Roger Goodell Super Bowl 51 Press Conference: Top Takeaways, Comments, Reaction

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held his Super Bowl 51 press conference Wednesday afternoon, touching on a number of topics, including his relationship with owner Robert Kraft and the New England Patriots and a possible relocation of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas.  

"We haven't made a determination about Las Vegas as an NFL market," Goodell noted, per Mark Maske of the Washington Post. "That's part of the relocation process."

The question came on the heels of both casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Goldman Sachs' pulling out of the stadium deal with the city of Las Vegas this week, per Des Bieler of the Washington Post. Adelson was prepared to donate $650 million to the stadium project before removing himself from the deal Monday. Goldman Sachs was the contingency plan, according to Bieler, and it was expected to make a similar contribution until Tuesday.

Goodell also noted he couldn't envision a casino company as a team or stadium owner, per Nancy Armour of USA Today, perhaps offering insight into why the deal with Adelson fell apart.

Now, Oakland's move to Las Vegas appears to be on shaky ground, though Goodell didn't dismiss the possibility of the relocation altogether, per Louis Weiner of CBS 8 in San Diego:

As for the Chargers' move from San Diego to Los Angeles, Goodell made the following comments, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports:

Not surprisingly, the conversation turned toward Goodell's relationship with the Patriots and the handling of the Deflategate scandal. He denied avoiding appearing at Patriots games, per Armour, saying if he was invited to Foxborough, Massachusetts, he would attend.

Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald didn't buy that explanation, however:

As for Deflategate, Goodell remained steadfast.

"We had a violation. We went through a process," he noted, per Maske. "We applied the discipline in accordance with our process."

"We're moving on from that," he added, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. "It's part of our history, but we're confident in the process."

Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated took issue with Goodell's verbiage regarding Deflategate, however:

Goodell also touched on a number of topics about the quality of play and the players. He said he "would love to engage" the NFLPA about marijuana use and other issues with the current CBA, per Maske. He also said the league would review its policy on celebrations during the game, per Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports.

The league's strict stance on touchdown celebrations has led many fans and pundits to dub the NFL the "No Fun League."

Additionally, Goodell said the NFL was interested in speeding up replays by using a surface tablet, per La Canfora, and hastening kickoffs. Liz Clarke of the Washington Post added details on how the NFL might speed up the game to improve the viewing experience:

He doubled down on the league's commitment to Thursday Night Football as well, per La Canfora and Maske:

Both of those statements are questionable, however. The perception of TNF is that it offers a lower quality of play, and some players—Richard Sherman perhaps most vocally—have called playing on such a short week a safety issue.

It's hard to imagine the NFL would get rid of a revenue-generating, prime-time game that keeps its product on television screens three out of seven days a week, however.

Goodell addressed several other topics in brief. He announced the Raiders and Patriots will play a game in Mexico City next season, per Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. He also noted there is no timetable for a resolution in the Ezekiel Elliott investigation, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle.

The NFL is debating a developmental league, per La Canfora, and President George H.W. Bush will toss the coin before the Super Bowl despite his recent health concerns, according to Dave Boling of the Tacoma News Tribune.

Finally, Goodell said he wasn't responsible for the removal of questions and answers about President Donald Trump on the transcripts that were released following media day Tuesday, per Doug Kyed of NESN. Despite a number of reporters posing questions about Trump and Goodell to the Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, most of the queries did not appear on the transcripts released by the NFL, according to Benjamin Hoffman and Ken Belson of the New York Times.

"That's one thing I'm not responsible for around here, the transcripts," Goodell said, per Armour.