"Very disturbing" - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell weighs in on recent lawsuit by Brian Flores
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with the media Wednesday in his annual Super Bowl press conference. This talk was long overdue, given the series of controversies surrounding the league at the moment.
Arguably the biggest of which is the lawsuit brought against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. He brought up allegations of racism, unfair hiring practices, and even tanking, all in the same lawsuit.
Goodell was asked for his thoughts and said it all was "very disturbing."
Roger Goodell on the claims made by Brian Flores regarding getting offered $ to tank: "I found all of the allegations to be very disturbing." "We are going to look into that and we will make sure if there were violations, that they won't be tolerated."
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""Well, a couple of things first, Sal, let me step back and say I found all of the allegations, whether they were based on racism or discrimination, or the integrity of our game, all of those, to me were very disturbing. They are very serious matters to us on all levels and we need to make sure we get to the bottom of all of them. Integrity of the game is obviously an important element, just as making sure we have the right culture in our organizations across the league in clubs but we are going to look into that and we will make sure that either if there were violations they won't be tolerated."
So Goodell offered up a simple answer, saying things need to change. Fans are well aware of that fact and will now wait to see if actual change does come.
Roger Goodell promises change in the NFL
The NFL is notorious for conducting long and drawn out investigations that do not lead to many answers. Yet the Commissioner is adamant they will be diligent in their fact-finding with all of Flores' claims.
"I couldn't speculate on what they'll be because we'll have to find out what the facts are. What's the outcome and when we know what those facts are, and the impact it has on our game, we'll deal with it very seriously. Just as we will if there was any discrimination really, they will be dealt with very seriously."
Ultimately, the owners have the final power to enforce true change. Though, the league itself can impose fines if a team like the Dolphins truly did attempt to lose games on purpose.
The crux of Flores' lawsuit is a lack of diversity in the NFL. Goodell responded by saying he does hope the current Denver Broncos sale goes to a minority individual.
Roger Goodell says the league would prefer to see a diverse owner for the Denver #Broncos
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"We would love to see a diverse owner of the team, whether that's a person of color, female or a black man, we think that would be a really positive set forth and something that we've encouraged and one of the reasons we reached out to find candidates who can do that."
Again, this is all just talk for now. Fans are left waiting to see if true change comes about in the league, and if Flores' lawsuit forces them to take the issues at hand seriously.
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