NFL commissioner faces questions about team co-owner’s Epstein emails

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was grilled about the league potentially investigating and disciplining New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch over his correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.

Goodell said Monday at his pre-Super Bowl LX press conference with NFL media that he will let the facts play out before the league initiates anything regarding Tisch and Epstein.

“Absolutely, we are going to look at all the facts,” Goodell said. “We are going to look at all the context of those. We’re going to try to understand that and we’ll look at how that falls under the policy. I think we take one step at a time. Let’s get to facts first.”

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during his state of the NFL news conference on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in San Jose, California, ahead of the Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Goodell was asked to specify whether the league was opening a probe into the correspondences and whether the league was concerned about other NFL owners potentially being connected to Epstein in some way.

“I don’t even know the status of all the releases,” he said. “I know that 3 million documents came out last week. So, listen, we will continue to follow any of the facts that come up and we will determine whether we will open an investigation or not based on those facts.”

The commissioner was then asked about whether he was concerned about the Epstein scandal reflects on the league.

“Sure, but that’s why we have a personal conduct policy and that’s why we’ll look into the facts,” he said.

EX-NASCAR DRIVER SENT JEFFREY EPSTEIN VALENTINE’S DAY EMAIL, FORWARDED SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MESSAGE, FILES SHOW

New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch on the sideline during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Cowboys Stadium. The Giants beat the Cowboys 41-35.  (Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports)

The NFL released a statement hours before Goodell spoke to the media, saying “The league is aware of the reports and Steve’s response. Our office will look into the matter to understand the facts.”

The emails were released last week as part of the Justice Department’s dump of more than 3 million documents related to the investigation of the human trafficker and child sex offender.

Some of the emails exchanged between Epstein and Tisch appeared to show the two discussing women.

One thread from April 2023 showed Tisch asking Epstein whether an unnamed woman was “pro or civilian.” Epstein said his team reached out to the woman. He later added that she wanted to go to a play with Tisch but was “freaked by the age difference.”

Another exchange, from June 2013, showed Tisch and Epstein setting up a potential meeting in New York.

Tisch’s family owns about 45% of the Giants. He assumed control of the team in 2005 after his father had purchased a majority stake in the team in 1991.

Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan federal jail cell Aug. 10, 2019. It was later ruled a suicide. He faced up to 45 years in prison for crimes related to the sex trafficking of minors.

Tisch released a statement through the Giants on Friday as the emails came to light.

New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch during warms up prior to the National Football League game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants on Oct. 28, 2018 at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments. I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with,” Tisch said.

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