Roger Goodell Always Gets the First Slice of Pizza
By Jason Lisk
If you work with Roger Goodell, you do not want to be that guy. You know, the guy that jumps in and grabs the first slices of pizza, takes more than his share, and also grabs the pepper.
The Wall Street Journal has a lengthy piece on Roger Goodell and the Personal Conduct Policy changes. Buried within it is this gem on Goodell and the hierarchy of pizza distribution in the NFL offices.
"Late into the night on Sept. 10, executives in the NFL conference room brainstormed over ways to prove the commissioner wasn’t covering up for Mr. Rice. Pizzas arrived but no slice was taken until Mr. Goodell ate. He never did, and the slices turned cold in the box. NFL General Counsel Jeffrey Pash suggested an independent investigation run by former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller. “Call him now,” Mr. Goodell said, despite the late hour."
Also, good to hear that Goodell thought it was a good idea to call Robert Mueller into the “independent investigation” of him while brainstorming over unopened pizza boxes about how to prove that the Commissioner wasn’t covering anything up.
This story came out as the NFL is unilaterally imposing a new Personal Conduct Policy. The guess is he is not one to compromise and split toppings on a pizza. Here’s what the NFLPA said today:
“Our union has not been offered the professional courtesy of seeing the NFL’s new personal conduct policy before it hit the presses. Their unilateral decision and conduct today is the only thing that has been consistent over the past few months.”
Goodell was also in the crosshairs of ESPN’s Outside The Lines, who seems to time up releases to events that would otherwise be an attempt at positive spin for Goodell.
Goodell told teams in a letter in September that they asked “the proper law enforcement authorities to share with us all relevant information, including any video of the incident.”
In the transcript released by ESPN, though, he hemmed and hawed over what proper channels might be, and also testified at the Rice appeal hearing that “”I wasn’t aware of the fact that they tried to get it from law enforcement. I do not know the specifics.”