Rice was suspended after being charged for aggravated assault against his partner in a February incident at an Atlantic City hotel.
The length of the ban had been questioned, but Goodell said the NFL had simply dealt with the facts and remained consistent.
"Our policy is clear. We have very firm policy that domestic violence is not acceptable here in the NFL and there will be consequences for that," Goodell said on Friday.
"We obviously were going through the process of evaluating the issue and whether there would be discipline. We look at all of the facts we have available to us.
"(Rice) has been accountable for his actions. He recognises he made a horrible mistake that is unacceptable by his standards, by our standards, and he's got to work to re-establish himself.
"The criminal justice system, as you know, put him in a diversionary program with no discipline, and we felt it was appropriate to have discipline and to continue counselling programs and to continue our educational work."
Goodell said it was important the organisation stayed consistent with their punishments, praising Rice for wanting to make a difference while being remorseful.
"I was also very impressed with Ray in the sense that Ray is not only accepting this issue in saying 'I was wrong' but he's saying I wanna make a powerful difference in this area," he said.
"And I think you heard from him yesterday and he's a young man that really understands the mistake he made and he's out and bound and determined to make a positive difference."