METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints and coach Sean Payton continued to be referenced Friday by critics of Roger Goodell, suggesting that the NFL commissioner is not holding himself to the same standards that he held the Saints to during the 2012 bounty scandal.

Goodell held a news conference Friday, during which he again admitted that he made mistakes in his handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence investigation and the ensuing punishment.

The circumstances of this situation and the Saints’ alleged bounty program are different. But the parallel being made by many is that Goodell held the Saints’ leaders accountable at the highest level -- including Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and owner Tom Benson -- and his punishment was swift and severe.

Former Saints linebacker Will Smith, who was suspended as part of the bounty punishments, made his thoughts known on Twitter:

Nfl Commish has been wrong on so many levels, so many times, but he apologize, so no harm no fool. lol — Will Smith (@iWillSmith) September 19, 2014

But if players are wrong or make a mistake, they get destroy an lose there job!!!!! — Will Smith (@iWillSmith) September 19, 2014

ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi made one of the strongest comparisons, saying, “One of the only ways Roger Goodell could’ve lived up to the standards that he placed on us as players when I was in the league and players right now, the high standards of accountability towards those players and towards the owners and coaches, was to step down because he’s the ultimate in the NFL. The mistakes he made, if someone else made those, there would’ve been heavy repercussions. But there’s nothing for Roger Goodell. Absolutely nothing. It’s contradictory to what he’s done to us as players, coaches, the New Orleans Saints, everything. Right now, I just don’t know what his direction is, if he even believes what he’s preaching.”

And former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman tweeted, “Can only imagine how upset Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints must be watching Commissioner’s press conference.”

Comparisons between Roger Goodell's punishment of the Saints in 2012 and his current handling of domestic violence controversies plagued the NFL commissioner at his news conference Friday. AP Photo/Jason DeCrow

Payton was referenced in a question during Goodell’s news conference Friday, when the commissioner was reminded that he held Payton accountable for allowing mistakes to be made under his watch. (The reporter used the quote, “ignorance is not a defense.” It’s unclear if Goodell ever actually used that exact phrasing, but he repeatedly made that point to the Saints while explaining his punishments in 2012.)

At the end of that question, Goodell was asked if he had considered resigning.

“I have not,” Goodell said. “I'm more focused on doing my job. And doing it to the best of my ability. I understand when people are critical of your performance, but we have a lot of work to do. That's my focus. We've been busy the last couple of weeks. We have results to show for it ... I'm proud of the opportunity that we have to try to make a difference here and do the right thing. We've acknowledged that we need to change what we're doing. Now we have to get to what are those changes going to be."

Earlier Friday, Payton was asked what he thought about the changing policies in the NFL when it comes to punishing players like Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy. And Payton reiterated that he hasn’t paid close attention to the specific details of those cases.

Last week, when asked if it feels good that people seem to be coming to his defense, in a sense, while suggesting that Goodell should be held to the same standard that he held the Saints to, Payton said, “It’s immaterial. In other words, we said at the time what we had to say, and we’ll leave it at that.”