The transcript of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s testimony in the litigation over efforts to force insurance companies to pay for the concussion settlement included some interesting comments about Goodell’s attitude toward the media, specifically as to reporting on head injuries.
“They misstate, they misrepresent things, and when they do that, they add to a narrative that I think is unfair and unfounded,” Goodell said of the media at page 387 of transcript.
He has used stronger terms, even if he initially didn’t recall doing so. Here’s something from page 134-35:
Q. Did you ever use the phrase “we’re going to have a ground war” against any particular media outlet?
A. “We’re going to have a ground war”?
Q. Yes.
A. I don’t recall that.
Q. Does that sound like you?
A. No.
Q. It’s not something you would ever write or say?
A. I don’t know.
Q. About responding to negative stories out there about the NFL and concussion issues?
A. No, I don’t recall ever using that term.
But, of course, he did use that term.
At pages 181-82, Goodell was asked about an email he wrote on February 25, 2012, “understand that on Charlie Rose show that aired last night devoted to discussion of Alzheimer’s that the doctor said that if a person has a gene for dementia, having a concussion in football would give them a fifteen percent more likelihood of having dementia. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of any science to back this up. Furthermore, I understand that there is a recent study indicating our level of dementia is consistent with the broader population study. We should get tape and challenge this. We are going to engage in the ground war to eliminate these irresponsible comments.”
Goodell said he had no reason to doubt that he had typed those words. He said he did not recall the exchange. Asked whether he was surprised by his use of the term “ground war” after saying earlier in the deposition that it doesn’t sound like him, Goodell said this, at page 183: “No, because they were making assumptions or stuff that’s not backed up by fact. That’s what I’ve said multiple times to answer your questions. There’s misinformation out there that we worked very aggressively to try to counter with fact.”
Regardless, the term “ground war” implies something more than contacting a news outlet and saying, “I’m sorry, we believe you’ve made an error.” It suggests strategic tactics and demonstrations of force. It speaks to a level of planning that perhaps includes taking steps to ensure that he’s not faced with questions that would be based on “assumptions or stuff that’s not backed up by fact” at a press conference.
More specifically, at a press conference beginning fairly soon (as of this posting) that might address currently relevant issues like the inherent hypocrisy of the NFL’s embrace of gambling and the players’ clear preference to play on grass and the reportedly shoddy administration of the concussion settlement fund and whether and to what extent the Commissioner has ordered a “ground war” against other media outlets — and what that says about the independence, or not, of the media conglomerate Goodell ultimately runs.
