Roger Goodell encouraged Randy Ambrosie to do ‘everything necessary to build the biggest, strongest football league’

Photos courtesy: Perry Knotts/NFL, CFL

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wants to see his CFL counterpart Randy Ambrosie lead the three-down league to its full potential.

Ambrosie shared his takeaways from a conversation which took place approximately three years ago, by his estimation, with Goodell.

“When I sat with him he did say something that really stuck with me. He said, ‘Randy, my strong encouragement to you is you’ve gotta build the biggest, strongest football league you can build. That’s what we’re interested in,” Ambrosie said on The Green Zone.

The 57-year-old leader of the CFL doesn’t want people to think Goodell has him on speed dial, but he wanted to share the guidance from the NFL boss.

“He said, ‘We want to see football grow in Canada. We want to see you guys find and achieve your full potential,” Ambrosie said.

“You do everything you can, and everything that is necessary to build the strongest foundation of football in Canada, and then you’ll enjoy all the success that will go with it.”

That guidance played a role in Ambrosie exploring alignment opportunities with the XFL. The CFL has been awarding the Grey Cup for over 100 years. Meanwhile, the original XFL lasted one full season in 2001.

The Rock and his people are working to have it around much longer. The two leagues have entered into formal talks exploring potential for collaboration and innovation to grow the game of football.

Ambrosie is putting the advice from Goodell into action and at least discovering the potential with the XFL.