PHOENIX — The NFL won’t decide on any discipline for Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch until after the Super Bowl, commissioner Roger Goodell said at his Super Bowl news conference Friday.
Lynch has kept all his media appearances this week to five minutes or less and hasn’t said much. He has also donned hats with logos of his own apparel line, which are not sponsored by the NFL.
While Goodell did not comment about what the possible penalty might be, he made clear that Lynch had an obligation to do the interviews.
"It’s part of your job," Goodell said. "There are things in your job that you might not necessarily want to do. I think Marshawn understands the importance of the Super Bowl and the importance of his appearance in the Super Bowl."
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Goodell says Patriots could be penalized even if flat footballs didn’t give them edge
Commissioner Roger Goodell says that even if no competitive advantage was gained, the New England Patriots could face increased penalties if the NFL investigation finds they violated rules by deflating footballs in the AFC championship game.
Goodell says at his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference Friday: "We have rules. We’re a league of rules."
The league appointed lawyer Ted Wells to look into what happened to the Patriots’ footballs during the 45-7 victory over the Colts that sent New England to the Super Bowl.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft has said he expects the investigation to determine his team did nothing wrong — and he expects an apology from the NFL.
Tripleheaders on tap: All 3 London NFL games to start early next season
PHOENIX — All three NFL games in London next season will start in the afternoon there, allowing the league to broadcast tripleheaders in the United States on those Sundays.
The NFL experimented with the 9:30 a.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. London) start time this season when the Lions played the Falcons at Wembley Stadium. The other games were nighttime kickoffs in London that fit into the NFL’s regular Sunday afternoon schedule.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the earlier kickoff times were "terrific for fans on the other side of the pond."
He did not make any commitment to possibly placing a full-time team overseas but did say the NFL would continue to "respond to that fan interest, and if we do, we don’t know where it’ll go, but there’s great potential for the NFL in London."
Goodell: No specific plans for Los Angeles, and all moves subject to relocation policy
The NFL hasn’t yet zoned in on a specific team for a possible move to Los Angeles, and any move will be subject to the league’s relocation policy, according to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The Rams, Chargers and Raiders are candidates to move to the country’s second-largest city, which has been without a team since the 1994 season.
A company with ties to Rams owner Stan Kroenke has purchased a site 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles, though no development plans have been announced.
At his news conference Friday, Goodell said the league’s main priority is keeping teams where they are.
"We know there are teams interested (in moving) but they’re trying to work their issues out," Goodell said.
Roger Goodell: NFL will hire chief medical officer to oversee league’s health policies
The NFL will create the new position of chief medical officer to oversee all the league’s health policies.
In his annual Super Bowl news conference Friday, commissioner Roger Goodell announced the plan to hire an executive who will work with the league’s medical committees, advisers and the NFL Players Association.
Goodell reiterated a statistic the NFL released a day earlier: That the number of in-game concussions decreased by 25 per cent this season and that the number has fallen from 173 to 111 since 2012.
