The Denver Post

Goodell tackles concussion­s, diversity in talk

- By Rob Maaddi

From diversity to concussion­s, NFL Commission­er Roger Goodell reiterated the league is still looking for improvemen­t.

As for officiatin­g, he says: “it’s never been better.”

Goodell addressed those topics and more, including the Washington Commanders’ investigat­ion, flex scheduling and internatio­nal play in his annual Super Bowl news conference Wednesday.

Demeco Ryans became the NFL’S third Black head coach when Houston hired the former 49ers defensive coordinato­r. Ryans joined Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles. There are three other minority coaches, including Miami’s Mike McDaniel, who has a Black father and identifies as biracial.

The Titans hired Ran Carthon, the league’s eighth Black general manager and ninth person of color overall.

“I still feel like there’s better work and more work ahead of us,” Goodell said. “I think there’s progress and we’re pleased to see progress but there’s never enough. We look to see how we can make things better.”

Player safety is always a hot topic in the NFL. Concussion­s were magnified and the league revised its protocols during the season after criticism for the way Tua Tagovailoa’s head injuries were handled.

The NFL announced last week concussion­s had increased by 18% during the regular season. Goodell attributed the rise to the updated diagnostic measures.

“I think that’s a reason why concussion­s went up this year, because we had a broader definition,” Goodell said. “If you have more evaluation­s you’re going to have more concussion­s. Any time we can change the protocols to make it safer for our players, we’re going to do that. We’re not afraid of having them diagnosed.”

Overall, Goodell said injuries are down 6% this year. He said injuries for Thursday games and for the additional Week 18 games are no different than any other time during the season.

“You want to take the head out of the game,” Goodell said. “You’re always going to have contacts that are not intended, so that’s why we have protection­s, but ultimately you want to have rules that are avoiding the techniques that lead to these kinds of injuries.”

NFLPA executive director Demaurice Smith pointed out the league and the players’ union have, since 2009, instituted return to-play protocols, brought in sideline concussion experts, revamped health and safety standards and made it a requiremen­t for team doctors to comply with all federal and state guidelines.

Quality of NFL officiatin­g has been scrutinize­d, especially in the playoffs.

“When you look at officiatin­g, I don’t think it’s ever been better in the league,” Goodell said.

“There are over 42,000 plays in a season and multiple infraction­s could occur on any play. Take that out, extrapolat­e that. That’s hundreds, if not millions, of potential fouls. Our officials do an extraordin­ary job of getting those. Are there mistakes in the context of that? Yes. They are not perfect and officiatin­g never will (be).”

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