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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: 'I don't expect anyone to take my word'

"I'm focused on the job I have to do," says Goodell.

By Matt Bradwell
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. UPI /John Angelillo
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. UPI /John Angelillo | License Photo

NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed fans, players, owners and media on Friday to discuss the league's increasingly volatile domestic abuse scandal.

In addition to heavy outside influence and striving toward increased transparency, the main change Goodell announced was the formation of a "personal conduct committee" that will operate similar to the exiting on-field rules committee, and will be open for review each season. Goodell hopes to have the committee in place by the Super Bowl.

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"I'm here now because our rules, policies and procedures on personal conduct fail to ensure that these high standards are met," said Goodell.

Since Goodell took over as commissioner in 2006, his tenure has been as defined by on-field innovation as it has by strict conduct policies and serious punishments. Scandals such as Bounty Gate, Spy Gate and numerous cases of drug use were famously addressed quickly by the NFL, while domestic abuse cases like the Ray Rice scandal were not.

"I got it wrong in handling the Ray Rice matter and I'm sorry for that. I got it wrong on a number of levels. From the process I led to the decision I reached. Now I will get it right ... We will re-examine, enhance and improve all our current programs. Then we'll do more."

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Goodell acknowledged his credibility is at best tainted, and spoke at length about the outside help he hopes will shape the culture of America's most popular professional sports league.

"I don't expect anyone to take my word," said Goodell, adding that even the role and authority of the commissioner in disciplinary matters may be changed.

Rather than his word, Goodell has enlisted former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III to examine the chain of events leading to Rice's indefinite suspension from the league, and assess if any preventable institutional wrongdoings occurred.

When drafting the NFL's new personal conduct rules and forming its personal conduct committee, Goodell will turn to victims' advocacy groups the National Domestic Violence Hotline and National Domestic Violence Resource Center.

Asked if he considered stepping down at any point, Goodell said he had not.

"I'm focused on the job i have to do ... I'm proud of the opportunity we have here to try to make a difference."

Although mostly civil, toward the end of the press conference a struggle could be heard off camera. The man who created the disturbance repeatedly yelled, "Don't take me to an elevator, don't take me to an elevator!" -- an obvious reference to the location of Ray Rice's attack on his then-fiancee. He was later identified as Howard Stern writer Benjy Bronk.

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