NY Daily News
August 9, 2006
NORTHBROOK, Ill. - Roger Goodell was an intern in the Jets public relations department in 1983, in charge of tearing out newspaper clips, making copies and distributing them to the staff.
He has moved up quite a bit in 23 years. He is now responsible for running the NFL, a $6 billion-a-year industry, even though it took five ballots yesterday to shake off the surprisingly strong challenge of Gregg Levy, the NFL's outside counsel.
"It's a life's dream to be able to follow your passion, and to end up being commissioner of the NFL is pretty extraordinary," the 47-year-old Goodell said after he completed a wire-to-wire victory to succeed Paul Tagliabue. "It's a combination of performance and opportunity and I've had both."
Goodell, who gets a five-year contract, was the overwhelming favorite since Tagliabue announced in March he was stepping down with two years left on his contract. But since NFL owners obsess over silly things like end-zone celebrations, this was not going to be a quick process. Remember, it took Pete Rozelle 23ballots in 1960 and Tagliabue 12 ballots in 1989, and they might be the two best commissioners in the history of sports.
And while it was expected Goodell - who had been the NFL's chief operating officer - would eventually get elected, the owners made him sweat before Steelers owner Dan Rooney knocked on his hotel-room door late yesterday afternoon to give him the news.
"Thankfully, I just put my pants on," Goodell laughed.
He has an engaging personality and a sense of humor, big changes from the previous administration.
Goodell faces many challenges in the next few years: The labor/revenue sharing issue, getting a team in Los Angeles and making a strong impression on the owners who resisted voting for him until Tagliabue asked them to make it unanimous after Goodell finally had the votes on the fifth ballot.
He needed two-thirds of the vote - 22 out of 32 - to get elected. In what turned out to be a compelling process, here's how the voting went, the Daily News learned:
• Ballot No. 1: Goodell 15, Levy 13. The other three finalists - Frederick Nance, Robert Reynolds and Mayo Shattuck III - who were all outside candidates, combined for just three votes. Oakland's Al Davis abstained on every ballot. The owners then decided to eliminate Nance, Reynolds and Shattuck, one day after they agreed to keep all five candidates on the first three ballots. Clearly, they wanted an internal candidate. They were comfortable with Goodell and Levy.
• Ballot No.2: Goodell 17, Levy 14
• Ballot No.3: Goodell 17, Levy 14. After this ballot, there was a lot of dialogue among the owners debating the merits of Goodell and Levy. It created movement on the next ballot.
• Ballot No.4: Goodell 21, Levy 10
• Ballot No.5: Goodell 23, Levy 8
Once Goodell had the required votes, Tagliabue encouraged the owners, as a formality, to make it 32-0 and even Davis, who abstained even though he was on the eight-member commissioner committee, went along.
"Roger has been involved in every major decision the league has made over the last dozen years," Giants co-owner John Mara said. "He has a great relationship with all the business partners, with our union, with most of the owners. To me, he was the ideal candidate right from the beginning. He's paid his dues and risen through the ranks."
Now he moves over one door into the corner office in the power wing of the 17th floor of the NFL offices at 280 Park Ave. He is an excellent communicator, just as comfortable talking to free-agent players trying to make a roster as he is to billionaire owners who have their own selfish agendas.
The owners clearly wanted to keep the job in-house. The NFL is in the midst of its most profitable period and decided Goodell had the best credentials to keep things going.
But he is not interested in status quo. "That wasn't my theme," Goodell said. "My theme is that it really wasn't time for status quo. We need to keep innovating, keep changing and find new ways of doing things and try to do things better."
Goodell knows how to work a room and build a consensus. He learned well. His father, Charles, was appointed as U.S. Senator from New York in 1968 after Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Sam Skinner, the Secretary of Transportation under President George H.W. Bush, is his father-in-law.
After Rooney told him he was hired, Goodell took the elevator down to the meeting room, was given a standing ovation by the owners, hugged Tagliabue and then walked around the room shaking hands.
"I spent my life following my passion," Goodell said. "From my standpoint, I can't think of a greater job and a greater league to be associated with."
It's a big step up from cutting out newspaper clips.
Get to work
Roger Goodell has plenty of important issues facing him in the early years of his administration.
* The NFL Loves L.A.: The league is determined to get back into Los Angeles after the Rams and Raiders left in 1995. For a team to get on the field by 2010, decisions must be made by the end of this year.
* Labor/Revenue Sharing: The new CBA was announced as a six-year deal but either side can opt out starting in November of 2008. Small-market teams believe the deal was way too expensive. Revenue sharing still needs to be worked out.
* Diversity: The league is predominantly African-American, but there are just six black head coaches. Goodell was strongly endorsed for commissioner weeks ago by John Wooten, the chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which assists the league on diversity issues.
* Retired Players: Harry Carson drew attention to the plight of former players in his Hall of Fame speech and many players agreed with him afterward that the NFL must do a better job taking care of its own. Pension and benefit improvements were made in the most recent CBA.
* Digital Media: The owners never saw a dollar they didn't want, so Goodell is going to have to explore new media and increase revenue streams. He's been a guiding force behind the NFL Network.
By Gary Myers
August 9, 2006
NORTHBROOK, Ill. - Roger Goodell was an intern in the Jets public relations department in 1983, in charge of tearing out newspaper clips, making copies and distributing them to the staff.
He has moved up quite a bit in 23 years. He is now responsible for running the NFL, a $6 billion-a-year industry, even though it took five ballots yesterday to shake off the surprisingly strong challenge of Gregg Levy, the NFL's outside counsel.
"It's a life's dream to be able to follow your passion, and to end up being commissioner of the NFL is pretty extraordinary," the 47-year-old Goodell said after he completed a wire-to-wire victory to succeed Paul Tagliabue. "It's a combination of performance and opportunity and I've had both."
Goodell, who gets a five-year contract, was the overwhelming favorite since Tagliabue announced in March he was stepping down with two years left on his contract. But since NFL owners obsess over silly things like end-zone celebrations, this was not going to be a quick process. Remember, it took Pete Rozelle 23ballots in 1960 and Tagliabue 12 ballots in 1989, and they might be the two best commissioners in the history of sports.
And while it was expected Goodell - who had been the NFL's chief operating officer - would eventually get elected, the owners made him sweat before Steelers owner Dan Rooney knocked on his hotel-room door late yesterday afternoon to give him the news.
"Thankfully, I just put my pants on," Goodell laughed.
He has an engaging personality and a sense of humor, big changes from the previous administration.
Goodell faces many challenges in the next few years: The labor/revenue sharing issue, getting a team in Los Angeles and making a strong impression on the owners who resisted voting for him until Tagliabue asked them to make it unanimous after Goodell finally had the votes on the fifth ballot.
He needed two-thirds of the vote - 22 out of 32 - to get elected. In what turned out to be a compelling process, here's how the voting went, the Daily News learned:
• Ballot No. 1: Goodell 15, Levy 13. The other three finalists - Frederick Nance, Robert Reynolds and Mayo Shattuck III - who were all outside candidates, combined for just three votes. Oakland's Al Davis abstained on every ballot. The owners then decided to eliminate Nance, Reynolds and Shattuck, one day after they agreed to keep all five candidates on the first three ballots. Clearly, they wanted an internal candidate. They were comfortable with Goodell and Levy.
• Ballot No.2: Goodell 17, Levy 14
• Ballot No.3: Goodell 17, Levy 14. After this ballot, there was a lot of dialogue among the owners debating the merits of Goodell and Levy. It created movement on the next ballot.
• Ballot No.4: Goodell 21, Levy 10
• Ballot No.5: Goodell 23, Levy 8
Once Goodell had the required votes, Tagliabue encouraged the owners, as a formality, to make it 32-0 and even Davis, who abstained even though he was on the eight-member commissioner committee, went along.
"Roger has been involved in every major decision the league has made over the last dozen years," Giants co-owner John Mara said. "He has a great relationship with all the business partners, with our union, with most of the owners. To me, he was the ideal candidate right from the beginning. He's paid his dues and risen through the ranks."
Now he moves over one door into the corner office in the power wing of the 17th floor of the NFL offices at 280 Park Ave. He is an excellent communicator, just as comfortable talking to free-agent players trying to make a roster as he is to billionaire owners who have their own selfish agendas.
The owners clearly wanted to keep the job in-house. The NFL is in the midst of its most profitable period and decided Goodell had the best credentials to keep things going.
But he is not interested in status quo. "That wasn't my theme," Goodell said. "My theme is that it really wasn't time for status quo. We need to keep innovating, keep changing and find new ways of doing things and try to do things better."
Goodell knows how to work a room and build a consensus. He learned well. His father, Charles, was appointed as U.S. Senator from New York in 1968 after Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Sam Skinner, the Secretary of Transportation under President George H.W. Bush, is his father-in-law.
After Rooney told him he was hired, Goodell took the elevator down to the meeting room, was given a standing ovation by the owners, hugged Tagliabue and then walked around the room shaking hands.
"I spent my life following my passion," Goodell said. "From my standpoint, I can't think of a greater job and a greater league to be associated with."
It's a big step up from cutting out newspaper clips.
Get to work
Roger Goodell has plenty of important issues facing him in the early years of his administration.
* The NFL Loves L.A.: The league is determined to get back into Los Angeles after the Rams and Raiders left in 1995. For a team to get on the field by 2010, decisions must be made by the end of this year.
* Labor/Revenue Sharing: The new CBA was announced as a six-year deal but either side can opt out starting in November of 2008. Small-market teams believe the deal was way too expensive. Revenue sharing still needs to be worked out.
* Diversity: The league is predominantly African-American, but there are just six black head coaches. Goodell was strongly endorsed for commissioner weeks ago by John Wooten, the chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which assists the league on diversity issues.
* Retired Players: Harry Carson drew attention to the plight of former players in his Hall of Fame speech and many players agreed with him afterward that the NFL must do a better job taking care of its own. Pension and benefit improvements were made in the most recent CBA.
* Digital Media: The owners never saw a dollar they didn't want, so Goodell is going to have to explore new media and increase revenue streams. He's been a guiding force behind the NFL Network.
By Gary Myers
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