On Thursday, an emotional Roger Goodell gave his first interview since a gunman killed four people Monday in a targeted attack on the NFL’s Manhattan office.
Goodell spoke remotely by video to NBC’s Mike Tirico from New York. The 66-year-old, who opted not to attend the NFL’s Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, instead attended the funeral of slain NYPD officer Didarul Islam.
Goodell outlined feeling a sense of ‘tremendous loss’ at the funeral, despite noting it was a ‘heartwarming service.’
‘[He’s] somebody that we see outside the building most every day when we come in,’ Goodell said of Islam. ‘And it hits home, the unnecessary and unexplainable loss. It’s something that all of us as New Yorkers feel a great pride in the NYPD and the first responders. It was a difficult, emotional afternoon.’
Goodell also acknowledged it was difficult to grapple with the reality that the NFL was specifically targeted in the attack, and the pain it has brought to the league’s employees.
‘It’s a difficult thing, particularly when you’re dealing with a senseless act like this,’ Goodell said. ‘There are no excuses for the senseless acts. They’re hard for all of us to understand. When it inflicts pain on people you know and people you care about and people you deal with on a daily basis, that’s particularly hard.
‘But as you know, these acts of senseless violence are happening in our country and around our world far too often. In churches, and schools and synagogues and other places that this should just not be happening. We all have to continue to be vigilant and continue to protect ourselves. The NFL is going to continue to do that with our employees and our people.’
Goodell also provided another positive update on the NFL employee injured in the shooting. The 66-year-old said he visited the victim in the hospital, who is ‘stable and improving,’ and got to speak to his family.
But overall, Goodell’s tone was reserved and somber as he addressed the mass shooting.
‘This is an attack on humanity,’ Goodell said. ‘This is an attack on our communities. This is an attack on New York. This is an attack on our way of life.’