New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) voiced clear support for National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday, amid heavy criticism of Goodell’s handling of domestic violence cases involving players.
“Roger Goodell, stay or go?” asked WKXW host Eric Scott in an interview on the New Jersey radio station.
“Stay,” Christie answered without pausing.
The governor went on to praise Goodell on a professional and personal level:
He’s an outstanding man, an honest man in my interaction with him. You remember I worked a lot with him in the lead up to the Super Bowl.
I absolutely believe Roger Goodell is a good, honest, decent man, that has great integrity. He’s admitted he made a mistake in the Rice case, in the initial thing. We have to be a society that considers the totality of somebody’s work, and their life. I know Roger to be a great husband and wonderful father to his two daughters.
In my mind, if I were an NFL owner, I’d be voting to keep Roger Goodell.”
Goodell has been under increasing criticism following a string of arrests of players on domestic violence charges. Some lawmakers have called on Goodell to resign following reports that the NFL had video reportedly showing former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice beating his fiancee unconscious in an Atlantic City, N.J. elevator.
Watch the video below:
h/t NJ.com
