NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the complaints that 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made about playing in Australia during a media conference on Friday.
The Niners are scheduled to take on the Rams in Melbourne for a Week 1 matchup this season, and Shanahan has not been shy about how he feels about this season opener in the land down under. During the owners meetings late last month, he told reporters about the international matchup: “I don’t see any pro. It’s cool for the league to play globally. I think that’s awesome. But as far as the team doing it, no, there’s not much benefit to it.” On a TV show appearance a day later, he said it was “a fact” that the Rams lobbied for that game to avoid San Francisco fans taking over SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
“I said it yesterday: Coaches have a focus on winning,” Goodell said, after beginning with a laugh. “That’s their No. 1 job. Coach Shanahan is enthusiastic and a great football coach but also someone who truly understands the importance of expanding our game globally. But his job is to win. His job is to play. I always say coaches like to play at 1 o’clock, and 4 o’clock, and don’t get in the way of that. So we’re going to make it a great experience for the team. That’s one of the things we focus on — everybody here, and so many others have focused on — make it a great experience for everyone, the team included.
“When they go back, they gotta make sure that they’re able to continue their competitiveness because this game is real. This counts. And they’ll go on to Week 2 as soon as they leave.”
When another reporter asked if the commissioner had any advice for the Niners coach on how to beat the jet lag, Goodell quipped that he’s got an app he uses to help him. “I have not felt any jet lag at all,” he said. “We’ve been here since Tuesday morning, and I thought it was a relatively easy trip.”
Putting aside the fact that calling a flight of at least 15 hours “easy” is quite the take — perhaps aided by the travel accommodations his job pays for — it’s hard to imagine this will do anything to assuage Shanahan’s concerns about his first matchup of the season. But who knows, maybe the app will help.