NFL's silent voices also are heard
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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell answers questions Friday at his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference in Indianapolis.
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INDIANAPOLIS -- At one point Friday late in NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's annual state of the NFL pre-Super Bowl news conference, a young female questioner stood and identified herself as a representative of the Ochocinco News Network.
Really, ONN?
I didn't hear her question, because I was interrupted by the voice in my head going, "Who's the assignment editor over there at ONN, Terrell Owens?"
At that point in a fairly uneventful week (no one mooned a helicopter), it seemed as if everyone who could possibly have been heard from had indeed been heard from, so why continue to silence the voice in my head?
Exactly.
So here's how Goodell's session went, partly from him and partly from the voice in my head, which always speaks in italics, because it thinks it's important.
Two minutes before Goodell goes on stage:
Ask him if he ever hit a deer.
Ask him this -- Roger, without looking, how many stars are on the NFL shield? He's always talking about defending the shield. See if he knows there are eight. Bet he doesn't. It'll go crazy on YouTube.
Before we start, ask him to name three cities in which the NFL will 'never' have a franchise, and ask him to include Scranton just for the hell of it.
Ask if how he would manage if John Boehner were sitting behind him with that baleful stare he gives President Barack Obama?
Goodell didn't get very far before the annual Los Angeles issue came to the floor, and no matter how many ways Southern California journalists ask this question, the reality never changes.
The league has an interest in Los Angeles, but the league is not discussing expansion. So unless a standing franchise with attendance problems or without what's called "a stadium solution," (the St. Louis Rams lease expires after the 2014 season, for example), people are going to be asking this same question for the next 20 years.
That's when a guy from San Francisco got up and prefaced his question with "Happy New Year."
Happy New Year? It's the day after Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day should be the cut off for New Year's wishes. He would have been better off with Happy Groundhog Day. Much better. Why not just wish him Happy Valentine's Day? Too bromance?
Suddenly the questions and the responses began flirting with broader relevance. Seriously.
"Five years ago, the average time a player was out with a concussion was one-half day," Goodell said on an issue that continues to command his league's attention. "This year it was six days."
First Published February 4, 2012 12:00 am
