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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell held his annual news conference at the Super Bowl on Wednesday and addressed a wide range of issues, which included praise of the league’s officiating throughout the 2022-23 season.
Said Goodell: “For us, when you look at officiating, I don’t think it’s ever been better in the league. Our officials do an extraordinary job. … Are there mistakes in the context of that? Yes. They are not perfect, and officiating never will. … We may not agree with every TV announcer or every officiating expert, but we think our officials are doing a great job.” Goodell also praised the replay and challenge models to help correct officiating mistakes on the field in real time.
Other topics covered by Goddess was the NFL expanding flex scheduling to include games on Monday night in 2023, and potentially Thursday night in the future. He also noted that this year would be the first Super Bowl to feature two Black starting quarterbacks, saying in part: “There’s such great talent at that position, Black and white. I was talking to Doug Williams about this just last week, the pride he has in seeing the advancement. I think we have 11 Black starting quarterbacks today, and they’re some of the best leaders I’ve ever seen. They’re extraordinary.”
On the topic of the number of concussions widely increasing and the protocols in place, Goodell said: “Any time we can change the protocols to make it safer for our players, we’re going to do that. … I think a reason why concussions went up this year, we had a broader definition, a more conservative definition. We had an increase of 17 percent in evaluations, and if you have more evaluations, you’re going to have more concussions. I think there’s more work to be done in helmets. We think that’s a big area for us to focus on, in how we improve those helmets.”
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