NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Commissioner Roger Goodell (Part I)

Episode Date: December 8, 2021

In the premiere episode of Earnin’ It: The NFL’s Forward Progress, host Sam Rapoport sits down with Commissioner Roger Goodell. They discuss the pipeline that’s bringing more women into NFL coaching and scouting positions, the evolution of The Women’s Forum, and the extreme measures they both took to land their first job with the league. Sam even manages to make the Commissioner cry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. We're on to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs with Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Counting down to Super Bowl 56, new customers can get 56 to 1. odds on any team. That's just $5 and get $280 in free bets if your team wins. Download the Drafking Sportsbook app now. Use promo code DK1 and get 56 to 1 odds on any NFL team. That's just $5 and win $280 in free bets if your team wins. That's promo code DK1 for 56 to 1 odds at

Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. 21 plus minimum age and location requirements vary by jurisdiction. See DraftKings.com slash sportsbook for the full list of requirements and state-specific responsible gaming resources. Boyd were prohibited. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. In Tennessee, call or text the TN. Redline, 1-800-889-97-8-8-8-8-8-8-9-7-7-7.

or visit ccpg.org slash chat. In New York, call 8778, HopeNY, or text Hope NY, 467-369. Upwork is the world's work marketplace. Empower your business and hire the world's most in-demand developers, designers, project managers, and more at www.upwork.com. Hi, Commissioner. How are you? Hi, Sam. You ready?

I'm ready. Are you ready? I was fortunate growing up in Canada where I played flag football and touch football growing up. It was offered at my high school. Goal from the two-yard line with about 26 seconds left to play. It was a very competitive sport. The guys would come watch us, then we would go watch them. Do you salmon a keeper or maybe a sweet. And when women's tackle football started in 2000, I raised my hand and said, I want to do this.

I've been playing non-contact for so long for my whole life. I want to see what it's like to put on the pads and learn how to take a hit. And she's in for the touchdown. And so, do you remember your first hit? Oh, God, I remember my first hit. I remember my coach teaching me that I need to learn how to take a hit. And I think as I progressed in my career, I learned really how to take a hit. I'm 5'5 and it was 130 at the time.

So for me to take a hit from, you know, a 300-pound woman was something I needed to learn at a young age in my career. But I loved it. Hi, I'm Sam Rappaport, and this is Ernin' It, the NFL's Forward Progress. It's a podcast about football and so much more. I had this idea to create a pipeline to give women with smart, talented football minds a shot at football jobs in the NFL. In just five years, we've created almost 200 opportunities for women. We'll be talking to some of them on this show, along with many other great football minds, NFL head coaches, general managers, owners, incredible female trailblazers who happen to be passionate NFL fans, like Billy Jean King.

Every generation has their trailblazers. Every generation has their first. And it's really, really hard. I'm living my lifelong dream, and I can't wait to take you along for this ride. As senior director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the NFL, I've made it my mission to bring more women into the fold so we can continue to move the needle for future generations. So let's start at the beginning, which in this case happens to be. on a high school football field in the suburbs of New York City. That's where I met my producer, Jane. She's a veteran journalist and a fan.

I thought I knew a lot about football. I grew up as a huge fan. All brothers. Season tickets to the Chicago Bears since 1972. I've been to a lot of football games in my life. I also happen to be married to Roger. She means Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner. My boss.

Actually, my boss is boss's boss's boss. They've been married for 24 years and have twin daughters who seem to have inherited this passion for football. The way they understand the game is not just as a fan. They really understand the game from a football perspective. And it amazes me. The three of us sat down in the commissioner's office, right next to the Lombardi Trophy, to talk about the important role women are now playing in this sport and how we can create more opportunities for them. I grew up, my parents put me in ballet and tap dance and if you know me right now, that's really funny. Because, you know, really when I became a teenager, I kind of flipped and really football was my love. And so my parents really fostered it.

It was never, I never got asked, you know, like, oh, you're a girl, how are you going to play or how is this going to be a challenge? And I remember the first time I played tackle, though, my mom said, Avi, I just need you to go with her the first time. Like, I need to know that she's not going to, you know, that nothing bad will happen to her. And he came to my first tryout with the Montreal Blitz in 2001. And I remember he came back saying, it's fantastic, right? Like, she got rocked a few times, but it's fantastic. Right. A lot of listeners may not know this, but they're very vibrant female professional tackle football leagues in North America.

I played quarterback for two years for the Montreal Blitz in the IWFL. And he got to see you play. He did, yeah. My dad passed away about seven years ago, but he traveled to all of my away games in the United States. So he would leave work at 5 p.m. He would drive 13 hours straight, watch my game for three hours, drive 13 hours back. and he never missed an away game. That's incredible. And so he would film my games as well, and he did the play-by-play. So if you watch all my game tape, it's Rappaport with a bootleg to the left.

And, you know, he was doing his best John Madden and Al Michaels. Those play-by-play calls earlier in the episode. Kim rolls right. And it's completed for the two-point conversion. Yeah, that was him. And he was so into the sport and so into my involvement. And he was an orthodontist and his patients would get really annoyed with him that he would talk about my playing career so much. Hey, Sam, I'd never been able to ask you this question, but your comments here, was it the contact that you loved about the game?

Was it the strategy? What was it about the game of football that you loved playing? I think there were two things. The first for me was, you know, I work in diversity, equity, inclusion now. When you look at a football team, it takes so many different types of people. athletic abilities to win. If you look at other sports like basketball, they're all tall and skinny, right? If you look at every other sport, there's a traditional makeup of a person. And when I started playing football, there were girls of all shapes and sizes. Every athletic

ability, you don't have to be fast or you could be fast. You don't have to be tall or you could be tall. And I loved how it brought people together from such different athletic backgrounds and backgrounds together on one field. That was something I loved about it. The other thing, which is why I'm so passionate about getting girls to play is because I was pretty average at most sports and I felt really good at football. And so as a young girl growing up who was developing her confidence, having something that defined me and that made me feel like I was good at something, that's what made me fall in love. And I think every kid really should find that thing that makes them tick and that they love. It strikes me. So we know you're as a competitive person. We love

to compete. And I know that came out in you in sports. You could see it. When you walked on the football field, even competing against yours, truly, you got really competitive. And I am too. I see that in you, but I also see that you use that in what you do every day for the NFL. The way you compete, you're competing, you're making us better, you're trying to win, you're trying to accomplish something. And you do it really with what I call a lot of values about football, which are teamwork and perseverance and going through adversity. All these things you've had to deal with to build the pipeline that you're going. you've built, that's all about football, right? You probably learned a lot of those lessons on the

football field. And that's what I'm really interested. Do you use what you learned on the football field in business? Because I know I do. No question. As a quarterback, sometimes you need to have a game face on when you know things aren't going well, but the other 10 people on the field, you have to show them that you got it. And I talk about this sometimes is when I'm very nervous and I'm leading something, I will appear as if I got it because that is what I had to do in the sport football and people buy into that and they believe that. And I'll rag on you later, so don't mind this compliment that I'm going to give you. But one of my favorite things about your leadership here is that you set the... Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now, I'm Drew Franklin. And this is

NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining in 20. Twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scouting Reports and player development to team-building philosophy's coaching, coaching, trends and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on. on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant.

And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football. podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

Bar so high. And so for me, that's almost like a coach mentality. You're telling me, what you expect of me and everyone else who works here. I want to get there. I want to be at that level. But that's part of what you do to get better, right? The objective is not for you to play alone. You're playing with teammates, and your objective is to win, and it's a team sport.

So the lessons I learned on the football field are completely relatable to everything I do as a commissioner. It's all those values of teamwork and adversity and perseverance and diversity in the sense of, everybody has a role. Everybody has a way to contribute to a bigger purpose of winning. And competing is something I love. I love people who compete. Can I tell you one more thing I love about this sport? There's no other sport where every single person on the field is responsible for the success of a play. It's never just the wide receiver

who caught the touchdown. It's never just the quarterback. It has to be all 11 people working in unison to make it happen. In basketball, you can steal a ball and fast breakdown and lay up, and that was all you, right? There's nothing that's all you. And I know that's important to you as a leader as well, is you never make anything about you. I'm going to try to make this about you, but you never want to make anything about you. So that high school football field I mentioned at the top, it's where Roger Goodell played football and where my lifelong dream became a reality. Not in an instant, mind you. This is no overnight success story, but it is a great story.

This podcast is sponsored by Kendral. Kendral designs, builds, manages, and modernizes the mission-critical technology systems that the world depends on every day. Working side-by-side with their customers, they imagine things differently. By forging new strategic partnerships, they unlock new possibilities, creating a world powered by healthy digital systems alive with opportunity. oxygen to innovation and energy to change the world. Kendrell, the heart of progress. We're on to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs with Draft King's Sportsbook,

an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Counting down to Super Bowl 56, new customers can get 56 to 1 odds on any team. That's just $5 and get $280 in free bets if your team wins. Download the Drafking Sportsbook app now. use promo code DK1 and get 56 to 1 odds on any NFL team. Bet just $5 and win $280 in free bets if your team wins. That's promo code DK1 for 56 to 1 odds at Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL.

21 plus minimum age and location requirements vary by jurisdiction. See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for the full list of requirements and state-specific responsible gaming resources. Boyd were prohibited. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. In Tennessee, call or text the TN. Red Line. 1-800-9-9-7-889.

In Connecticut, call 888-789-77-7-7. Or visit ccpg.org slash chat. In New York, call 8778, Hope, NY, or text, Hope, NY, 467-7-3-6. Like me, the commissioner has been football obsessed for as long as he can remember. He used to sleep with a leather football instead of a teddy bear. He says the person who drove him to get better was his mom, Jeannie Goodell. They were very close. And the commissioner lived with her until the day she died of breast cancer.

I asked him to talk about their relationship. Oh, geez. Boy, you're not hitting me hard. You know, everybody talks about my family, which is a huge. influence on me. My dad was a public figure. So people talk about your dad was the United States Center and a congressman and what did you learn from him. But, you know, I always say the person I learned the most from is my mom. And I think my brothers would all say the same. She, Roger needed a beat. I didn't intend to do it, but I made the commissioner of the NFL cry.

My mom was a real fighter and a competitive person, someone who expected people to not let others down. She never did. And she would always make everyone better around her. And so probably a lot of things you talked about before, that's where I got it from her. You know, she had that strength and that courage. And nothing scared of her. She actually talked about running for Congress at one point in herself, which was unheard of at that time. And unfortunately, she got sick and that never came to fruition, but she could have been a great Congress person.

But she taught us so much about life and frankly, sports. She was always there. And so was my dad, by the way. My dad was similar in yours. Wherever he was, and he lived in Washington a large part of his career, and we were in New York, he never missed a game. And I'll never forget it. And I always think we have to be there. Jane and I talk about be there for our kids at the time that are important. And they know we're there when it's important. And they're always supported. And I had that from my family.

But my mom in particular, if you ever want to go out in the backyard and throw a football, she was the first one to sign up. And by the way, she was the hardest coach I've ever had. Because I could hear her voice when I was playing sports. I could hear a voice on the football. field from 50 yards away. And by the way, she wasn't necessarily in a positive way. She would get after me. And, you know, she would always go to the coaches afterwards and say, what's he not doing right? You know, get after him. Make sure he's doing it. And so we got, we got a lot from my mother's relationship. You played three positions on the football field, right? Quarterback, tight end, and a little linebacker? Defensive back. Defensive back. Yeah. I probably played anything they told me to.

I mean, I was a running back going into my senior year, and they told me I had to switch the tight end because we had a great running back who switched over from another school. And he was better running back. And I said, that's where I should go. Great story about your mom from someone who watched you play high school football that I met was saying that your older brother, Timmy played O-Line. And your mom would be in the stands watching and people would go up to her after and say, hey, Jeannie, you know, Tim had a great game. And she'd say, what do you mean? He missed five blocks. And that would be her response to them, right?

And but I, you know, I think that's so reflective somewhat of your leadership here where it's certainly not that you focus on the negative, but it's your expectation of us. And what you expect from your folks is as close to amazing as we can get, right? And you feel that all over three, four, five, park. Well, I like to say, as you've heard me say, I believe him better. And, you know, the NFL can always get better. And I think that's what my mom was saying is that, yeah, maybe he played well. Maybe he did a lot of great things on the field, but he missed five blocks. it's what I say, you have to be your own harshest critic, and the people around you have to be there.

That's not being negative, in my view, that's trying to be constructive and trying to be helpful of saying you have more potential to reach. And that's what I think my mom wanted for us, is to reach your potential. She didn't think I had a lot of potential, by the way, for a long time, but hopefully I surprised her a little bit. The commissioner and I both knew at a very young age, we wanted to work in football. My mom recently found something I wrote in ninth grade. The assignment was to write about my passion. I wrote, quote, if I'm not praying for my favorite team to crush their biggest rivals, then I'm dreaming of playing football, making the winning catch, running 30 yards with the ball in my arms, and

winning the game. So Sam, you have this incredible passion for the game. Your parents are supportive and you're going in your early 20s to apply for an NFL internship. So listen up, kids. If you're applying for a job, this is a good tip on how to get a job. Tell me what your application. was like. So I was a young woman in Canada, no connections to the NFL whatsoever, just knew that I would still be trying to this day to get into this building. So I decided that I had to do something gimmicky to stand out, something that would, you know, separate me from the thousands of resumes that apply for that. So I sent a picture of myself in my tackle football gear with my resume. And with that, I sent a football. And on the football, I wrote in a Sharpie, what other

quarterback could accurately deliver a ball 386 miles, which was the distance between my college in Montreal and New York City. And, you know, I sent it. And I was like, you know, I don't give this a high chance of working. But, you know, it worked. It made me stand out. And I started my first NFL internship in 2003. And Roger, that's when you met Sam. Yeah. But I'm relating to her story because I'm also an intern. And to your point, you know, you have to find ways to stand out. But Roger didn't mail a football to get his first job. He mailed letters, a lot of letters. Yeah, I wrote over 50.

I think it's 53. I have them actually over in that desk over there, and I got rejected by every single one of them. And some of them are my bosses today, by the way. And I've showed that letter to many of them. Your boss is being the owners? Owners, executives. You know, I was turned down at the commissioner's office many times.

but eventually someone made the mistake of returning a phone call to me and said, yeah, sure. You know, if you're ever in New York, let me know. And I said, I'm in New York. I said, okay, well, can you come by at eight? And I said, sure. Problem, I was in Pittsburgh. And it was about 6 o'clock at night, so I had to drive all night to get there and showed up at the door.

And I think he was a little surprised, and I just kept after him. And I said, there's always a fine line between being persistent. being a pain in the ass. And I'm sure I was both, but I think you have to demonstrate that when you want something so badly. When you're passionate about something, and Sam, you are like passionate, I put number one, two, and three on your list. When you're passionate about something, you make it happen. And that, that to me, is the difference between winners and losers. Sam, so fast forward, after you do your internship, several years later, you're working for in youth football for USA football. I'm not sure we were trying to remember. I don't think you

and I had ever met, but we belong, Roger and I belong to a church. And there was this really nice youth minister who came in, nice young guy who said, hi, I'm brand new and I'm trying to get middle school kids to come to church, but they all want to play sports. So if anybody here has an idea about how to get kids to come to church, please let me know. And so I felt for him. And so I walked off to him afterwards and said, hi, my husband works in football. And maybe you could do a flag football tournament and maybe he could come. And he said, great, what does he do? And I said, well, he's a commissioner of the NFL. And he said, oh, okay, I'm a soccer guy, but that sounds fun. And so I went home and I said, hey, Roger, I think I volunteered you to run a flag football clinic

because the youth minister isn't really a football guy. So could you do that for the church? And it might be nice. And he said, okay, sure. Two things. One, I have no idea how to run a flag football tournament. And two, I'll only do it if girls can come to. Our daughters will be there. They're middle schoolers. So I want to make sure it's for boys and girls. So he's a few weeks later said, okay, yes, we've got some flags. We've got some jerseys.

How many kids are coming? I said, I think about 45. And he said, okay, I'm bringing in a ringer because I don't know how to run this. I'm bringing in Sam, who is a former quarterback who can do it. And I said, great, Sam, Sam will be there to do it. I don't have to worry about anything but bringing snacks and making sure the flags work, right? The Velcro's good. And so we get down to the field and Roger goes like tearing across his high school football field, which I say is like, where all the greatness happened.

That's what he tells me. That's the way to put it, honey. We were down there on this field and he goes tearing across a football field to embrace this person, Sam and I said, my mind has been blown. Sam is a girl with a long blonde ponytail. And my daughter's eyes were as big as saucers. By the way, of the 45. I think we had like 39. Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero.

We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development

to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow.

We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture.

If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy

vet we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents listen to the nfl fantasy football podcast on the i heart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts toyota the official automotive partner of the nfl visit toyota dot com slash nflm now to learn more boys and six girls and you came over you took they split them up into giants and jets with a little flag jerseys you took jets he took giants he was quarterbacking the other team And Roger, you can find Ben. Is this accurate or not? Yes.

She kicked your ass all over that high school. No, now you're off the base. No, but that's, we were competing. We were permanent quarterbacks, right? That's right. Sam's an incredible athlete. We can agree on that. Sam can really bling it.

Let's just put it that way. So I like to tease her, then I'm better, but I know I'm not. But it's okay. I would just like to tease her. But you could imagine, though, those six girls, to your point, not just our twin girls, when they saw Sam running this event and throwing the football like that, talk about opening your eyes to the world. And I want to say the boy's eyes were as big saucers, too.

Like, it's just as important of a message as I think for young men to see as well, right? I was going to go to that point. You're ahead of me, but I agree with that. Because I do think they saw something saying, wow, she can throw a football like that. I do agree. It opened her eyes. I heard one of them say, she's kicking that old man's in. asked. No, I'm kidding. It's our biggest debate. 19 years and running. Who won the flag football game?

There's no evidence of it either, though. That's a problem. I'm a journalist. I know the facts. I retain facts well. I think the commissioner's recollections stands. No instant replay. In any case, the reason I'm telling this story is because as the game ended and Sam's team won, I walked up to her and said, I think we should be friends. That was amazing. And Roger came up and said, Sam, what's going on? How's youth football? How's your job. We miss you at the league. What are you thinking? And Sam Rampaport said was brave enough to say to the commissioner, well, you know what? I'm glad you asked, I have a dream. I have a dream because I know all these smart, talented women who have great football minds and there is no way for them to get into the National Football League. There's no entrance. I would love to build a pipeline. Is that accurate? It's accurate. And I told them I'd call him on Monday.

and the rest is history. But, yeah, you know, shot my shot and went up to Commissioner Goodell at the time and said, you know, I see a way that we can be better. And you always challenge us to be better. So let me present this idea to you. And what he doesn't know is it was already fully baked. I had the entire strategic plan ready to go because I know this guy, right? He doesn't want to hear, hey, I have this crazy idea.

And I really had a full strategic plan baked because I saw something that I felt could make us better. And that was the gates needed to be open for these thousands. of women that are either playing football or enjoying football in this country to get in the game because previously they were disenfranchised, not anyone's fault. They weren't applying. No one was thinking that women belong in these positions, but everything changed when we were able to open the gates and create a pipeline for women to be involved in the sport that they love just as much as guys do. So I've said it out loud, this seemingly crazy, but not so crazy idea of hiring women as coaches and scouts and other football positions in the NFL, the most

male sport on the planet. I'm not afraid of challenges, and we're not going to shy away from talking about them here. We're on to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs with Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Counting down to Super Bowl 56, new customers can get 56.5,000 to one odds on any team. That's just $5 and get $280 in free bets if your team wins. Download the Drafking Sportsbook app now. Use promo code DK1 and get 56 to one odds on any NFL team. That's just five bucks and win 280 in free bets if your team wins. That's promo code DK1 for 56 to one odds at Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL.

21 plus minimum age and location requirements vary by jurisdiction. See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for the full list of requirements and state-specific responsible gaming resources. Boyd were prohibited. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. In Tennessee, call or text the TN. Redline, 1-800-989-978-8-9. In Connecticut, call 8887-9-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat. In New York, call 8778 Hope NY or text Hope NY 467-369.

This podcast is sponsored by Kendrell. Kendral designs, builds, manages, and modernizes the mission-critical technology systems that the world depends on every day. Working side-by-side with their customers, they imagine things differently. By forging new strategic partnerships, they unlock new possibilities. creating a world powered by healthy digital systems alive with opportunity, oxygen to innovation, and energy to change the world. Kendrell, the heart of progress. It's never been easy to land a job as a coach in the NFL.

But if a young man wanted to coach, and he had the talent to do so, he had a path. Many of them played in college and moved on to work with their friends. Whenever an opening came up, someone would say, I know a guy. Let's interview him. If a young woman wanted to coach in the NFL, it was much more difficult, nearly impossible. She might have played women's tackle football after work and coached high school kids to keep her passion alive. But she didn't have the same contacts and didn't have anything close to a direct path. So we created a pipeline to get her in front of the right people.

So Rogers says, call me Monday. You say, I'm calling you Monday. My first question was going to be, did you have a plan or were you like, holy cow. This might, my dream actually might happen. For some people, it's an overnight thing. You audition for a Broadway musical and suddenly you're a big star. This process, obviously, was not going to be an overnight success and was going to take time and a lot of thinking and there are going to be a lot of challenges. When you guys first met on it, how did it go?

And, Roger, that's a big leap for you, right, to make a significant change to the game. Well, it really wasn't that big a leap because I believe that in Sam's passion and her courage and, and her plan, frankly, and that there was a lot of talent out there that had the same passion for the game that we had just, frankly, overlooked. I don't think people saw women in that position, and we had to change that perception. I always talk about it. When people come into the NFL, how do you create value? And there's a lot of value that people of different genders, different colors, there's different. You know, diversity is what makes us stronger. And that's really a core belief of the NFL and mine personally. And I think we were just on tapping talent that was going to

make the NFL better. It's analogous to why coaches like to go to internationally define players, right? It's like all the best football talent is not in the United States, right? It's everywhere. And if you consider everywhere, you're going to have the best players. Coaches like Ron Rivera, Sean McDermott, Bruce Ariens, they look at this and they say, we have not considered half the population when we're hiring talent. And if we consider everyone, the cream will rise to the top. It's about winning. It's about getting the best people in the job. And if you're forgetting half of the population, any half of any population, there's no question that you're not getting the best talent. I think where the NFL had is really looked at the fact that there are people

that we just overlooked that they weren't part of the game. They weren't either playing it or people looked at as a male dominant sport. And when people really said, listen, there's really passionate, talented people that can make our game better and help us win. All we had to do is give them a chance to actually go through the meritocracy and earn it. And I think that's what Sam's created. If we build it, they will come. We created what we call the Women's Forum. Each year, my colleague Vanessa Hutchinson and I invite 40 women with college football experience to spend time listening to and talking to NFL head coaches, general managers, and owners. So, Sam, how do you get buy-in? Was there a moment where a head coach raised his hand and said,

I'll show up? So the first year, we got Kim Pagula, owner of the Buffalo Bills, and Ron Rivera head coach of the Carolina Panthers at the time, now the Washington football team. And both of them took a shot on this. And I give them a lot of credit for that because they didn't know who I was. I cold emailed them and asked them if they would participate, and they both said yes. They both flew down to Florida. We hosted it at Pro Bowl at the time. And they said, I want to be a part of this. And they really helped lend credibility to this effort because since then, both of them have said,

we're involved every year for this. Count on us every year. And like Roger said, these are two incredibly busy people who are very busy at that time of year, too, but say we will always lend, you know, our time to this effort. and they've been involved in the program for five years. Vanessa, who's a senior manager in the football operations department, has been my secret weapon. You had said at one point, I believe, on a phone call when we were going back and forth planning, like, wouldn't it be great if we could get, you know, Bill Belichick to be in a breakout session?

And I said, I think we can maybe do it. And we were very strategic about it, though. The way we went about it, we got Coach Rable on board first. We had emailed Coach Rable, and of course, like five minutes later, he responds and says, I'm totally in. And we said, what we want to do is pitch to coach about it. Belichick, you and him doing a breakout session with no more than, you know, seven women, you know, no media, super intimate, just talking ball. And he said, I'm in, keep me posted on what Coach Belichick says.

And so we draft this email to Berge, explained to him the importance of this program, the history of it. And ultimately, here's what we want from Coach Belichick, is he willing to do it. And not even 20 minutes later, he said, coach is all in. So that was really, you know, how it happened. And I called you and, you know, there's a lot of screaming and all that. But, you know, I think one, having him there, just watching him in a breakout session, super relaxed, super laid back, literally just doing what he loves, which is talking ball and developing coaches, that was tremendous to see. And then the other thing to point out is, you know, Coach Belichick comes from an era of the old boys club, not saying he is in that club and he's shown in his hiring that he's not. but to have a coach like that that comes from that kind of generation, you know, to kind of show other head coaches and other people that come for that generation as well that he's embracing a program like this, I think was tremendously important. And anyone who was, you know, maybe teetering on embracing diversity, equity, inclusion, he's an example for that to them as well. And I think that's why it means so much to have him be a part of it and to have him, you know, say, you know, that it's important to him in his organization. And he didn't blink an eye when he was in that Zoom, right? I mean, we didn't let anyone in that Zoom. So I'm going to give a little people.

peek behind the curtain of what it was like. He was like, all right, let's go. Who wants to learn football, right? There was no mention of, oh, your female coaches. Kind of like what you were saying, Roger. There's no mention about, you know, your gender. It was like, who wants to talk ball? And I remember Alex Hannah raised her hand.

She's like, I want to talk ball. And she pulled up a PowerPoint and broke down a cover three defense for him and asked him specific questions about what the cornerback should do in a certain situation. And then they just started talking ball for an hour, right? And then other people started asking him strategic questions and just the opportunity to speak to a genius in the game like that, you know, and then him giving out his email address to them after was just the icing on the cake. But it really struck me how he didn't care who

was in the room. He wanted to develop young coaches. And that's why he got involved. Right. I mean, I remember just being amazed. He was referring to everyone who was calling them coach, coach to the women in the room, you know, whether they were at the high school level, where they're at the college level, he was addressing them in that sense. And like you said, we had participants sharing screens and asking questions to him. And, you know, he lit up when Alex uploaded her screen on Zoom to show on the play and he was like, this is great. And then him and Coach Rabel just took it from there. And they had their prior relationships, but they were working off of each other. And it created just

such a great environment in that breakout session for them all to be a part of. As I mentioned at the top of the pod, almost 200 opportunities for women have come out of this forum in just five years. Several women were so impressive that they got their jobs on the spot. One question that I get asked all the time as I'm working on, you know, some of this content podcast and TV series is people are so curious about, well, what's the reaction from an NFL player when he's told that a woman is going to be coaching him? I can imagine people assume they might not like that. But what have you found when these women get into those positions and what have you heard? You guys are on the front lines of this from the coaches themselves from the players themselves. My response to that

typically is ask any player and they will tell you that they want their coaching staff to reflect their family, the fans, their normal life outside of football, right? And as Roger said, and Coach Ariens has said this many times, a coach is a teacher. And if you can teach, you can teach. And there's no gender to teaching, right? So if you talk to the guys, they love it, right? A lot of them have daughters. It's inspirational for their daughters. A lot of them have sons. It's inspirational for their sons to see women in these positions teaching men football. And it's remarkable to see. I've never heard a player say anything other than we need more female coaches. One of the other big questions is you put these women, the majority of them are young.

We have a couple examples like Low Locust, who was on the Super Bowl winning Buccaneers in 2021. You put them in these positions as trailblazers and being first. That is a heck of a lot of pressure. How do you prepare them for that? How do you help them through that process as the season goes on? So there's no perfect blueprint, you know, and there's mistakes along the way. But I think what I'm so appreciative of is how honest they are, whether it's, you know, always, you know, people like Lo, Jennifer King, Sally Clovell, all of them, if we have someone we want to connect them with who's on that pathway to wanting to be like them, they'll take that phone call. And they will be completely transparent with them. And they'll be completely honest with them about what this road is, what it entails, what's been tough. And that, I think, just their transparency in itself and willingness to share that actual experience and not be afraid to make mistakes, but try and just, you know, be leaders in that for the other woman around. That's what I appreciate the most for them.

Hey, Vanessa, I know it seems to me in my conversations with these coaches, none of them want to be first. That's not why they're doing it. They're doing it because they love the game. They think they can make the game better. They think they can help teams win. And it's become their passion. It's like Sam. So how do you distinguish that?

And the good news is they're not first anymore. And the door is open and the opportunity's there. So how do you get? to finding their true motivation of how they're going to succeed in the most competitive sport in the world, one of the most successful businesses and leagues in the world, they're going to have to compete against the best. And when they walk in that room, they don't care whether a woman or a man or, as I always say, players can smell a coach who doesn't know what he's talking about in about five minutes. It takes that long and they'll know. And that's what they

respect. And ultimately it's about the respect that you know how to coach and make them better. One of the things we ask when we're talking to these women who are, you know, in preparation for the forum is, you know, what's your why? Why do you wake up and want to work these endless hours in this industry and sacrifice so many different things to be in it? And, you know, a lot of those answers are a lot of reason why some of the women are in the forum itself. You know, we stray away from the answers that say, I want to be the first, this, that, or the next. We really embrace the answers that say, I just want to help a team be better. And wherever I'm needed for that, that's what I want to do.

Here's where I think I have my strengths. Here's where I think I have my weaknesses. But what I really want to do is be a part of a team and be a part of helping them have success. And so I think that's in a way that shows, you know, ultimately what leadership means to them. And it gives us a really good look at the type of candidates we're looking for and how they'll fit within the league. How do you advise them on what to do with pushback that would come from outside a team organization, from social media, from fans, talking. to the women coaches who are currently working in the league, they all will tell you, oh, yeah, it's brutal. If you go on social media or sometimes things fans will say to you,

it is nastier even than your wildest imagination. And they all have strategies kind of for where they put it. So when you're looking at young women coming in, how do you advise them on what to do with what can become really bad noise? My biggest piece of advice is always to keep your head down and grind mentality, whether, and you have to figure, out what that means for you, whether that means you're not on social media or you're not paying attention to that. You know, that's one way to do it. But obviously, you can't ignore all the noise. But one thing I've always been taught and I've always tried to use in my career in itself is that you need to worry about the people who matter, the person that hired you, the person you're reporting

to, the people who rely on you. And as long as they think you're doing a great job and you're doing well, that's what matters. And the person on Twitter who is, you know, ranting does not. And so it really has to be a deep, you know, belief in yourself. And as cliche as that may sound, keeps a lot of people's heads above ground in this industry is just knowing who you are and knowing what you're good at and letting that pave your way for you. And we talk about Roger sometime with that. We're like, do you think Rogers on Twitter saying like, F you too, if you're in the ring, you have to take the blows, right? And we all know that there are responsibilities that you have in being the first. So what we tell them is, imagine you're Roger,

right? And you're sitting there and these people are criticizing him. He is not sitting there on social media telling these people like, well, you suck or you whatever, right? he's doing his job. And that's really what we tell the women is don't worry about people who are not in the ring with you. And don't take criticism from someone who you wouldn't go to for advice. And so blinded out, have your blinders on social media because we're going to hear that no matter how long we continue to do this, which hopefully is forever, people will criticize because they have bad things to say. But if they're not in the ring with you, it doesn't matter. You know, my trick always with that is, one is I don't pay much attention to it. But second,

and probably more important, I use it as motivation. You know, I just want to prove those people wrong. And what I see from most of our great coaches, everyone's doubted, everyone's challenged. Everyone, you know, they make the wrong call in the game and everyone says, you're a loser. You have to use that as your motivation to get better and to prove people wrong. And to me, those are the people who have real grit, ultimately, or the competitive ones that are going to be able to go through those difficult times, which every coach does, every commissioner does, every person in public life and in personal life, you're going to have those moments of adversity and challenge. You have to be able to compete and grind through it to use the term

you use. That's grit, in my view. That's the people I want around me. It's not a business for a thin skin. Absolutely not. I think you know that too. This season unearned it. I went to Darcy and said, look, I like to hire two coaches who happen to be female. She said, heck yeah, go for it. And you've got to be kidding me. I mean, I play sports my whole life from five. And because I'm a girl, I can't play. It's not like I'm doing this to bust up the good old voice book. Just listening to your story being quarterback and your thoughts and your wants and your goals. I'm like, oh, wow, this is a live one. You know, Sam's a live one. When you're looking to hire the best people, maybe if you're opening up

the pool to everybody, you're getting even more exceptional people. Be sure to watch for earn in it. The five-part TV series from NBC and NFL films coming to NBC and Peacock in January. Brought to you by Upwork, where you can build the team that will build your business. Learn more at upwork.com. You want the confidence of knowing that the people, places, and things that matter to you are protected. That's why Kidda created the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. with smart features, an intelligent alarm that delivers advanced features and real-time notifications through the Kidda app and continuous 10-year detection of two common home safety threats, smoke and carbon monoxide.

Explore Kidda today and take control of a safer home. Visit kidda.com slash safer home today to learn more. That's k-I-D-D-E.com slash safer home today. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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