NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave his state of the league address on Wednesday ahead of Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, and had plenty of interesting tidbits about the future of the league. Goodell addressed the NFL’s officiating situation, flex scheduling for “Thursday Night Football,” more international games in Germany, future Super Bowl sites, and a reveal of one of the influential voices that led to the Pro Bowl becoming a flag football game.
Here’s a rundown of Goodell’s press conference regarding the state of the NFL.
On the state of officiating: Everything is great
“I don’t think it’s ever been better,” Goodell said Wednesday when asked about how he views the performance of the league’s referees amidst the controversy and continual social media outrage about blown calls in big games.
That response from the commissioner contrasts with recent public sentiment surrounding the league’s standard of officiating. There were multiple components of one of the final plays in this season’s AFC Championship Game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs that resulted in a late-hit penalty on Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai as Patrick Mahomes scrambled out of bounds. Many Cincinnati fans screamed for a holding call on the Chiefs at the start of the play, and were also taken aback by the decision to flag Ossai on the Chiefs’ last offensive play.
The criticism of the NFL’s officiating situation reached an inflection point as retired, four-time Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster fanned flames for the conspiracy theory that the league is rigged as he alluded to “scripts” being handed out to players and teams on Barstool’s “Macrodosing” podcast.
One of the NFL’s most decorated active players, Aaron Rodgers, said one of the issues plaguing officiating today is that the best referees aren’t referees anymore because they get compensated better as game analysts for the league’s broadcast partners.
“Listen, the best refs we’ve had in the league are on TV now,” the four-time NFL MVP said Tuesday on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “They’re not working in the league office. They’re on TV. Gene Steratore, my favorite ref of all-time. I think one of the best guys at understanding how to interact with guys and how to communicate with them, and then how to control a game without being a part of it. Gene was incredible at that, but Gene is on TV now. Why? Because they pay…
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