Los Angeles wildfires: Roger Goodell opens up on moving Rams-Vikings playoff game

Brutal wildfires have ravaged the Los Angeles area in recent days, forcing the NFL to move a Wild Card round playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings to Arizona.

The game will be played tonight at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

League commissioner Roger Goodell joined the set of Monday Night Countdown on ESPN ahead of the game and discussed why the league felt the need to move the game and how it all came about. So far it seems like a very seamless transition.

“There’s so many people to thank for that,” Goodell said. “To start, what the people in Los Angeles are going through, the devastation, the loss, the heartache all of us feel for them, we knew the game couldn’t be played there by Thursday. The public safety and compromising and any of that was not something we do. We wanted to make sure the focus for the first responders was taking care of the people that are struggling out there so much.”

So the NFL made the decision to move the game. That would give the Los Angeles area as much manpower as could be spared to battle the blazes and provide relief to those impacted by the wildfires.

From there, the NFL pivoted quickly to putting on a playoff game at a neutral site.

“So when we made that decision the league comes together,” Goodell said. “And we have preparations for what we call contingency plans, includes two stadiums every week. And this was the perfect fit as far as the location for the Los Angeles Rams fans, and I’m proud to say 45,000 of them made the trip over here, which is just extraordinary for me.”

The wildfires will of course be top of mind for everyone from the Rams organization, knowing there’s still a fight going on back home.

For at least a little while, though, they’ll be able to focus on football and put the real world and the wildfires aside. That’s a credit to the job the NFL did.

“Everyone came together, and Michael Bidwill and the Cardinals are at the top of that list,” Goodell said. “We like to say the league is 32 clubs, and they compete, as you know, very hard on gamedays. But they come together and they support one another. They did that here, every one of them had their hands out, their arms out, whatever they could do to provide resources to help.

“Again, Michael was at the top of that list, but both clubs could not have been more cooperative. And it can’t get done; and I’ve got to give a hand to my staff. My staff, the league staff has just been unbelievable. They just jump right in and they get it done, so we’re all proud.”

Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN.