Former Bears GM Jerry Angelo said that NFL teams "did not discipline players in 'hundreds and hundreds' of domestic violence incidents during his 30 years in the league," and that he "now regrets his role in the failure to take action," according to Josh Peter of USA TODAY. Angelo: "I made a mistake. I was human. I was part of it. I'm not proud of it.'' Angelo, who was GM Bears from '01-11 and has been out of the NFL since, said that his "typical approach after learning of a player's involvement in a domestic violence case was to inquire, 'OK, is everybody OK? Yeah. How are they doing? Good. And then we'd just move on. We'd move on.'" He said, "We knew it was wrong. ... For whatever reason, it just kind of got glossed over. I'm no psychiatrist, so I can't really get into what that part of it is. I'm just telling you how I was. I've got to look at myself first. And I was part of that, but I didn't stand alone.'' The Bears released a statement later Thursday "denying any knowledge of Angelo's assertions." Angelo "made the disclosure during an interview" about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Angelo "praised Goodell for his integrity." Angelo said, "He would never cover anything up.'' But he added that the league's failure to obtain the Ray Rice video "made it look like 'they were just trying to cover their ass.''' Angelo said that he did not report to the league cases of domestic violence involving players because "disciplinary action would have put his team at a competitive disadvantage." He said, "Our business is to win games." Former NFLer Tank Johnson, who played for the Bears from '04-06, said that he is "aware that domestic violence incidents went unpunished" (USA TODAY, 10/10).
HELPFUL OR HARMFUL? ESPN’s Mike Ditka said of Angelo's comments, "It’s gutless on his part. If you didn't do anything about it when you were running the team, shut up. Don't live in the past" ("Waddle and Silvy," ESPN Radio 1000 Chicago, 10/9). ESPN's Mike Golic said, "It sounds awful. ... Is this how it was? Is this how it still is? I don't know the answer to that. I'm sure we'll get tweets and e-mails saying, yes, in everyday society it's hidden, it's covered up. I don't know that. We keep saying sports are a microcosm of society. I wonder if it is in this case as well.” He added, "Does it do any good going forward? Probably not, but I think it just reemphasizes everybody's thought process that this is something that was hidden. … I don't think it's going to help going forward at all (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 10/10). ESPN's Mark Dominik, a former Buccaneers GM, said of how teams handle players' off-field transgressions, "Each club is going to have to tailor to what they feel is right for their organization." ESPN's Adam Schefter: "Teams are struggling with how to handle it. The league is struggling with how to handle it and everybody has to figure out how to eliminate some of these gray areas and come up with more concrete answers" ("NFL Insiders," ESPN, 10/9).
CONFLICTING STORIES: Meanwhile, former Bears College Scouting Dir Greg Gabriel said that he was "not aware of a single domestic-violence issue within the organization during his tenure under Angelo" from '01-10. Gabriel said that former Bears coach Lovie Smith was "very clear to the front office and locker room alike that he wanted nothing to do with players involved in domestic violence." Another former Bears exec under Angelo said that he "also was not aware of any domestic violence issues while the GM led the organization." The exec: “That’s a pretty attention-grabbing figure. I can’t recall a single one at Halas Hall" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/10).
