NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell won’t get paid while coronavirus cutbacks are in place
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will receive a 100% salary reduction as part of cutbacks amid the coronavirus crisis.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has had a busy month.
With most of the sports world shut down because of the coronavirus outbreak, the NFL has proceeded with much of its league year. That includes the annual draft, which was held in virtual form but on schedule last week with Goodell serving as host from the basement of his New York home.
Goodell told The Times’ Sam Farmer about the seemingly endless hours it took to pull off such an unprecented event.
“I’d sleep a couple hours a night,” Goodell said. “You’re thinking about this, thinking about that. You’re writing notes. I’m getting up every 10 minutes and turning the lights on to try to write a couple things. ‘We’ve got to do this. We’ve got to do that.’ It’s just all-consuming.”
The NFL draft’s first round provided some surprises as NFL went contact-free because of the coronavirus.
His compensation for those efforts?
$0.
Goodell volunteered to give up his salary starting April 1 as part of cutbacks amid the coronavirus crisis, the NFL told The Times, and will not accept a paycheck until the league resumes normal operations.
“The NFL is not immune to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and it is our obligation to take responsible steps to protect the business and manage through this crisis as effectively as possible,” Goodell wrote in a leaguewide memo, according to the Associated Press.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke exclusively to Los Angeles Times writer Sam Farmer on Sunday, a day after the league conducted its first virtual draft.
“These decisions were difficult and we know these measures will cause hardship for those impacted. I encourage everyone to continue to identify ways of operating more efficiently and reducing costs. If we do that, I believe that furloughs and compensation reductions can be limited, or in time even reversed.”
The league also is implementing tiered reductions in base salary for some executives. Furloughs and adjustments to pension plans also were announced in the memo.
Goodell signed a five-year extension in 2017 worth as much as $200 million in total value.
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