A life-long league executive and vocal critic of off-the-field player misconduct, Goodell became the commissioner of the National Football League in 2006. His wife is former Fox News correspondent Jane Skinner.

Although injuries prevented him from playing football in college, Goodell has devoted the entirety of his career to the NFL. Starting off as a lowly administrative intern in 1982, he worked as an assistant in the publicity department and to the president of the AFC before snagging the position as executive vice president and COO. A key component in league extension, stadium developments, and launching the NFL Network, not to mention his overseeing operations and officiating, Goodell was the heir apparent (though the decision was not unanimous) to the commissioner position in 2006. Goodell has had a rocky tenure, and while he instituted the NFL Personal Conduct Policy to cut down on bad behavior (and press) off the field, Goodell has had to manage accusations that Bill Belichick spied on Jets' defensive coordinators, a lockout over collective bargaining negotiations between the players and team owners in 2011, a "bounty program" initiated by the players and coaches of the New Orleans Saints which paid bonuses for knocking out specific opponents, and the much discussed referee lockout in 2012. [Image via Getty]