Roger Goodell (2006-Present)

Name: Roger Goodell
Commissioner: 2006-Present
Born: February 19, 1959
Occupations: Buisness

Profile: Roger Goodell was born on February 19, 1959 in Jamestown the son of a Republican Representative and later Senator from New York, Charles E. Goodell. The Goodell family moved to Bronxville, New York, in 1971, after Charles E. Goodell lost a re-election campaign. There Roger graduated from high school as a three-sport star for Bronxville High School in football, basketball, and baseball, Goodell captained all three teams as a senior and was named the athlete of the year at Bronxville High.
Roger Goodell would go on to Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1981 with a degree in economics.

Shortly thereafter he began working for the NFL as an administrative intern in the league office in New York under then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle - a position secured through an extensive letter-writing campaign to the league office and each of its then 28 teams. In 1983, he joined the New York Jets as an intern, but returned to the league office in 1984 as an assistant in the public relations department.

In 1987, Goodell was appointed assistant to the president of the American Football Conference (Lamar Hunt), and under the tutelage of Commissioner Paul Tagliabue filled a variety of football and business operations roles, culminating with his appointment as the NFL's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in December 2001.

As the NFL's COO, Goodell took responsibility for the league's football operations and officiating, as well as supervised league business functions. He headed NFL Ventures, which oversees the league's business units, including media properties, marketing and sales, stadium development and strategic planning. Goodell was heavily involved in the negotiation of the league's current collective bargaining agreement. He had worked extensively with Tagliabue since the latter became commissioner in 1989. He has played an extensive role in league expansion, realignment, and stadium development, including the launch of the NFL Network and securing new television agreements as well as the latest collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association.

With such a heavy role already in the league Roger Goodell seemed a natural choice to relieve Tagliabue who retired in 2006. While the league was bigger and better then ever, Goodell still had to deal with several off-field concerns in his first year as commissioner.

As the epidemic of players being arrested, began to reflect badly on the NFL. To send a strong message Goodell would begin stepping up punishment for players involved in legal incidents including Pacman Jones of the Tennessee Titans, who was suspended the entire 2007 season after a series of arrests culminating with a Las Vegas Nightclub shooting that left a man paralyzed. In addition he suspended Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Tank Johnson of the Chicago Bears 8 games after they received convictions, while acting fast to not allow Michael Vick to join the Atlanta Falcons after he was indicted on dog fighting charges.

Another issue plaguing Goodell's early tenure is the health of former NFL players, as the league pension and disability policies have come under fire from former players including Hall of Famer Mike Dikta. Goodell nor the NFL Player's Association has yet to really take on the issue, that is seeming like a coming storm on the horizon for the league that is highly image concessions.
Growing the game globally was also big on Roger Goodell's agenda, as the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants will play a regular season game in London in 2007, with similar games planned for the near future. However, despite this the league still chose to cease operations on the faltering NFL Europe after the 2007 season.

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Page created on August 11, 2007. Last updated on August 11, 2007 at 12:45 am ET.
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