Poll mixed on Goodell keeping job

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Friday, September 12, 2014

More than half of Americans surveyed say NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was not being truthful when he said no one in the league office, prior to its release Monday, saw the video of Ray Rice punching and knocking unconscious his then-fiancee inside a casino elevator.

Opinion is also mixed on whether Goodell should lose his job.

A total of 61 percent of the 544 adults surveyed said they did not think the NFL fully tried to investigate the Rice domestic assault, and 55 percent said they do not believe the commissioner's statement that, to his knowledge, no one in the league offices saw the video of the incident until Monday.

Still, 45 percent of respondents said Goodell should keep his job, compared with 37 percent who said he should lose it.

The telephone survey was produced for ESPN by Langer Research Associates.

Eight in 10 Americans called domestic violence an extremely or very serious problem in the country, but only about one in 10 said the Rice controversy makes them less likely to buy a ticket to an NFL game or watch one on television.

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