Tag: Roger Goddell

Roger Goodell, NFL approach to Antonio Brown shifts to concern over his well-being

Roger Goodell, NFL approach to Antonio Brown shifts to concern over his well-being

Since the end of the 2018 season, the mental and emotional state of Antonio Brown has been spiraling downward. In a matter of months, his NFL career came crashing down around him.

From dying his hair and mustache blonde and forcing his way out of Pittsburgh, to the mysterious foot injury and skipping practices over a helmet issue and ultimately threatening his GM and forcing his way out of Oakland, to a couple of sexual harassment claims against him that ended his time in New England after one game. Those investigations are ongoing

Since then it’s been one incident after another. Most recently he was arrested and charged after assaulting a moving truck driver which had him on house arrest.

This string of behavior has long since been more worrisome than anything. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sees the league’s responsibility to help the troubled receiver find his way again.

“I think the first thing for all of us is to think about the well-being of Antonio, to understand what Antonio is going through,” Goodell said. “We don’t talk about the wellness of our players publicly, but I would tell you that you can be assured that the NFL and NFLPA have a tremendous amount of resources that are available to all players. They’re going to be made available to Antonio.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport noted the feeling from the commissioner had shifted from a discussion of punishment and timelines for a return to the NFL to “Is he ok?” which he saw as a dramatic shift.

“We want to help get him on the right track and get him in a position where he is in a zone where he thinks he can be successful in life,” Goodell continued. “We are confident that can happen. We want to work to do that. From our standpoint, that’s the first step, and the first step is making sure that we’re doing everything to help Antonio.”

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Roger Goodell says decision on Las Vegas Super Bowl will come by end of this year

Roger Goodell says decision on Las Vegas Super Bowl will come by end of this year

Roger Goodell took to the podium today for his Super Bowl press conference. A popular subject, for obvious reasons, would be where the league will be holding future Super Bowls. Every new stadium gets one in short order upon opening. Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara hosted Super Bowl 50 four years ago and the 2022 Super Bowl is scheduled to be played at the new stadium in Los Angeles.

So, the question is, when will the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas play host to the ‘Big Game’?

Goodell was in Vegas recently because the 2020 draft is being held there in April, which means the NFL will be in Vegas even before the Raiders and with the stadium still months away from completion.

Having the draft there is cool and all for the city, but the Super Bowl is where Allegiant stadium takes center stage. Or rather becomes the center stage for the biggest event in all of sports.

“As you know we’ll be having the draft there which will be a good start,” said Goodell. “As I said when I was out there, I think we should get through the draft before we focus on the Super Bowl. But that is coming quickly and our attempts to move to the next Super Bowl probably will be done before the end of calendar year here in ’20.”

I guess you could call the draft festivities a test run for Goodell to see if Vegas is ready for a Super Bowl. After all, a couple years ago they didn’t even have a professional franchise of any kind.

There’s no reason to think Vegas wouldn’t be ready for the Super Bowl to come to town. Goodell spoke glowingly about it.

“I was just out there in the last two weeks. You could feel the excitement, you could see the excitement by the city,” Goodell said of Las Vegas. “It’s a great facility, I’ve had a chance to go through it on several occasions over the last several months. I think it’s going to be great for the community. I think we’re going to be great for the community and the community is going to be great for us. Las Vegas is growing and I think becoming a more diverse community than it has in the past and we are anxious to be part of that.”

So, barring any unforeseen disasters during the draft to change Goodell’s mind, it seems likely there will be a Super Bowl held there sooner than later.

Unfortunately, even if he gives Vegas the go for a Super Bowl, the game won’t actually be played there for a while. The decisions on Super Bowls are made five years ahead, so the next year they’re deciding upon is 2025.

Obviously, this year is in Miami. The next four Super Bowls are in Tampa (2021), Los Angeles (2022), Glendale/Phoenix (2023), and New Orleans (2024).

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