NFL Commissioner Addresses Officiating and League Topics in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did his best to shut down the popular notion that NFL officials are partial toward the Kansas City Chiefs, calling it a ridiculous theory.

"This sort of reminds me a little bit of the script," he said during his state of the league address Monday. "That I write a script, and I have the script for the entire season ... I think it reflects a lot of the fans' passion, and I think it also is a reminder for us how important officiating is. And I think the men and women that officiate the NFL are outstanding. They have the highest possible standards."

He added, "Our officials are evaluated in several ways. It's not just the performance on the field, but it's things that go on in their own lives, and we have a very tight control over that. We monitor that very closely in a number of ways."

Goodell pointed to the Chiefs' performance in one-score games this season: Eleven of their 17 games were within one score.

"I think that talks about the competitiveness of our game and the importance of how we officiate it, but also the competitiveness of how we play it," he said.

Goodell said the league is always trying to improve on officiating, and he credited replay assist with being beneficial this season, adding that the competition committee will meet this offseason to discuss expanding replay assist to include more plays, such as facemask penalties.

"We want to use technology to supplement and to assist and support the officials in getting it right," he said.

Other topics discussed by Goodell on Monday:

• On the sexual misconduct allegations against Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker published by the Baltimore Banner: "I was surprised, but also, you know, there's a process for that, as you say, both civil and potentially criminal. We obviously have NFL investigations for that too. We don't want to impede on the criminal side of that, but so we will look into those issues. They're obviously serious issues."
• On the potential of an 18-game season: "We haven't had any formal negotiating sessions about an extension. I'm certain it'll come up in the context of that in some fashion. It is something that [NFLPA director] Lloyd [Howell] and I have had informal conversations about. But there's a lot of work to be done."
• Goodell said "18 and 2" or 18 regular season games and two preseason games might be a possibility depending on how discussions with the players go.
• "We know that fans love football, they want more football, but we have to be incredibly sensitive and smart about the balance and how we deal with that," he said.
• On international expansion and the possibility to play a Super Bowl outside the United States: "I do think there's potential that someday we will have an international franchise. If we do, it would not surprise me at all if a Super Bowl follows and is played there."
• He added, "This is a great example being here in New Orleans ... It's a great thing for the New Orleans Saints to be the host of the Super Bowl and have the world's attention. And I think the same thing will be true if we had an international franchise to be able to play a Super Bowl there to support that franchise."
• On whether rules surrounding Tom Brady's role as an analyst for Fox and a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders need to be altered in any way: "I think he's serious that he separates these two and he doesn't put the league or anyone in a position of conflict."