Roger Goodell

Suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against commissioner Roger Goodell , claiming the league's top executive made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football. The suit in US District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell, "relied on, at best, hearsay, circumstantial evidence, and lies" in making comments about Vilma while discussing the NFL's bounty investigation of the Saints.

Suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against commissioner Roger Goodell , claiming the league's top executive made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football. The suit in US District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell, "relied on, at best, hearsay, circumstantial evidence, and lies" in making comments about Vilma while discussing the NFL's bounty investigation of the Saints.

INDIANAPOLIS — Sorry, Los Angeles. The only NFL expansion happening anytime soon is to next season's schedule of Thursday night games. During his annual Super Bowl news conference, Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday that adding to the league's 32 teams ‘‘has not been on our agenda" and that he doesn't ‘‘see that in the foreseeable future. " He also said the NFL wants ‘‘to keep our teams where they are. " Every club will appear on prime-time TV in 2012, thanks in part to new Thursday games that now will be scheduled from Week 2 through Week 15. All but Week...

Suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, claiming the league's top executive made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football. The suit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell, "relied on, at best, hearsay, circumstantial evidence and lies" in making comments about Vilma while discussing the NFL's bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints.

Let's not be naive. The New Orleans Saints almost undoubtedly are not the only NFL team to have had a so-called "bounty system" in operation during the past 50 years. They are, however, the ones who got caught. They are now experiencing the wrath of a commissioner who feels he must make it perfectly clear that, however inherently violent the sport he governs is, the public must not be allowed to think that the enterprise is, well, completely barbaric. Don't mess with Roger Goodell.

Roger Goodell sent a message to every coach and player in the NFL: safety first. The NFL commissioner stuck with his punishments for New Orleans's pay-for-pain bounties Monday, rejecting Saints coach Sean Payton's appeal of an unprecedented season-long suspension. A league investigation found that, under Payton's watch, an assistant ran a program offering cash payouts for hits that knocked targeted opponents out of games or hurt them so badly they needed help getting to the sideline.

NEW YORK — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's contract was extended Wednesday through the 2018 season. The 52-year-old Goodell took over for Paul Tagliabue in 2006. His original five-year contract was extended in 2009, and the new extension runs through March 2019. He was rewarded by the 32 clubs after one of the league's most successful seasons, even though it was preceded by a 4 1/2 month lockout that led to a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement. Goodell made about $10 million, including bonuses, in his previous deal; during the lockout, he had a $1 salary.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Saints got into the bounty mess because their leaders exhibited off-the-charts arrogance and the kind of bulletproof mentality that is usually reserved for actual NFL players - and teenagers. But in the first public steps for the franchise since it was slapped with unprecedented punishment by the NFL, Sean Payton appeared to be a changed coach. He could have been defiant. Instead, he was contrite. "You're disappointed," Payton said Tuesday at the NFL meetings when asked about his season-long suspension.

FOXBOROUGH - Better sight lines and video walls were among the improvements unveiled yesterday at the newly rechristened Putnam Club at Gillette Stadium. Robert Reynolds, Putnam Investments chief executive, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft showed off the club-level updates, which are part of a new multiyear partnership between the team and the Boston-based mutual fund company. Putnam is replacing Boston financial powerhouse Fidelity Investments as one of Gillette Stadium's major sponsors.

Can one of his sycophants in the NFL courtier press please explain to This Blog specifically how Roger Goodell has the right as the commissioner of the National Football League unilaterally to punish Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel for violating NCAA regulations . I mean, why don't they just give him a helmet and some mirrored glasses and let him work for the Alabama Highway Patrol to see if any of this year's Crimson Tide squad is violating local...

FOXBOROUGH - When Justin Francis , one of the Patriots' seven undrafted rookies, signed with the team, he immediately had a built-in support system. The 6-foot-4-inch, 275-pound defensive lineman played with Devin McCourty and Alex Silvestro at Rutgers, and is also good friends with New England's newest coaching assistant, Steve Belichick . "Steve's been a great friend for me for quite some time," Francis said, noting that the two met in math class several years ago and struck up a quick friendship.

Chad Ochocinco wants Roger Goodell to know that he has the NFL commissioner's back. The outspoken New England Patriots wide receiver posted a letter of support for Goodell on Friday as the issue of football safety has increased in the wake of Junior Seau's suicide. Ochocinco begins with, "Dear Dad," in the note on his site, OCNNReport.com, and tells Goodell he wanted to reach out to him because it has been "the worst week ever" with "players dying, players suing and on top of that my peers are just going off on you in the media.

Roger Goodell better have the goods. Somewhere in the 50,000 pages of documents related to the Saints bounty program better be some compelling evidence that it was much more organized and way more vicious than anything the NFL had ever seen. Otherwise, the punishment he's doled out already has exceeded the crime, and the commissioner's credibility on two of the signature issues of his tenure — player safety and the integrity of the games — will suffer a hit he can barely afford.

NEW YORK — The NFL has made no decisions on where or when -- or if -- the 2013 Pro Bowl will be played. ESPN reported Thursday that commissioner Roger Goodell is ‘‘strongly considering" suspending the game for the upcoming season. ‘‘No determination has been made yet about this season's game," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press. ‘‘We have been in discussions with the union about the future of the Pro Bowl. " Goodell expressed his dissatisfaction with the low quality of play in the AFC's 59-41 win in Honolulu in January, a...

Andrew Luck knew exactly where he was heading and the daunting task he faces. So did Robert Griffin III. What the NFL draft lacked in surprise and suspense with its top two picks, it certainly delivered in challenges for the league's newest stars. Luck, the Stanford quarterback and overall No. 1, heads for Indianapolis, where he must replace Peyton Manning, who merely won four MVP awards and a Super Bowl. RGIII answers the call in Washington, where he will try to soothe a devout but highly critical fan base.

FOXBOROUGH – As soon as you think you have Bill Belichick figured out, he does just the opposite of what you expect. That was reinforced Thursday night. The Patriots moved up in the first round not once but twice, first trading with Cincinnati to get to No. 21 and take Syracuse defensive end/outside linebacker Chandler Jones, and then trading with Denver for the 25th pick, where they chose Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower. To get Jones, a 6-foot-5 1/2-inch, 266-pounder, they gave the Bengals the 27th pick (acquired last year from the Saints)

Globe NFL reporter Greg A. Bedard offers his reaction to Monday's news that the Saints' Bountygate penalties were upheld by commissioner Roger Goodell.

Now that all of our professional footballers have recommitted themselves to heatstroke once again, let's ponder for a moment Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, and universally recognized by its kept courtier press as a genius who wields his power with only The Best Interest Of The Game at heart. (To believe that, you must have a undiagnosed head injury of the type that Roger only recently has become concerned about, but we continue anyway...) Our pals over at Deadspin have been admirably dogging the wholly frivolous lawsuit brought against the...

FOXBOROUGH – As soon as you think you have Bill Belichick figured out, he does just the opposite of what you expect. That was reinforced Thursday night. The Patriots moved up in the first round not once but twice, first trading with Cincinnati to get to No. 21 and take Syracuse defensive end/outside linebacker Chandler Jones, and then trading with Denver for the 25th pick, where they chose Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower. To get Jones, a 6-foot-5 ½-inch, 266-pounder, they gave the Bengals the 27th pick (acquired last year from the Saints)

The secret is out. Andrew Luck will be the Indianapolis Colts' new quarterback and Peyton Manning's successor. The Colts notified Luck they plan to take the Stanford quarterback with the No. 1 pick in next week's NFL draft, barring some unforeseen event, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said Thursday. It's hardly a surprise the Colts are turning to Luck as the cornerstone of their massive rebuilding project. Luck was projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft before returning to school for his fourth season.