Roger Goodell: No judgments yet
PHOENIX — The NFL is conducting a “serious” and “thorough” investigation into the deflation of footballs in the AFC Championship Game, commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday, but there have been “no judgments made” against the New England Patriots or any of their employees.
The league previously announced that 11 of the Patriots’ 12 game footballs were found at halftime to be below the league’s mandate of 12.5 psi. Ted Wells, the NFL’s outside investigator, is attempting to determine why the balls were used in the first half and if it was “the result of deliberate action,” Goodell said.
“We don’t know enough in this case to know who is responsible or if there was an infraction,” he added.
Whether the Patriots gained a competitive advantage is “secondary,” Goodell said, to whether a rule was broken.
Speaking at his annual state of the league news conference prior to Super Bowl XLIX, Goodell faced a series of questions about his job performance and the league’s controversial year. He said he has not considered resigning, even as the league has faced intense scrutiny for its handling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse case among other issues, and does not think he will be fired.
“It has been a tough year,” Goodell said. “It’s been a tough year on me personally. It’s been a year of what I would say is humility and learning. We obviously as an organization have gone through adversity, but more importantly, adversity for me. It’s an opportunity for us to get better. … We’ve all done a lot of soul searching starting with yours truly.”
