Here's a transcript of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's press conference that concluded the NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Fla.
On the passing of the overtime rule:
I thought it was a great discussion. As you know, over the last several years we've talked about overtime. But I think the discussion over the last few days, in our separate meetings with the coaches and we all came together yesterday with Competition Committee, the owners were very engaged in the dialogue and the owners felt very strongly about making a change here. There was good debate about the pluses and the minuses. The ownership felt that this was good for the game and good for the fans. They hear the same thing that I hear which is that in the overtime system, is it truly fair when one team doesn't get the opportunity to possess the ball? And I think we've come up with a balanced system that is thoughtful, respects the game, and respects the people who play it. And I think it will be received very well by the fans.
On coaches' comments that voting took place earlier than they thought:
We went through a full discussion yesterday with the coaches in the room and a full debate and the owners heard it. And of course it's probably no secret that there are certain owners who may have a different view than their coaches. But there are 32 clubs and 32 votes and this may not come as a news flash, but the owners have the vote.
Why not just wait until today to vote?
A lot of owners felt they had heard the debate and they felt that this was important to them and they felt it was important to the game and to the fans, and we had come to a resolution. There were clearly enough votes for it yesterday. And that we should go ahead and do it. There were a few owners that were not able to be here today. I think when we come to a resolution, we take a vote and move on. Particularly when we have all the info we had.
On possibility of adopting new overtime in the regular season:
I think it will be. I think what we'd like to do is continue to analyze it and go back and talk to our players about it also and we'll discuss it again. There is the potential it will come up. There was a strong consensus for expanding it into the regular season.
On potential of games overlapping if you expand overtime rule into regular season:
That is one factor you would have to think about. It's something we want to discuss. Again there was an interest in this. There was some discussion about the consistency between the postseason and the regular season. It's a fair comment.
On issues with introducing it in the playoffs with coaches having no prior experience with it:
We think that's part of the attractiveness of it. It involves a different strategy which is fun for our fans. It's something our fans will really engage in. It does involve more for the coaches because they have to think differently about it. And, of course, like the rest of us they are going to be subject to criticism. That's part of our job to keep innovating and making the game more exciting for our fans. We think this is a good way to do it and we think it's better for the game and the integrity of the game.
If there was strong consensus for expanding it into the regular season, why didn't you just vote?
Because there are a lot of other issues we would like to talk about. We would like to talk to the players. We would like to talk to our network partners. We would like to understand it. We had a proposal on the table that was for the postseason. We passed that with the understanding that we would all continue to look at this and see if we wanted to expand it into the regular season.
Do you have an obligation to the players to include them in rule changes?
Rule changes do not have to be collectively bargained. Our obligation is to meet with the players, share our different rule changes, and get their input. We did that. We took that into consideration. At the end of the day, just like coaches, the ownership has to make that final decision.
On the issue of at the end of the season teams resting their starters:
It is still an issue and I spoke to the Competition Committee about it on Sunday. They addressed it in their report. One of the key things we are doing in the short term is in our scheduling. We are trying to schedule it so that potentially Week 17 will be all division opponents and maybe even a large part of Week 16 games. We think that will address this to some extent. It will not necessarily eliminate the issue but the Competition Committee knows, and I've stressed to them, that we need to continue to look at this because it's important for the quality of what we do and for the integrity of our game.
On growth of blackouts:
We had a lot of focus on this during this offseason in large part because of the economy and what our fans are going through. I think everybody in that room understands what our fans are going through in the general economy. The good news is there are some signs that there is improvement. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who are still suffering and still having challenges. We have to be responsive to that as the league and as clubs. Our clubs did an extraordinary job with that last year. There was significant turnover in our season ticket holders and they had to work harder and spend more resources to get more fans back into the stadium. We are always focused on that and our clubs are focused on it. We spent a lot of time over the last three days about what we can do from a ticket sales standpoint. Also what we can do to improve the entertainment value. That's really what it is. It's about value. How do we create greater value? How do we create a more quality product that our fans want to be a part of. The good news in all these challenges we are facing is we have a high quality product and people still want to come.
If the coaches were in the room yesterday, do you think the overtime rule would have passed?
It would have passed. The owners are the ones that have the vote. And I believe we would have gotten the vote without any problem.
On 2014 Super Bowl announcement:
We didn't discuss the specific bids at this meeting. We just discussed the process. The decision will be in May at the meeting.
On sale of the Rams:
We updated them [all 32 owners] quickly.
On the issue of Bryant McKinnie's absence at the Pro Bowl:
I don't know the specifics on it. Our staff was handling it so I can't talk to the specifics of whether we fined him or didn't fine him. Believe it or not there are certain things I don't get involved with. When we have an NFL event, we want everyone to participate in it as they are obligated to do. It's part of their contracts. It's part of their obligations.
On concern that first time you try the modified OT rule is in Super Bowl:
No I don't have any concern about it.
Any more talk about finding common ground and a win-win CBA?
We're pretty good at finding common ground with ourselves. We have to find common ground with the NFLPA. The real issue for us is to get back and focus on those things we can do to grow the game and grow the opportunities for everyone participating. We want a fair agreement that everyone is going to do well in, including the players.
On any concerns about the new three-day format of the Draft:
We look at it as a great opportunity. The idea of being able to take it from a Saturday afternoon start to starting it in primetime on April 22, Thursday night, we think is just going to expose it to a much broader audience and we've got a lot of marketing and entertaining ideas that I think we are going to implement over those three days. We think it's going to be a terrific thing for our fans. Our clubs seem to be very excited about it. Our clubs are going to take advantage in their markets by having their own Draft events. We're very excited about it. We think it's going to be great for everybody.
On Ben Roethlisberger and focusing on it:
I didn't put that on the side. We take that issue very seriously. We're following it. I'm focused on it.
Do you have a specific meeting date?
No.
Do your views change because they are not collecting a DNA sample from Ben?
No.
On players getting equity in franchises:
They've raised that issue before. We've discussed it for several decades. I'm sure it's not unique to the NFL either. We are willing to negotiate and discuss and reach a fair agreement. So I am not going to parse out specifics of any negotiations.