Roger Goodell talks professional flag football, women’s sports and ‘tush push’ at league meeting

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave his yearly news conference at the annual league meeting Tuesday in Palm Beach, Fla. With an eye on expanding the NFL brand, the commissioner spent a good portion of the conversation focused on investments in flag football and women’s sports, particularly in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympics.

The NFL, women’s sports and flag football

One of the biggest focuses of the league is flag football, with Goodell reporting there was a fair amount of discussion about investing in men’s and women’s flag football leagues. NFL officials view professional leagues as a helpful teaching tool and a means of growing the game. Goodell previously mentioned this potential development during his Super Bowl availability in New Orleans, and explorations with investors remain ongoing.

Any flag football league would not necessarily be tied to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the first time flag football will be featured at the Games. However, Goodell believes there is growing momentum toward a formal launch in the coming years. Goodell did mention players have publicly expressed interest in participating in the upcoming Summer Games, and the league will have a better understanding of whether players will be able to do so sometime in the next 60 days.

Sunday night, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark joined investor and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian (Serena Williams’ husband) and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning in speaking at a forum on the importance of investing in women’s sports. And Front Office Sports reported Tuesday that Williams and Ohanian had submitted a bid to the NFL to invest in flag football. The tennis legend already owns minority stakes in the Miami Dolphins, Angel City FC of the NWSL and the WNBA expansion team in Toronto.

In the league’s eyes, Goodell said, women’s flag football at the professional, high school and youth level is among the NFL’s biggest opportunities to do so.

Goodell on ‘tush push,’ playoff seeding

After the league decided to table an official vote on banning the “tush push,” the NFL commissioner gave his two cents, noting “there are safety issues that are being considered.” The commissioner did acknowledge, however, there is little to no data suggesting players get hurt at a disproportionate rate on “tush push” plays.

“We have very little data from it, but it’s beyond data,” Goodell said. “There’s the mechanism of injury that we study … that leads us to show the risk involved with a particular play.”

Roger Goodell on the tush push:

“… there are safety issues that are being considered … We have very little data from it, but it’s beyond data. There’s the mechanism of injury that we study … that leads us to show the risk involved with a particular play …” | @TheAthleticNFL pic.twitter.com/iXGKlcmivl

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) April 1, 2025

Goodell also touched on another rule proposal that was tabled Tuesday. The Detroit Lions submitted an amendment to the league’s playoff seeding format, allowing wild-card teams to be seeded higher than division winners if the wild-card team has a higher record. Though Goodell said there is a belief that winning the division should be rewarded with a home game, he called the amendment a “very healthy proposal.”

“There’s great data to show that we should really look at some form of this,” Goodell said, adding that one potential version discussed would penalize division winners with a sub-.500 record.

Recommitment to diversity

Goodell reaffirmed the NFL’s commitment to diversity during the news conference and encouraged teams to continue work on developing and promoting assistants of color and female staff members, adding that diversity makes the game better. The league also remains committed to the Rooney Rule, one of the league’s codified rules focused on promoting diversity on coaching staffs and in front offices.

The commitment comes amid a focus on dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives under the Trump administration. Before Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans — a game President Donald Trump attended — the league quietly removed the phrase “End Racism” from the back of both teams’ end zones, replacing it with the phrase “Choose Love.” The phrase had been featured in NFL stadiums since February 2021.

“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League,” Goodell said regarding the phrase’s removal in February. “And we’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, we’ve proven it to ourselves — it does make the NFL better.”

The Justin Tucker investigation

Goodell briefly touched on the league’s investigation into Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker after a January report from The Baltimore Banner detailing allegations from 16 Baltimore-area massage therapists accusing the kicker of inappropriate sexual behavior during sessions from 2012 to 2016. Goodell said he did not have any updates on the investigation and added the review is “ongoing.” The league will not give any updates until the investigation has been finalized.

Though only some NFL teams make massage therapists available to their players, Goodell said the NFL is not considering restricting players from using independent massage therapists. Any potential ban would be to help prevent similar situations in the wake of allegations against Tucker and Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was suspended in 2022 after accusations of sexual assault and sexual harassment from over two dozen massage therapists during his time in Houston.

The 18-game schedule

The league has yet to hold any major discussions about expanding the regular season to 18 games, Goodell said. However, the league and NFL Players Association will continue to explore the possibility of expansion.

In February, the NFLPA made it clear an 18-game schedule would be a nonstarter for the union.

“No one wants to play an 18th game. No one,” NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell said during the union’s Super Bowl week news conference. “Some guys don’t want to play 17 just given the toll it has on their body and the lack of time to recover. … Seventeen games is so lengthy that you’re still dealing with injuries going into the next season. So, there are a variety of issues that hang off of the length of the season before any form of negotiation (would take place).”

(Photo: Michael DeMocker / Getty Images)

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