Short answers, pulled from the story.
Roger Goodell was elected commissioner on the 8th of August 2006, after a five-ballot vote by NFL owners in which he received 23 votes to 8 over opponent Gregg Levy, securing the required two-thirds majority. He assumed office on the 1st of September 2006, succeeding Paul Tagliabue. Goodell had worked in the NFL office since 1982, most recently as executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Goodell suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season, suspended defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely, suspended general manager Mickey Loomis for eight games, and suspended assistant head coach Joe Vitt for six games. The Saints organization was fined $500,000 and forfeited second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013.
After the Patriots were unwilling to let the tapes leave their facilities, league officials traveled to the Patriots' athletic facility by Goodell's direct order and physically destroyed the tapes. The Patriots were also fined $250,000 and forfeited a first-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft, and coach Bill Belichick was fined the league maximum of $500,000.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman vacated Brady's four-game suspension on the 3rd of September 2015, citing a lack of fair due process. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals later reinstated the suspension on the 25th of April 2016, with one judge dissenting and writing that Goodell had been doling out his own brand of industrial justice.
Goodell was born on the 19th of February 1959, in Jamestown, New York. He graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. At Bronxville High School he captained the football, basketball, and baseball teams as a senior and was named athlete of the year; injuries prevented him from playing college football.
On the 30th of August 2013, the NFL under Goodell reached a $765 million settlement with former players over head injuries. The agreement created a $675 million compensation fund, with $75 million allocated for medical exams and $10 million for research and education. In January 2014, U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody declined to accept the settlement as written, finding the funds insufficient for the nearly 20,000 men not named in the suit, after which the compensation cap was removed.