WEBVTT - Roger Goodell 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:05.040 I'm in the headquarters of the National Football League, where 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.800 I've just had a chance to interview the commissioner of 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:10.160 the NFL, Roger Goodell, who's now serving his nineteenth year 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:12.479 as commissioner, and had a chance to talk with him 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.960 about issues like international expansion, the popularity of the NFL, 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:18.760 and practice private equity firms are now being allowed to 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.920 invest in the NFL. So today, the NFL is by 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:27.319 far the most profitable and largest revenue sports franchise or 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.440 league in the world, revenue of about twenty billion dollars 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:34.440 or so last year, and every team seems to be profitable. 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.840 The television ratings are very good. What do you think 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:39.680 makes the NFL so popular? 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:42.400 It always starts with the game, David. 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.480 I think the game is one of the greatest games, 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.880 if not the greatest game in the world. The competition 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:53.320 is extraordinary, the players, the coaching, Our games are never 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:57.120 been closer in history, and I think it brings people 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.959 together and it does. 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:01.800 Well on media. 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:06.360 I think the television experience is as great as as 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.640 anything in television. I think being in the stadiums better, 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:14.120 but I think we're fortunate to have a great product. Second, 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.520 I'd say the business model. I think we have a 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:21.440 tremendous business model. I think when you look at the 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.200 key aspects of revenue sharing and a salary cap that 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:29.440 we've designed with our players, that we have something that 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.920 I think makes every team competitive and I think that's unusual, 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.800 and they have the finances to be competitive, and I 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.120 think that's an important element that people overlook. And I 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.880 think it also is just a it's a statement you 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.000 know better than I do. You're a great investor, and 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:47.960 you know this business better than I do. I think 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:52.120 it's a statement on the potential success for Polistically going 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:53.520 forward to had a. 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.960 Number of games overseas in recent years, and in fact, 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.120 you opened the season going to the opening game in Brazil. Oh, 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:02.880 so do you expect to do more overseas games and 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:04.320 is that a part of your strategy? 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:04.760 It is. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.440 We had five last year, we expect to have eight 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.360 this year, which will be the highest we've ever had. 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.240 Our hope would be at some stage to get to 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.720 sixteen games in the next few years. 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:18.399 We think we can do that. 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.520 I think it's an indication of the popularity of our 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.160 game every time we take our game to a new market. 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:27.000 Brazil is a great example of it. The fans go 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:29.600 crazy for it. They sold out the tickets in less 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.720 than ninety minutes. People had a wonderful time. It was 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.200 the talk of the town, and I think it will 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:37.080 be the basis in the sort of the match that 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:41.320 lights the excitement and the popularity of the game in 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.359 that market, as well as what we're doing around the world. 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.760 So we're very excited by it. It's just one element 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.600 of that strategy. You need to have television, you need 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:54.480 to have activity and participation of the sport, and flight 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.560 football is a big part of that. So all of 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.480 those factors I think are going to be what we 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:01.560 think will be a very successful formula to be a 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:02.200 global sport. 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:04.919 Or do you ever envision having a team that's based 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:07.600 overseas in Mexico City or in London. 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.160 Listen, We've talked awful lot about it, and I think 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:15.920 there are markets that could, without question support in an 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.760 NFL franchise. I think there's a lot of issues with 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.080 expansion of our league that we have to debate on 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:25.760 that one. You know, additional teams. We have thirty two now, 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:27.960 we think that's a really good number for the NFL. 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.240 But also I think we would probably look at it 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:36.800 potentially as building out by divisions as opposed to individual teams. 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.360 You have a lot of issues with a team that's 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:44.520 in let's say Europe and having to travel over playing games, 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.520 and teams going back over to Europe to play. I 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:49.880 think the competitive issues still need to be worked out. 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.360 All the Super Bowls have been held in the United States, 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.080 and they had more than fifty of them so far. 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:56.680 Do you ever envision a time when a Super Bowl 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.320 will be held in a city not in the United States? 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.480 Always, I think had super Bowl in a city that 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:04.800 has a franchise, and I think that's sort of the 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:07.080 core principle that we've had. I think if we have 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:11.160 an international franchise, I definitely see that happening. I think 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.520 as we become global, that'll be something that as we 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.600 have international franchises, that would be logical. 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.480 So let's talk about one of the franchises. 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:24.040 Recently, a team was sold for six billion dollars i'd 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:26.919 say about a year ago or so Washington Commanders, for 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.800 a price that nobody never thought a sports franchise in 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:33.320 United States would reach six billion dollars. Were you surprised 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:35.360 the price was that high? 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:41.480 No, I think one that's a franchise that growing up 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:45.800 in Washington I probably have deeper emotional feelings for. But 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:50.200 that's a franchise and a great market, and we believe 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:54.120 that it's going to be a tremendous success there, and 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.000 I think Josh Harrison his Limited investors are going to 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.120 do a great job. I'm not at all surprised that 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:01.080 they got to that price. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:06.960 Recently, the NFL allowed private equity firms, including mine, to 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:10.040 invest in NFL teams in minority stakes. I think up 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:12.880 to ten percent, and a number of these have already 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.920 been done. In fact, I think valuations are above the 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.840 six billion dollar level that the commanders received. I think 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.440 some of the minority stake investments are at least eight 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.960 billion dollar valuations. So why did you let the bad 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.640 guys known as the private equity people into the tent 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:28.920 and why have you capped it at ten percent? 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:33.039 One letting the bad guys in, we really feel like 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:34.960 there are things that you all can teach us a 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.880 little bit about our business and maybe help us think 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.520 about it a little differently. As you know that ten 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:44.960 percent positions a silent position. We believe very strongly in 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:48.320 the fact that We like the principal owner approach that 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.960 we've had for years and other sports have had successfully. 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.880 So we want to make sure that the controlling owner 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:57.600 is the one that makes the decisions on behalf of 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.479 the club, both at the league level and at the 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:00.000 club level. 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.039 But do you ever envision a time at a sovereign 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.440 wealth fund could invest directly in a minority stake in 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:04.920 the team. 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:10.320 I don't think will ever allow institutional in a controlling position, 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.960 at least in the foreseeable future. Again, I think we 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:17.240 feel very strongly about having a principal owner that is 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.880 there operating the franchise, responsible for that both in the 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:21.920 club level as well. 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:22.600 As the league level. 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:26.640 On television, is that the case that somebody that only 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:30.240 subscribes the basic cable can still watch on any of 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.200 his teams or her team's home games or what are 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:35.479 the rules? It's very complicated as to what is you 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:37.159 have to pay for what you don't have to pay 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.599 for today? What is the basic rule that makes it 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.040 possible for somebody to watch the NFL game for their 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:42.599 home team. 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.080 Well, David I would say, in the NFL, it's about 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:50.120 as simple as it gets. We're committed to free television 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.919 for the home teams the home markets, so not just 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:56.400 the home team, but the visiting team. They will get 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:57.760 their game on free television. 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:01.800 In other words, everybody who wants to watch their home 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.640 team can watch it on basic television for free. 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:05.200 Correct. 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.480 So now you have the other packages where people want 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:11.200 to watch special games or games not their home team, 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:15.400 they then sign up for Netflix package or something else 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:15.800 like that. 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.280 We have a few games that are on pay service, 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:20.640 but we still are close to ninety percent of our 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.680 games are on free television for everybody, and I think 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.400 that is something we're incredibly proud of, and I think 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.720 it's led to the popularity of our game because people 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:34.120 can access it and we give them opportunities to see 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.400 those games. We have a limited number of packages, whether 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.400 it's ESPN or whether it's Netflix or Amazon or YouTube 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.400 or ESPN Plus or our own network where we have 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.320 I think it's roughly thirty five games that are available 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.800 and those are pay services of some type, and they've 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.720 been incredibly successful. We just had a Christmas Day game 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:01.640 with Netflix, two games that averaged over thirty million people 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:06.200 on a global basis, and those audiences are younger. We're 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:08.960 seeing that on some of these new services, and as 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.120 you know, the media business is changing, and so it's 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:15.240 our responsibility to make sure we do what's right the 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:18.640 best interest of our game, to partner where we can 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.520 bring more fans into the game. And so I think 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:23.880 we have a nice balance, but we're still very reliant 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.000 on our original partners, who are never partners. 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:30.400 And what about the Taylor Swift effect. Some people say 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.760 that Taylor Swift is bringing more fans in because they 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.600 want to watch her watch games, and other people say 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.840 that she's getting as much attention as her I guess 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.240 there a boyfriend who's a player for one of the teams, 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.680 the Kansas City Chiefs. So has had any impact on 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:45.439 the NFL or not really that much. 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:49.120 No, I think it has had a positive impact. Listen, 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.960 the most important thing is that two young people, Travis 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.319 Kelsey and Taylor Swift, seem to have a wonderful relationship 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.720 and they're both incredible people, which I've had good fortune 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:01.480 of getting to know. 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:03.920 But we just wish them well. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.600 But as far as what it's done, I think, you know, 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:08.520 it's brought more interest into our game. 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:10.600 Taylor Swift is. 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:14.360 One of the greatest entertainers in the world today and 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.240 I think has a tremendous following, and the fact that 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.800 she likes football, I think intrigues other people and causes 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.720 them to, you know, be interested in the game. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:24.559 That's all good thing. 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.560 Now in the United States, the biggest sporting event every 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.520 year is the super Bowl. 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:31.800 What is super Bowl Week like for you? 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:35.000 You have to kind of go go to the city, 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:36.960 You have to deal with everybody, You have to be 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.720 polite to everybody. You can't get upset with everything. But 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:42.880 is it just a lot of tension in that that weekend? 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.680 Do you make the decision on what city you're going 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.040 to have the super Bowl in and who the entertainment's 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:48.440 going to be. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.240 Let's start with the selection of it, because it usually 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.240 happens five years out. It's actually a process we go 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:59.080 through to select the super Bowl city. The owners ultimately 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:03.280 vote on that and select that city, and then our 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:07.200 staff works with that city for roughly five years to 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.960 get ready for the super Bowl. Super Bowl Week is 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:14.360 gotten bigger, It starts earlier. It now starts on Monday 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:20.439 night with a big media event, and it's an incredible 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:23.199 event that we think is a celebration of football on 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:26.240 a global basis, it's a hard week because you're pushed 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.040 in a lot of different directions. But I couldn't be 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:33.079 more honored or more privileged to do it. And it's excitement. 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:37.160 And when we have two hundred million people watching the 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:40.160 super Bowl, which is what the number was, that's an 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:46.800 extraordinary impact and extraordinarily event that you have a lot 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.319 of responsibilities to pull that off successfully. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.960 So do you get people who say they knew you're 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.400 from high school calling up asking for Super Bowl tickets 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.000 from time to time or you never get that? 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:57.760 Yeah, I get that a few times. 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.680 Yes, you wrote a letter to Pete Roselle when you 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.959 were in college asking for an internship. This was in 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:08.199 the early nineteen eighties, and he responded, I guess positively 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.280 because you got an internship. Have you ever thought in 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.280 your wildest imaginations, what would have happened had he not 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.760 responded positively and where you might be today? 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:22.319 Well, he was kind, I don't know about positive. They 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.360 get a lot of letters and a lot of interest 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.240 in becoming an intern. It pushed it off to his 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:31.720 executive director. I think it was close to fifty three 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:35.080 letters later when I got the internship. I see, so 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.720 it wasn't an immediate response and you've got a job. 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.880 It took almost a year before that happened. But I 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:43.920 have no idea what I'd be doing today if it 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:45.840 wasn't being here at the NFL. 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:48.360 So you didn't have any idea of doing something important 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.800 like private equity if you hadn't gotten into the guys. 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.080 Too smart for me, David, I doubt that. 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:58.440 So to people that are watching now and say, what 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.600 did he put in his letter that was so persuasive 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.280 to get an internship at the NFL, What did you 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.839 say that future people that want to write letters to 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:08.640 people like you should put in their letter. 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.400 Well, I have a copy of it actually over there, 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:16.160 but I would say it wasn't what was written in 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.280 the letter. I think it was the fact that I 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:23.480 wrote fifty three times. At one point, the executive director said, 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.600 if you're ever in New York, come by, and I said, well, 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:28.080 I happen to be in New York. He said, well, 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.040 can you come buy at eight o'clock? I said, of course. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.480 The problem I was in Pittsburgh, so I drove all 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:37.560 night to get there. And I think you just have 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:41.360 to take advantage of your opportunities and distinguish yourself in 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:48.600 some ways of what you deeply what you're deeply passionate about, 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.040 and what you think you can create value for someone. 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.360 Let's talk about your own background for a moment. Where 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:55.160 were you born. 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.760 Jamestown, New York. I grew up in Washington, d c. 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.320 Though Jamestown, New York. And what did your parents do? 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:05.040 My mother was a nurse. My father was a politician. 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:08.840 He was a congressman who was appointed by Nelson Rockefeller 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:12.480 at one point to succeed the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.120 and he became a Senator. Is that right? That's nineteen 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.640 sixty eight. And then your family moved to Washington then 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.360 or you were We moved to Washington at fifty nine 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:24.240 when I was born, actually so he could serve in Congress. 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:26.760 So people may not remember this, but your father was 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.400 very famous because he had appointed as a moderate Republican 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:35.120 by Nelson Rockefeller, also a Republican, and then he opposed 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.920 the war in Vietnam under Richard Nixon and then the 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:43.920 Johnson I guess as well, and that became very difficult 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.480 for him politically because many Republicans at that time wanted 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:49.880 to support let's say Richard Nixon and didn't feel that 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.679 a Republican opposed the Vietnam War was a good Republican, 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.040 let's put it that way. So was that difficult for 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.240 you or you're proud of your father had done at 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.200 the time, because many people were younger at the we're 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:01.200 against the Vietnam War. 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:03.760 Well, I couldn't be proud of my father and the 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.680 courage you took for him to do something that he 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:10.920 knew was the right thing to do. It wasn't popular, 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.320 and he knew at the time that he would likely 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.679 lose his seat and lose the election, but he did 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:19.520 it anyhow. And I think when we were young, he 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.880 actually gathered us around I'm one of five boys with 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.440 my mother and father and said, I'm going to do this, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:28.960 but I will likely lose the election. 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:31.400 But that was a lesson that. 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.000 Stays with me to this day, that you have to 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.880 do the right things, regardless of the consequences. 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.680 So let's go back to your growing up. You grew 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.480 up in Washington, but then you moved back to New 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:45.120 York after he lost the election, and then you went 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.680 back to where did you live afterwards, Broxville, New York. Bronxville, 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.120 and then you went to high school in Bronxville. Yes, 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.160 and you were a three sports star, as I understand it, 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:59.400 you were in football, basketball, and baseball and the captain 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:01.480 of all all three of those teams in your high school. 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.040 So she went to Washington Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. Yes, 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:07.880 and when you graduated, then you wrote your famous letter 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.040 to the NFL. But what were you doing when you 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:12.280 were waiting to hear back. 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:12.800 From the NFL. 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.720 Were you doing, you know, working in a McDonald's or 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:16.400 something like that. 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:18.480 I wasn't. 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:24.120 I took some time after the summer after after I graduated, 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.720 and I focused on what I wanted to do. I eventually, 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:30.400 because I did not hear back from the NFL in 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.120 a positive way until I think February of the year 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.880 after I graduated, I worked in the steel industry. 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:38.280 Briefly. 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.520 I worked for Jones and Lachlan Steel, which was a 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.520 good experience for me in a management training program. 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.280 So eventually you get the job of the NFL you 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:50.080 worked for. Then the commissioner was Pete Rosel, who was 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.920 the longest serving commissioner. You're the second longest serving I guess, 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:55.800 is that right? I think that may be true. I 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.880 hadn't thought about that. So Pete Rosel, who was the 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.840 person who helped orchestrate he became commission, was only thirty 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.080 three years old and when the AFL and the NFL 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:05.600 came together. 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:07.560 So what were you actually doing in the early years. 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.680 Well, I was an intern in the public relations department, 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:14.600 so I did a little bit of everything, and I 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:18.080 guess maybe my two big breaks for the Jets at 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:23.080 once point needed an intern late in the preseason, and 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.120 they asked if I wanted to go over and do that, 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:26.440 and so I had a chance to be with the 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.680 Jets for one season, and it was a remarkable experience 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:31.760 for me to be on the club level and understand 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:34.520 what they go through, you know it it's different than 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.000 what we do in the league level, and it was 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:37.720 incredibly valuable experience. 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.720 But I went back after the season. 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:44.160 I was actually asked by one of the coaches, the 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:48.240 defensive coordinator Joe Gardy, just stay and be an assistant coach, 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:51.240 and I decided I want to go back to the NFL. 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:53.240 Even though I didn't really have an opportunity there. I 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:55.200 was still an intern for another year and a half. 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.560 I thought it was the right thing and what I 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.120 wanted to do. Roselle was a hero of mine and 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.440 I wanted to work for him, and I loved I 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.400 thought the NFL played a really important role in society 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:08.520 and had a great future. 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:10.840 So we ever thought of you'd stayed with the Jets, 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.239 you could one day have become a football coach at 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:14.800 the NFL. 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:15.280 I could have. 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.200 I probably wouldn't be with the Jets anymore after that, 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.360 as you know, their tenure doesn't last very long. 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:21.200 So I think I made the right choice. David. 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.639 So in two thousand and six you became the commissioner, Yes, 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.520 and so now people are probably wondering what does the 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:31.760 commissioner actually do. It's a great title, the commissioner, but 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.960 it's an awkward position in a sense that you're employed 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.200 by the owners, but you have to sometimes penalize the 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.600 employers if they do something wrong. You have to find 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.439 them sometimes and sometimes they're not happy with you. How 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:46.719 does that work when you have to please the people 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.399 who are your employers, but also sometimes you have to 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:50.080 find them. 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:55.359 Well, I always say, just don't get twenty four owners 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:56.520 in one day pissed off at you. 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:58.760 That's one thing, right. 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.120 But I think the real issue here is, yes, you're 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:05.160 hired by the owners, they select you. But I think 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:09.879 the commissioner's ultimate role is to protect the integrity of 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:15.600 the game and to grow the game, and that happens 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:20.080 by balancing a lot of interest, including players and coaches 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:27.040 and owners and partners and the general public and our fans. 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.520 There Ultimately, you work for all of them, and that's 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:32.439 how I look at this job. I look at this 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:35.200 job as I have responsibility to each one of them 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:37.720 to make sure that we secure this game for the future, 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:41.359 that we put the best product on the field, and 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:43.919 that our game continues to grow in a. 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:45.800 Way that I think people are proud of. 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:49.040 And so the thing I'm most proud of is not 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.520 just the quality of the game, but the fact that 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:57.119 the NFL has become the big tent that brings people together, 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:00.879 and ultimately, I think I think it's one of the 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.680 few things it does bring people together in today's society. 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:07.000 So when you're a sports fan, one of the pleasures 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:08.480 of being a sports fan is you get the root 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.720 for your team. But you can't root for anybody, I assume, right. 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:14.520 I always say, and this is true. I root for 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:17.119 the team. It's behind, okay, and the officials. 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:19.159 But when you're in a game, how many games do 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:20.480 you typically go to it a year? 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:22.760 Roughly twenty five to thirty, Right. 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.440 So when you go to a game, everybody's watching you. 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:27.840 You can't when somebody does a great plague, you can't 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.360 jump up and say great, because you're rooting for one 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.400 team if you do that. So how do you sit 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:34.359 there kind of passively watching a games. 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:37.800 Well, I'm okay with rooting for a great play because 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:39.760 that's what we look to see, right, That's one of 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:41.720 the things people come for, is a great play. 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:44.080 I don't root for a specific team. 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:45.959 And do you ever go in the locker rooms and 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:47.840 talk to the players or see the players or you 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:48.560