Can Roger Goodell Win the Player Safety War He Currently Faces?

He faces injuries, but resistance from players, and unsure football parents-to-be.

Roger Goodell
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attends the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on September 10, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Roger Goodell might be celebrating his new long-term contract, but he also now faces an impossible battle: appeasing people who see the long-term damage of football injuries, and appeasing players who don’t want the game to change at all. There are football parents-to-be and NFL veterans who have seen the effects of the game on the brain and body, and want things to become safer. But there are athletes, like Steelers safety Mike Mitchell, who mock any idea of change, saying that players know what they sign up for.

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