Roger Goodell talks NFL's decision to relocate Rams-Vikings playoff game amid LA wildfires

Fox News Digital drives through Lake Avenue in Altadena to see the destruction from the Eaton Fire firsthand.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league made the last-second decision to relocate the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings’ playoff game from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, to State Farm Stadium in Arizona due to the wildfires in Southern California.

The move came on short notice as the decision was made on Thursday. Because of the game being played on Monday instead of the weekend, the teams had an extra day to pack up, get out of dodge and head south to play the game as emergency officials scrambled to quench the infernos in the Los Angeles area.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, left, talks with Referee John Hussey before an NFL wild card playoff football game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz.  (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Goodell talked about the unprecedented move in an interview with ESPN.

"What the people in Los Angeles are going through, the devastation, the loss, the heartache all of us feel for them, we knew the game couldn’t be played there by Thursday," he said. "The public safety and compromising any of that was not something we do. And we wanted to make sure the focus for the first responders was taking care of the people that are struggling out there so much.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell watches before an NFL wild card playoff football game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz.  (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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