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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/07/19/nfl-commissioner-roger-goodell
Goodell once said the best piece of advice he received when he took over the head office at 345 Park Avenue came from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: Deal with issues directly. Face your detractors. Don’t avoid the people who are saying things that you don’t agree with.
When Goodell said that, in a Q&A with Peter King, it was the summer of 2007. Even before Michael Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges, Goodell had told him not to report to training camp. Earlier that year, during a three-week span, he had meted out harsh punishments to Adam Jones, Chris Henry and Terry “Tank” Johnson for violations of the personal conduct policy. Goodell was dubbed the sheriff who was out to clean up the game.
Johnson, a defensive tackle with the Bears at the time, recalls flying to New York to meet with Goodell in May 2007. Johnson had just served 60 days in jail after a police raid on his home turned up six unregistered firearms, a violation of his probation for an earlier gun charge. Goodell listened to his story, asking for details like where the guns had been stored in the house. Johnson told him he had kept them high out of the reach of his then 2- and 3-year-old children.
“He asked me the direct question of how many games do I believe I should be suspended?” Johnson recalls. “I told him zero. He told me that he agreed with me, but he had to suspend me to uphold the integrity of the NFL.”
Goodell suspended Johnson for eight games, but the two developed a close relationship. Two years later, in the summer of 2009, Johnson came face to face with a guy trying to break into his car. The next day, he went to buy a firearm to protect himself, but one of the stipulations of his reinstatement was that he couldn’t own a gun. He called Goodell from the gun store. “Don’t buy it,” Goodell told him. If Johnson didn’t feel safe, Goodell offered to send a security guard to his house. A guard arrived the next day, and he stayed for a month, until Johnson left for training camp. In 2014, Johnson spoke at the rookie symposium, sharing his story of rehabilitation after his legal troubles. Now, at age 34, he’s working as an intern in the league’s player engagement department.
Goodell once said the best piece of advice he received when he took over the head office at 345 Park Avenue came from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: Deal with issues directly. Face your detractors. Don’t avoid the people who are saying things that you don’t agree with.
When Goodell said that, in a Q&A with Peter King, it was the summer of 2007. Even before Michael Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges, Goodell had told him not to report to training camp. Earlier that year, during a three-week span, he had meted out harsh punishments to Adam Jones, Chris Henry and Terry “Tank” Johnson for violations of the personal conduct policy. Goodell was dubbed the sheriff who was out to clean up the game.
Johnson, a defensive tackle with the Bears at the time, recalls flying to New York to meet with Goodell in May 2007. Johnson had just served 60 days in jail after a police raid on his home turned up six unregistered firearms, a violation of his probation for an earlier gun charge. Goodell listened to his story, asking for details like where the guns had been stored in the house. Johnson told him he had kept them high out of the reach of his then 2- and 3-year-old children.
“He asked me the direct question of how many games do I believe I should be suspended?” Johnson recalls. “I told him zero. He told me that he agreed with me, but he had to suspend me to uphold the integrity of the NFL.”
Goodell suspended Johnson for eight games, but the two developed a close relationship. Two years later, in the summer of 2009, Johnson came face to face with a guy trying to break into his car. The next day, he went to buy a firearm to protect himself, but one of the stipulations of his reinstatement was that he couldn’t own a gun. He called Goodell from the gun store. “Don’t buy it,” Goodell told him. If Johnson didn’t feel safe, Goodell offered to send a security guard to his house. A guard arrived the next day, and he stayed for a month, until Johnson left for training camp. In 2014, Johnson spoke at the rookie symposium, sharing his story of rehabilitation after his legal troubles. Now, at age 34, he’s working as an intern in the league’s player engagement department.
