10 Questions for Roger Goodell

How is the NFL's pink initiative contributing to the fight against breast cancer?

Cece Snow, PHILADELPHIA

Our Crucial Catch campaign is making sure our tremendous audience recognizes the importance of early intervention and proper screening. Seeing players out there wearing pink is a little counterculture, but it does make the point. My mother died of breast cancer. I think with early intervention, she would possibly be alive today.

What has been the most difficult decision you have had to make as commissioner?

Cindy Smith, PORTAGE, MICH.

It's difficult to put your finger on one specific decision. When you're dealing with the future of young men, you really want to understand the facts, and you want to make sure you understand where that young man is and what you can do to help him be successful.

Why weren't you harder on Michael Vick?

Forrest Giberson, WOODLAND, WASH.

What Michael did was horrific and, to many people, inexcusable. I certainly understand that. But I also hope to see people succeed in life. Whether Vick throws another pass in the NFL doesn't matter if he can demonstrate that you can make mistakes and recover from them and make better judgments. I think he can.

Why punish Ben Roethlisberger when he was not charged with sexual assault?

Nicholas WOODARD, DETROIT

One of the premises of our personal-conduct policy is, when there's a pattern of making bad decisions, it's time for early intervention. I truly believe in the case of Roethlisberger, he was making a series of decisions that were not going to benefit him long term.

What is the best way to decrease the number of concussions sustained by players?

Emily Hansen, SANDS POINT, N.Y.

Whether it's the NFL or girls' soccer, it's first [having an] awareness of concussions and of the seriousness of the injury. When someone has an injury, they need to report it. The NFL just led the way with a tremendous amount of research, changing our equipment and changing the rules to our game to improve safety.

How would you make the NFL more appealing to the rest of the world?

Alf Myréen, VANTAA, FINLAND

By bringing our game to you. Our international series of regular-season games is giving people that opportunity. Second is technology. That's going to allow us to bring our games to all of our fans worldwide.

What can be done to make tickets more affordable?

Gary Dunaier, FLUSHING, N.Y.

We have to make sure we're providing great value for what we're offering fans. It's a constant [effort] to try to improve on that value. There's nothing like being in a stadium with 80,000 people cheering. We would love to see more people do that.

When do you expect the NFL to start testing for human growth hormone?

Francis Bova III, CHICAGO

We hope very soon. We have frequently made changes to our drug program, and we think we have the best in sports. We want to continue to make sure that is true. We've put it square to our union that we think this should be implemented now.

What do you think will be different about the NFL 10 years from now?

Time.com

10 Questions for Roger Goodell

The NFL commissioner on football's future and why players are wearing pink. Roger Goodell will now take your questions