NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has conceded that this season has been a "tough" examination of his position.

Goodell was put under scrutiny for his handling of the Ray Rice assault case, where he initially handed the running back a two-game suspension before further evidence released by TMZ highlighted the true violence of the attack against Janay Palmer.

The 55-year-old then suspended Rice indefinitely, which was later overturned on appeal. Meanwhile, Goodell has also had to deal with the 'deflategate' scandal, where the NFL has been criticised for its handling of the incident by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

"It's been a tough year on me personally," Goodell told reporters. "It's been a year of what I would say is humility and learning. We, obviously as an organisation, have gone through adversity.

"More importantly, it's been adversity for me. We take that seriously. It's an opportunity for us to get better. It's an opportunity for us, for our organization, to get better. We've all done a lot of soul searching, starting with yours truly."

Goodell was appointed as NFL commissioner in 2006.