The back and forth between Rachel Nichols and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has become a heated topic of discussion in the social media. Goodell is being criticised for the harsh manner in which he had answered CNN’s reporter, Nichols.
After a dramatic NFL season, Goodell fielded questions from reporters at the annual Super Bowl news conference. He was asked questions about important issues like Deflategate, personal conduct issues, transfers, and domestic violence. The toughest question of the night was asked by Rachel Nichols.
When Nichol asked Goodell how they plan to eliminate conflict of interest when it comes to hiring outside consultants for looking into alleged wrongdoings, Goodell responded in a rather snarky manner.
Rachel Nichols had highlighted a rather pertinent issue that has been raising a lot of question when it comes to NFL hiring consultants for reviewing and investigating things. She said that there is always a conflict of interest when it comes to investigators hired from the outside.
She referred to the incident where Ted Wells was hired by the NFL to investigate the Patriots. Nichols highlighted that the investigation cannot be very neutral because Ted Wells is being paid by Goodell, who in turn is being paid by the Patriot owner Robert Kraft. She asked what steps the management was taking to remove these conflict related issues.
To this question, Goodell lashed out at Nichols, saying that he didn’t agree with a lot of assumptions that she had made in her question. He went on to say that they have people with uncompromising integrity and have done a commendable job in hiring outside consultants.
Goodell didn’t stop here. He went to add another rather insinuating comment, where he said that someone has to pay these consultants, and since Nichols won’t be offering to do so, NFL will have to take care of that.