Roger Goodell's Legacy? Possibly The Last NFL Commissioner Of His Kind | Armando Salguero
NEW YORK -- Minutes after Roger Goodell signed a three-year contract extension to continue as the NFL's commissioner -- a deal that may or may not be his final one with the league -- I asked him what he wanted his legacy to be.
NFL commissioners, like all of us, leave a legacy whether we like it or not.
Pete Rozelle's legacy is as the author of the modern NFL. He oversaw the 1970 merger with the AFL and helped turned the modern NFL into America's most popular league playing its most popular game.
Paul Tagliabue's legacy is more complicated. He delivered enormous growth on multiple fronts, including $25 billion in new television contracts. But is also the man who denied concussions were an issue in his violent sport. Tagliabue once infamously said concussions were "one of those pack-journalism issues."
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 27: Commissioner of the NFL Paul Tagliabue (L) holding the Vince Lombardi trophy and Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle (R) holding the first ever Pete Rozelle trophy prior to the start of Super Bowl XXV between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills on January 27, 1991 at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
NFL Commissioners All Leave Legacies
So what do you hope your legacy will be, Roger?
"Armando, you hit a point," Goodell answered. " If I was focusing on my legacy I wouldn't be standing in front of you. I wouldn't sign an extension. My job is to be commissioner of the National Football League, do the best I can. That's what I'm going to do.
"You guys can decide legacies later, that's not what I'm focused on. I'm focused on what we've got to accomplish as a league."
I want to thank the commissioner for handing over the legacy deciding assignment to me and others like me. And here's my early guess of what Goodell's legacy might be eventually:
Part of it will be as the last NFL commissioner of his kind.
After Goodell leaves, owners who pick commissioners to serve at their pleasure, may divide the powers of the office Goodell currently holds. They may decide the business of football and the game of football are too much for one person to handle.
So the job Goodell currently does may disappear, leaving him as the last of a breed.
KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 07: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell visits with referees before kickoff between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 7, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Roger Goodell NFL's Last CEO And Commish?
This is not my conjecture. This is stuff owners are already planning. Discussing.
The billionaires that own the 32 NFL teams didn't become billionaires by having stuff happen to them. They happen to stuff. So they're thinking about that moment Goodell is gone, regardless of whether he continues after March of 2027 when this new contract expires or calls it a career.
"I can't say for sure that 2027 is definitely the end," Colts owner Jim Irsay said of Goodell, whom he calls his friend. "Maybe it is. Maybe that's when he's going to want to retire. But internally we have to continue to look if we're going to want to bifurcate the position eventually where you have a CEO and a commissioner.
"Owners have to talk about that already in going forward so we're ahead of the curve in preparation in having those internal discussions. But we're excited to have him and he represents the shield so well."
So, the NFL to Goodell: We love that you're here.
Also the NFL to Goodell: We're preparing for when you're not.
This makes sense for a league in which teams draft players to succeed veterans, even outstanding veterans, years before their time. Ask Aaron Rodgers about that one.
Goodell is likely to get similar treatment within the next couple of years.
And it may indeed include the league looking at two people.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - AUGUST 17: Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay on the field before the preseason game against the Cleveland Browns at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 17, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Jim Irsay: Owners Planning For Future
The reason this is a strong possibility is because the NFL didn't stop growing after Tagliabue left. Goodell grabbed the growth baton and turned it into a vaulting pole. The league today dwarfs what it was in 2006 when he took over.
Since 2016, for example, the league's gross revenues have jumped 68 percent. Last year gross revenue was approximately $18.6 billion. Goodell has said he'd like the figure to be around $27 billion by 2027, about the time he either leaves or signs another contract.
That would be some amazing growth. But owners envision more than that. Much more.
"I believe if we push hard we should be able to gross $50 billion in a year," Irsay said. "We're obviously working towards that. Haven't got there yet but it's going to come through continually using our brand overseas in Europe and using our brand in more movies like Blindside or what have you. And gaming, as the laws change locally state to state, that opportunity is a big one."
All those opportunities might be too much for one person to juggle along with, you know, the games we watch every week.
And that chase for great games and great revenue is what may ultimately write Goodell's legacy as the last NFL commissioner of his kind.