Goodell: NFL season leaves ‘legacy’ THE QUOTE
The many lessons learned from 2020 will be needed as the NFL moves forward, Commissioner Roger Goodell noted Thursday in his annual state of the league news conference ahead of the Super Bowl.
Held before both in-person and virtual audiences and staged outside of the arena that is home to the NHL’s Lightning in Tampa, Florida, Goodell said developments ranging from dealing with the coronavirus pandemic to minority coaching hires to scheduling to the NFL’s working relationship with the players’ union all will carry forward as major topics.
“I don’t know when normal will occur again or if normal will occur again,” he said. “I know we have learned to work in a very difficult environment, and we will do it again. That is one of the things we learned ... hearing clubs and the NFLPA saying our relationship has never been stronger. I interpret that as a trust that has been built that will take us forward and will be the long-lasting legacy of this season.”
That legacy, on the positive side, includes something the other major sports leagues and organizations couldn’t manage: playing a full season, uninterrupted, with the championship game on time despite COVID19 issues.
“This was an extraordinary collective effort,” Goodell said.
But the negative part of the legacy, one that has plagued a league made up of 70% minority players, has been the head coach hiring cycle. Goodell said the league isn’t satisfied with only two minorities hired for seven head coach openings: The Jets hired Robert Saleh, the first NFL coach who’s a Muslim, and the Texans hired David Culley, making him only the league’s third Black current head coach.
“We had two minority coaches hired and it was not what we expected,” the commissioner said, “and not what we expect going forward.”
“We are absolutely confident the Australian Open is going to go ahead. We will be starting on Monday and we have no intention of changing times.”
— Australian Open director Craig Tiley, a day after all six tuneup tournaments were called off and 160 players were put back in isolation because a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for COVID-19