Roger Goodell Comments on NFL's Personal Conduct Policy in Press Conference

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell emerged from his self-imposed exile on Friday afternoon to face the media, answering questions and discussing the rash of alleged domestic violence issues that have rocked the sports world over the last two weeks. 

Before the press conference began, Mark Maske of The Washington Post reported that one of Goodell's main points was a new plan to work with the union about implementing new changes to the personal conduct policy. 

The league put in place a new domestic violence policy on August 28. Goodell sent a letter to all 32 NFL owners, via CNN.com, saying that he got the punishment for former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice "wrong" by initially suspending him two games. He also outlined stricter punishments for violations connected to domestic violence:

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Violations of the Personal Conduct Policy regarding assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault that involve physical force will be subject to a suspension without pay of six games for a first offense, with consideration given to mitigating factors, as well as a longer suspension when circumstances warrant.

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Once the press conference began, Goodell's first order of business was to make a statement in which he laid out the NFL's approach to addressing the problems that have consumed the league this year, via Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times:

Goodell talked about the NFL's need to be better internally, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN:

The commissioner followed that up by stating that the mistakes made during the last few weeks can't happen again, via Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun:

Indianapolis Colts long snapper Matt Overton raised a great point on Twitter as Goodell was speaking, pondering a question about a statement that has been very prevalent from analysts over the last few weeks:

When there is someone in the fraternity who doesn't even know what "protect the shield" means at this point, you know there is a huge problem. 

Free agent cornerback Terrell Thomas also noted the double-standard that appears to exist between the commissioner and players:

His biggest point throughout the press conference was to say the NFL is going to look at all of its policies and procedures and make changes going forward, via The Denver Post:

Goodell also addressed using former FBI director Robert Mueller to conduct an internal investigation of what the NFL did or didn't know regarding the Ray Rice video tape by saying that Mueller will be completely independent and that he's challeneged the league. 

Pro Football Talk tweeted out that Mueller's law firm represented two teams against the league:

In addition to the league examining its policies and making the necessary changes, Goodell also said all 32 teams will be involved in education and training seminars on domestic violence and sexual assault, via Andrew Abramson of The Palm Beach Post:

Per Bob Glauber of Newsday in New York, Goodell talked about how the overwhelming discussion on all news fronts shows that the NFL can make a positive change from the mess that has happened:

Via SportsCenter's Twitter feed, Goodell reiterated that the NFL will take action against any behavior that is deemed unacceptable:

To help bring these changes about, Goodell said that he was going to make a point to work with the NFL Players Association, via Pro Player Insiders:

In working with the players union, the commissioner talked about meeting with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith in the next week to discuss new policies, via NFL Network's Ian Rapoport:

Goodell also provided a timetable for the entire process to be finished, per Glauber:

In order to achieve these new policies, Goodell mentioned he is putting together a team to examine the new policies, via Abramson:

The overwhelming consensus following Goodell's press conference was that he didn't come off well, nor did he do the NFL any favors with his response to a lot of questions. This caused Tedy Bruschi to go on ESPN's NFL Live and say this, via NFL on ESPN:

As Bonnie Bernstein of Campus Insiders put it, Goodell's press conference was the equivalent of listenting to politicians debate:

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Watching Goodell presser was like watching a presidential debate. Lots of promises. Few details.

— Bonnie Bernstein (@BonnieBernstein) September 19, 2014"

Despite all of Goodell's words, David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune noted that nothing said in the media room made it look like he was as concerned about these problems as the outside world is:

Seifert noted that there weren't enough specifics in Goodell's comments to the media and public to make anyone think differently of him or the league:

Former NFL offensive lineman Kevin Mawae also wasn't satisfied with the way Goodell struggled to have clear, concise answers to the questions being asked:

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Can any person ever have any more ambiguous answers than the @nflcommish did today?

— Kevin Mawae (@KevinMawae) September 19, 2014"

When questions about the Ray Rice video came up, Goodell continued to say that he "believes" nobody in the NFL office saw the video that was released by TMZ and that the owners still support him in his capacity as commissioner, via Albert Breer of the NFL Network and Maske:

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith had a pointed criticism of Goodell during the press conference, noticing similarities between what the commissioner was saying and what players say when they are asked to plead their case:

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What Roger just said is the exact same thing that players say when they make a mistake and plead their case

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) September 19, 2014"

Goodell was also asked about meeting with Rice and his wife in the same room at the time he met with them to discuss the February incident that resulted in her being knocked unconscious, via The New York Daily News:

CNN's Rachel Nichols brought up the topic of the NFL and how it went about acquiring the tape of Rice and his then-fiancee, saying to Jake Tapper after the press conference that there's "no electronic record" of the league asking about the tape, via Staci Kramer:

As far as how TMZ acquired the tape, Goodell didn't look good when a TMZ reporter asked him why the NFL wasn't able to get the tape, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times:

All told, Goodell spoke for 43 minutes, including answering questions from reporters.

Right now, a lot of ideas and concepts are being talked about. According to Goodell's timetable, it could take up to five months before we know the full extent of the NFL's policy changes.