MINNEAPOLIS – It was appropriate that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's annual pre-Super Bowl press conference was held the day after President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address. After all, the annual speeches tend to serve similar purposes: To assure that the state of our country or of our country's favorite sport is strong, no matter what some headlines might say.

Like Trump's speech on Tuesday ("I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground") Goodell on Wednesday framed the current state of the NFL as a sunny and optimistic place. And for the most part, reporters seemed to play along – to stick to sports. There, in the realm of sports, the NFL's main controversies involved the ineffective catch/no-catch rule, the overuse of replay, the implementation of the Rooney Rule and the NFL's international growth. You'd almost think during the 40-minute press conference that life in the NFL – where big chunks of this season were dominated by headlines that had nothing to do with sports – had returned to normal.

The word "concussion" was not mentioned during the press conference. (Goodell did speak generally about the NFL's efforts to improve player safety, and he praised it: "The game of football is much safer than when I played it," he said.) And the name Colin Kaepernick went unspoken for 34 minutes, until a reporter asked a question about why Kaepernick remained unsigned by any of the 32 teams (despite the dearth of talented quarterbacks in the league).

What the NFL wants is this: During a season where non-football controversies seemed to affect the American appetite for the league, stick to sports. I get that this is drastically oversimplifying things, but it seemed during the past couple NFL seasons, people on the left have been doubting their NFL loyalty because of player safety concerns and people on the right have been doubting their loyalty because of the protests during the national anthem that Kaepernick kicked off. Goodell, of course, plays neither to the left nor the right but instead the middle. Goodell has seemed to internalize that if the NFL wants to continue to be America's No. 1 sport, it must focus on the field.

And so, with the Lombardi Trophy sitting next to him, Goodell spoke about the league's efforts to expand the sport globally, specifically in Mexico, the United Kingdom and China. He spoke about how loosening the rules on on-field celebrations helped bring a more joyful league that appeals to younger fans. He spoke about player concerns with Thursday Night Football and about the sexual harassment controversy involving Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. He spoke, at length and thoughtfully, about revisiting this offseason the definition of what a catch is.

"A lot of the focus for us in the offseason is going to be on the rulebook," he said. "If you look at the catch/no-catch rule, the officials are officiating that correctly. What we have to do is find a rule that we think is going to address what we think should be a catch.  We had several players in the NFL office two weeks ago, we had several coaches, several officials, and we spent three hours, looked through 150 different plays, and tried to for what it is we think should be a catch, and then what we think the rules should be to make sure that is deemed a catch on the field.

"And we have some very good ideas that we're going to submit to the competition committee," he continued. "There will be a lot of focus on going to the ground, which I think has been part of the confusion. We have a great opportunity here to get this rule right, so everyone understands it and appreciates it. I would like to start back – instead of adding to the rule or subtracting from the rule, to start over again and look at the rule fundamentally from the start. When you add or subtract things, it can lead to confusion. These rules are very complex."

These were thoughtful remarks, and incredibly important to diehard football fans. But this was not a moment where Goodell wanted to discuss the near-existential problems that have affected the NFL in recent years, namely the sport's connection to traumatic brain injuries in its players and the sport's increased politicization in today's charged political climate.

"I'm not going to tell you there won't be controversy, but I believe we can get to a much better place," Goodell said.

He was talking about the NFL's efforts to define what a catch is. Those same words could have been applied to the much bigger, much more threatening problems the NFL is facing. Perhaps it's natural, but Goodell would prefer to stick to sports.