NFL to 'look at all of the facts' about relationship, emails between Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL will look into Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and his association with Jeffrey Epstein after his name showed up more than 400 times in files released by the U.S. Justice Department regarding Epstein.

“Absolutely we will look at all the facts,” Goodell said on Monday at his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference. “We’ll look at the context of those and try to understand that. We’ll look at how that falls under the [league personal conduct] policy. I think we’ll take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first.”

Goodell was asked three questions in a 43-minute news conference referring to the emails and the league’s personal conduct policy as it pertains to the matter. He delivered three of the shortest answers of the annual session and suggested that Tisch not only could avoid punishment but an actual investigation.

“I don’t even know the status of all the release,” Goodell said of the latest documents involving Epstein that came out on Friday and included correspondences with Tisch. “I know that 3 million documents came out last week. Listen, we’ll continue to follow any of the facts that come up and we’ll determine whether we open an investigation or not based on those facts.”

Asked if it was a concern for him given the scope of the story and how it reflects on the NFL, he said: “Sure. That’s why we have a personal conduct policy and that’s why we will look into the facts.”

When it came to possible discipline for Tisch, Goodell said:

“You may be getting ahead of yourself, but I would say that absolutely we are going to look at all of the facts. We are going to look at the context of those and try to understand that. We’ll look at how that falls under the policy. But I think we take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first.”

Tisch, 76, serves as chairman of the Giants and is the head of the Tisch family, which owns 45% of the Giants, a franchise recently valued at $10 billion. The Mara family owns another 45% and the Koch family recently purchased a 10% private equity stake.

Tisch issued a statement on Friday after the emails were made public that did little to dispute their intent or existence.

“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments,’’ the statement said. “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.”

Shortly before Goodell spoke, the NFL issued its first statement:

“The league is aware of the reports and Steve’s response. Our office will look into the matter to understand the facts.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.