select players, you select coaches, you select anybody to represent the organization, they should do that in the best possible fashion, and if they do it at a standard less than you expect, you've got to deal with that."

So while Goodell has overseen additional money invested in trying to find an effective test for human growth hormone and expanding the league's testing program for performance-enhancing drugs and trying to bridge the gap between the league's financial haves and have-nots, it is player conduct that likely will provide the first real gauge of the change from Tagliabue to Goodell.

Asked Monday if the 45 or so arrests of players and coaches during the past year or so have affected the league's standing with its sponsors or fans, Goodell said, "I'm not waiting for that. In my view, we have to act before we have people complaining about that. But we believe we're held to a higher standard, our players, coaches and anyone involved in the NFL, including the commissioner, should be held to a higher standard. . . .

"I don't like (the arrests), I think it's a bad reflection on the National Football League. To some extent, I think it's how we react to it and making sure people understand, it's not what the National Football League represents. I don't think it's what represents our players, it's a very few number of players. I think they are tainting the league and are tainting the other players."

To that end, Goodell is expected to reveal at least the framework of a tougher, more far-reaching discipline policy to the league's franchise owners and coaches this morning.

Goodell will ask for the owners' input on what he has put together so far and said he hopes to have a formal policy in effect before the league's draft at the end of April.

His reasoning for finishing before the draft: Suspensions will be forthcoming for some players who have run afoul and Goodell wants teams to be able to adjust to that in the draft.

He said he is going to hold teams "more accountable" for off-field programs to educate and help players avoid some of the pitfalls that can await them.

Goodell said the league will beef up its rookie symposium - an event held each year for draft picks - and make it part of a more year-round program with more "follow-up" with players as they adjust to life in the NFL.

Another component will be Goodell's power to suspend players who repeatedly have been in trouble before they have concluded the legal process.

In the past, players have not been suspended until cases have been decided, either by plea or through a trial.

Goodell's new policy on suspensions could also result in longer suspensions, some possibly as long as a year.

"Our legal system is based on the presumption of innocence, so we have to be careful with that," Goodell said. "But what we're looking at is to see a number of players that are repeat offenders. That would be something I think our players, our coaches and our clubs at some point feel we need to act (on) before the judicial process is completed."

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359

Back to Top