Two weeks after the Chargers officially announced their move to Los Angeles, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was finally asked about the situation, and he admitted that the league was "disappointed" by the move.
During an interview with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday, Goodell was asked, point blank, "Are you happy, currently, with the San Diego to L.A. move?"
Goodell's response?
"We're all disappointed," the commissioner said, via Fox Sports. "We all worked very, very hard with local officials, with the Chargers and the Spanos family, with all of our clubs, and we did some unprecedented things to try to keep the Chargers in San Diego, which was our first priority."
Although Goodell admitted that the league was disappointed, he wasn't asked about a recent report that suggested the NFL was "beside itself" over the move. On Jan. 20, ESPN.com reported that "tons" of owners are "upset with the Chargers for moving."
Even if Goodell was upset about the move, he wouldn't say it publicly. During his interview with Cowherd, Goodell said that the league tries to avoid relocation whenever it can (which means you could argue that the league isn't doing a great job avoiding relocation because a Raiders move to Las Vegas would be the third relocation in 15 months).
"All of our relocations, these are painful processes," Goodell said. "They're painful for our fans, they're painful for the communities in general, they're painful for the NFL. And so we always work to avoid that, and we did that in San Diego. We worked very hard to try to avoid it, to make sure not just that we went the extra mile but the extra three or four miles."
Goodell actually credited Chargers owner Dean Spanos for sticking around San Diego for the 2016 season when he could've moved to Los Angeles.
"The Chargers had the opportunity to move, frankly, a year ago. They stayed," Goodell said. "Dean wanted to try to give it another shot. He went for a referendum, unfortunately, that did not pass. And then we are faced with a consequence where everyone in that community recognizes that a new stadium has to be built. They have for several years. They recognized that there have been many failed attempts at getting that done that all of us bear responsibility for. So, for us, it is disappointing."
In the end, Goodell said the move was about doing what was best for the Chargers.
"We would have loved to have the Chargers in San Diego, I think Dean Spanos would be the first to tell you that, but we have to look forward," Goodell said. "We have to look long-term. We have to, ultimately, make sure that we're doing what's best for each of our franchises, but with a very, very strong consideration to making sure we've done everything possible for our fans."
Cowherd later suggested that if a more established team -- like the Eagles or Cowboys or Bears -- were to be in a position where they might have to relocate, the NFL would do more to make sure it doesn't happen.
Goodell didn't buy that theory, though.
"In the case of San Diego, NFL owners put not just the 200 [million dollars] that we put into each community, but we put 300 [million dollars] into it as [an] effort of the league to try to see if we could bridge the gap," Goodell said. "Again I just go back, Colin, you're not being cynical, but I think the NFL owners, I think the Spanos family, and I think the community, gave it all a really great effort. But are we disappointed? Of course."
Anyway, even if owners are upset with Spanos and the Chargers, don't look for anything to change. Spanos told the Orange County Register this week that moving back to San Diego isn't "even a consideration."
