NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is the first executive to conduct a Twitter Q&A since #AskEmmert with the NCAA president a couple of weeks ago and the results were a little tamer this time.
Commissioner Goodell, do you believe you have the authority to act against racism in the NFL like Mr. Silver did in the NBA? #AskCommish
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) May 6, 2014
Reid has been keeping up the pressure since Silver banned Sterling for life and urged owners to force him to sell the team after racist comments became public. Last week, Reid said Silver “set the standard for how professional sports associations should act in the face of racism” and called on Goodell to take notice, bringing the debate back to the issue of the Washington Redskins’ nickname. “How long will the NFL continue to do nothing — zero — as one of its teams bears a name that inflicts so much pain on Native Americans?” asked Reid, who last month predicted the Redskins will change their name within three years.
“We all followed the Washington Wizards the last couple of weeks,” Reid said (via The Post’s Ed O’Keefe). “They are now in the second round of the playoffs. We were all happy about that. They have struggled for a long time. We support, the American people support, the Wizards. People in the D.C. metropolitan area. The Wizards have a good name. Don’t you think Daniel Snyder can come up with a name? It should be easy. He could invite the fans to choose a name. He could ask high school kids to come up with a name.”
The session began innocently enough, with questions that were a little milder than those that greeted Emmert.
Roger Goodell is taking questions. What could go wrong? RT @nfl: 30 minutes… #AskCommish pic.twitter.com/AsbkAvqWY7
— BuzzFeed Sports (@BuzzFeedSports) May 6, 2014
History will remember you as being the last commissioner to openly support the Redskins name. Your thoughts? #AskCommish
— SportsPickle (@sportspickle) May 6, 2014
#AskCommish Can the Raiders sign Aaron Hernandez even though he’s in jail?
— Brock (@BrockOgami) May 6, 2014
Train A leaves NY at 6am EDT going 80 mph. Train B leaves LA at 10AM PDT going 94 mph. What time will train A meet train B? #AskCommish
— W.E.B. DuBaecon (@BaconGawd) May 6, 2014
#AskCommish will you please leave @NdamukongSuh alone this year? #thanks
— Ryan Noah (@NoahWarpath) May 6, 2014