The NFL remains in the information-gathering phase as the Overland Park district attorney's office reopened a child abuse investigation on Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters Wednesday at the Spring League Meeting that the league will not impose on the investigation, which involves the Kansas Department for Children and Families and local law enforcement.
"As you know, there's a court proceeding still going on involving CPS -- Child Protection Service -- and we will not interfere with that," Goodell said. "The priority is this young child, and so we will obviously be cooperative with whatever the court wants there."
The investigation on Hill was reopened after KCTV5 released audio of Hill and his fiancee discussing injuries suffered by their 3-year-old son.
The release of the audio came on the first night of the 2019 NFL Draft and Chiefs general manager Brett Veach later announced that Hill would no longer be allowed to participate in team activities for "the foreseeable future" while the team gathered more information for evaluation.
Goodell reinforced the Chiefs' stance with how the league views Hill's situation before a decision is made on his playing status in 2019.
"We are prepared to go ahead and have an interview whenever we have the permission to do so, and then we'll make a determination based on what information we have at that point in time," Goodell said. "And so, again, I won't speculate on where we'll go, but we'll certainly get all the information we possibly can as soon as possible."
Here are other highlights from Goodell's media session:
»Goodell emphasized he would not speculate on potential discipline for Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was charged in February with two first-degree misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution: "I think getting all the facts," Goodell said. "Yes, of course we'll be gathering our own facts and try to understand what actually transpired as we would in any case."
»With the current collective bargaining agreement expiring in 2020, Goodell expressed confidence in a "very effective" CBA, pointing out it addressed numerous issues on the table before it was agreed upon in 2011. Goodell also said there have been two formal sessions involving the CEC and executive committee. "They've been very direct and open and we believe that's the best way to do it and to keep the negotiations at the table," Goodell said. "But I would say it was respectful and thoughtful and I think we'll all come to address the issues that we need to address. I do hope it's sooner rather than later. I think there's big value to all parties, most importantly our fans that we get this issue resolved and move forward. But there are important issues to be addressed and we're doing that."
» When it comes to potentially allowing players to use medicinal marijuana, Goodell stressed the league's commitment to mental health. The commissioner, though, prefers to place focus on medical experts and studies. "I think we've demonstrated before that we're going to deal in the best medical interests of our players," Goodell said. "I think the focus for us when we get that data we'll see how that plays into it and changes we want to make if any to the program. We'll obviously have to do that in the context of the collective bargaining agreement. But we all know states are changing laws from time to time and I don't think we base our policies on that. We base our policies on medical interests of our players."
