NFL commissioner Roger Goodell broke more than a week of silence on Friday, to announce that the league will study and develop new personal-conduct policies to address domestic abuse cases involving its employees.
“Unfortunately, over the past several weeks, we have seen all too much of the NFL doing wrong,” he said at a press conference in New York. “That starts with me.”
Goodell again apologized for his handling of the case of the former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, and promised to do whatever it took to “make it right”. He said he hoped to implement the new policies by the Super Bowl, which will take place in Glendale, Arizona on 1 February 2015.
In July, Rice was given a two-game suspension as punishment for a February incident in which he punched his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, in a casino elevator in Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing Palmer’s head to strike a railing and her to be knocked unconscious. The length of the ban prompted extensive criticism of the league, particularly when compared to longer suspensions handed out for the use of non-performance-enhancing drugs.
Last week, after a video of the punch itself was released by the website TMZ, the Ravens released Rice and the league suspended him indefinitely. The NFL players’ union is appealing the league’s decision and the former FBI director Robert Mueller is, at the NFL’s request, leading an investigation into how the league handled Rice’s punishment.
Goodell and the NFL have come in for further criticism after further incidents involving NFL players came to light. The Minnesota Vikings’ star running back Adrian Peterson was eventually deactivated from all team activities, after he was indicted on charges that he abused his 4-year-old son, while the Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested on aggravated assault charges for allegedly head-butting his wife and breaking her nose. On Thursday, the Cardinals placed Dwyer on the reserve/non-football illness list.
Two other players are currently involved in domestic violence cases. The Carolina Panthers have deactivated the defensive end Greg Hardy, who is appealing a conviction for assault on a female and communicating threats. The San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald, who was arrested and bailed for allegedly assaulting his fiancee, has not been deactivated.
Goodell said “everything is on the table” in terms of how the league might change the way it handles domestic abuse cases, including the possibility that his role as the lead decision-maker on discipline in such instances might change.
He said he had not considering resigning, despite widespread calls for him to do so.
“I’m focused on my job,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, that’s my focus.”
Goodell, who said he “believed” he had the support of the league’s 32 team owners, was also asked if he felt under pressure from key sponsors, such as the brewer Anheuser-Busch, which have expressed concern over the league’s handling of the recent cases.
He said: “I made it clear to sponsors directly that there are things we need to clean up in our house.”
The press conference was at one point momentarily interrupted by a man shrieking: “Don’t take me to the elevator!” The man, who was later identified as Benjy Bronk, a writer for the radio personality Howard Stern, was immediately removed from the room.
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