On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents highlights of the 2014 NFL season and Super Bowl XLIX. Featured on today’s program are Jarrett Bell, USA Today Sports NFL columnist, Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, and Newy Scruggs, Sports Director with KXAS-TV.
The New England Patriots 28 to 24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks drew an average audience of 114.4 million viewers – making Super Bowl XLIX the most watched broadcast in U.S. television history. The game was up from last year’s 112.2 million viewers. The largest recorded TV audience at the time. Leading up to this year’s Super Bowl – there was enough drama to make Scandal look like a Sunday school picnic.
Following the AFC championship game, accusations that the Patriots used deflated footballs to gain a competitive advantage over the Colts prompted an investigation by the league office. Then there was the inside-the-elevator video of Ray Rice punching his now wife that surfaced on TMZ and a few weeks later Adrian Peterson was charged with child abuse.
Oh, did I mention – a DUI charge against one of the owners. Things couldn’t be any worst from a PR standpoint for the nation’s most popular sports league.
Roger Goodell is the 8th chief executive in the NFL’s 93-year history. He was chosen by the owners to be commissioner on August 8, 2006, and took office on September 1, that same year. Goodell first joined the NFL in 1982 as an intern.
