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NFL Commissioner Goodell to Address Leadership in W&L Presentation

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell will hold a conversation about leadership in sports at Washington and Lee University on Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m..

Goodell’s presentation, which is part of the Johnson Lecture Series, will be held in Lee Chapel. It is free and open to the public.

The program will feature a panel comprising Washington and Lee philosophy professor Bernard Jackson, athletic director Jan Hathorn, and two W&L student-athletes — lacrosse player Meredith Freeman, a junior from St. Louis, and football wide receiver Ty Parrino, a senior from Holliston, Mass.

Goodell will field questions from the panel during the first half of the program and then will take audience questions.

Named NFL commissioner in August 2006, Goodell originally joined the league in 1982 as an intern in the NFL’s New York offices. He had served in various positions with the league, including assistant to the president of the American Football Conference, vice president of operations and executive vice president of business properties and clubs services.

In December 2001, he was named NFL executive vice president and chief operating officer, the league’s No. 2 position to then commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

During his career with the NFL, Goodell has been involved in expansion, realignment, stadium development, international development, the launch of the NFL Network, and negotiations for the NFL’s television agreements and collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players’ Association.

A native of Jamestown, N.Y., Goodell is a 1981 graduate of Washington & Jefferson College, where he majored in economics. He serves on the boards of the national and New York chapters of Big Brothers & Big Sisters and is an officer of NFL Charities, the league’s charitable foundation.

Goodell’s appearance is sponsored by the Johnson Program in Leadership and Integrity at Washington and Lee.