Roger Goodell says it’s time to ‘move on’ from Deflategate, and other key points

During his press conference on Wednesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fielded a number of questions, and one of the key focuses was on Deflategate. One thing was clear, however: Goodell would really like to stop answering questions about it.

“We’re moving on from that,” Goodell said. “That’s part of our history.”

Goodell also said things are not “awkward” between him and the Patriots, and that he isn’t avoiding New England.

“If I’m invited back to Foxborough, I’ll come,” Goodell said.

“I have no doubt that if I wanted to go up to a Patriots game and I asked Mr. Kraft, he would welcome me back.”

Goodell declined to say when the last time he spoke with Tom Brady might have been, saying that he doesn’t share that information out of respect for their privacy.

Here are some other highlights from Goodell’s remarks.

Both President and Mrs. Bush have had health setbacks lately, but they will be able to do the coin toss on Sunday, which is good news.

Goodell called the San Diego Chargers’ relocation situation “a painful process” that he was hoping to avoid.

As far as the Raiders’ proposed move to Las Vegas, Goodell stressed that the integrity of the game is imperative, and that the league would not allow a casino to control any interest in an NFL team.

Goodell said that the league is “leaning toward a Sunday game.” The Raiders played the Texans in Mexico City on Thursday Night Football in 2016, and Goodell said both teams struggled with the quick turnaround from the previous game coupled with the travel.

Goodell reiterated some of the points he made recently about Thursday night games, specifically that injury rates are slightly lower, and the league believes the quality of those games are better. He’s basing this on the fact that there have been fewer turnovers and penalties, and Goodell also said injury statistics suggest there are fewer injuries on Thursday nights.

“Thursday Night Football ended up being the No. 2-rated show on all of primetime ... so we see our fans reacting positively to that,” Goodell said.

Other changes the league will consider to improve ratings are things that will improve the pace of the game and make football more enjoyable to watch.

“I expect to see a lot of those changes this offseason,” Goodell said.

The league cracked down on celebrations this season, and seemed particularly opposed to any celebration involving any type of pelvic thrusting. More thrusts from players increased the likelihood of flags and fines, and the league has said it will reconsider its stance on celebrations for next season.

As far as limiting the number of pumps to two, Goodell was noncommittal.

“I hadn’t really thought about that, Tom,” Goodell said. “That’s an interesting one.”

Goodell said the crackdown on celebrations was a one-year experiment to see the impact of the rule change.

There’s no timetable for the completion of the investigation into domestic violence allegations against Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, according to Goodell.

“We do not put timetables or pressure on them to make those decisions,” Goodell said. “We want them to be thorough, we want them to be fair and come to the right conclusion.”

Former New York Giants kicker Josh Brown has said he would like to be reinstated, and Goodell confirmed that there is an active investigation into Brown’s admitted domestic violence, as well.

“We do have an active investigation of Josh Brown,” Goodell confirmed, saying that the league did not initially have all of the pertinent information from law enforcement. Goodell said the league will continue its investigation into Brown’s situation until it has a final decision.

“I think we’ve made very important progress, not only domestic violence but personal conduct policies in general,” Goodell said, citing a 40 percent reduction each year in the number of player arrests.