Super Bowl week's Media Night is here, where the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs will each give us an hourlong gabfest at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Expect to hear more about the Chiefs' pursuit of a historic trifecta and them laughing at officiating conspiracy theories. As for the Eagles, might we get more book recommendations from A.J. Brown? Or Jalen Hurts having to defend his passing?
Philly went first, with these Eagles getting podiums:
Head coach Nick Sirianni
QB Jalen Hurts
RB Saquon Barkley
WR DeVonta Smith
WR A.J. Brown
T Lane Johnson
T Jordan Mailata
TE Dallas Goedert
LB Zack Baun
CB Darius Slay
DE Brandon Graham
Kansas City's session begins at 10 p.m. ET. The 11 Chiefs with podiums are:
HC Andy Reid
QB Patrick Mahomes
TE Travis Kelce
DT Chris Jones
WR DeAndre Hopkins
WR Xavier Worthy
K Harrison Butker
LB Nick Bolton
S Justin Reid
CB Trent McDuffie
RB Isiah Pacheco
Media Night followed Roger Goodell's state of the league address Monday afternoon, where he answered questions on hot-button topics like officiating, which has dominated the discourse around the Chiefs (he called the notion that referees favored the Chiefs "ridiculous"), and the league's policies promoting diversity in the workplace (he defended the NFL, saying its rules and procedures make the league better).
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Roger Goodell, NFL not backing away from DEI
The NFL’s dedicated push to add diversity in all levels of America’s most popular sport will continue.
That was the message delivered by commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday during his annual state of the league address to kick off Super Bowl week — declining to follow in the footsteps of some major U.S. corporations stripping away diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from their business models.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League,” Goodell said on Monday. “And we’re going to continue towards that, because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven ourselves that it does make the NFL better.”
Click the photo for more on Goodell's comments Monday from Charles Robinson on the ground in New Orleans.
Roger Goodell addresses ref controversy in state of league address
The second question NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fielded Monday in his state of the league address was about officiating, and a belief that the Kansas City Chiefs are benefitting from calls.
"This sort of reminds me of the script" Goodell joked.
In seriousness Goodell called some of the conspiracy theories rampant on social media "ridiculous" and defended his league's officials, calling them "outstanding."
Goodell says any theory of the Chiefs benefiting from preferential calls from officials is “ridiculous” and the league officiating is “outstanding.” pic.twitter.com/y5jVXQsKHu
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) February 3, 2025
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shoots down idea that officials are favoring Chiefs unfairly. Reminds him of idea NFL is scripted.
"It’s a ridiculous theory, for anyone who might take it seriously. But at the end of the day, it's something we might have to continue to work on." pic.twitter.com/MKVw9UA9nm
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) February 3, 2025
Later in the conference, Goodell said he didn't view flopping as a major issue, but didn't rule out the league's competition committee from reviewing potential changes.
