All 32 NFL owners today will meet outside Dallas and are "expected to review and potentially vote on proposed changes to the personal conduct policy that may include stiffer penalties for players accused of domestic abuse, as well as changes" to Commissioner Roger Goodell’s "role in assessing those penalties," according to Ken Belson of the N.Y. TIMES. The NFLPA "wants an independent arbitrator to hear all appeals," and if it is "unhappy with the new changes, it could file a grievance and force an arbitrator to determine whether the league violated the current labor agreement by not formally negotiating the changes to the deal." Seahawks CB and NFLPA player rep Richard Sherman said, “The way the NFL is making things up as it goes along, the players won’t stand for that." Belson notes the union on Oct. 28 "gave the NFL its proposed changes to the policy, including discipline for players only when they have been accused of a felony and convicted of that offense." But NFL Exec VP & General Counsel Jeff Pash said the union’s proposal would “narrow the policy’s scope and discipline for certain violations.” Pash also "disagreed with a union proposal that aimed to prevent the NFL from placing players on paid leave, as it did" with Vikings RB Adrian Peterson (N.Y. TIMES, 12/10). NFLPA officials said any legal action they might take against a new personal conduct policy would have to occur after the NFL puts a new policy in place. NFLPA President Eric Winston said, "If we feel our rights are being violated, we are going to take any step that we need to, whether it’s on an individual level or a collective level, to protect the rights that we have bargained for" (Liz Mullen, Staff Writer).
NOTHING COMING OUT OF MEETINGS WITH UNION: In N.Y., Michael O'Keeffe notes union officials have "met with the NFL four times to discuss the personal conduct policy." Winston said that the players "refused to provide input in the last meeting -- which he called a farce -- because the NFL had already completed the revisions and was preparing to present them to the owners." NFLPA Exec Council member and Giants LS Zak DeOssie: "We sort of knew going into that meeting that they were not entertaining the idea of this being a collectively bargained issue. We asked a bunch of times, 'Is this what we are about to talk about collectively bargained?' And they reiterated no" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/10).
HEADED TO THE PRECINCT: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Monica Langley in a front-page piece reports the conduct policy Goodell plans to unveil is "akin to the police-department model" in which an accused player will immediately go on paid leave following formal charges or an independent investigation." Goodell last month met with NYPD Commissioner William Bratton "for breakfast at the exclusive Core club" in N.Y. to discuss how the NYPD handled "accusations of domestic violence in the ranks." The new policy "would also apply to all NFL personnel, including owners." Goodell said of the league's response to several high-profile domestic abuse cases this fall, "I blew it. Our penalties didn’t fit the crimes." He added that he "wanted to be judged by changes made by the league" in response to the various cases. Goodell: “I’m not trying to run away from this problem, which is a societal problem. But people hold the NFL to a high standard" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/10). Langley, appearing on CNBC this morning, said Goodell this fall has been put "in a harsh spotlight that he’s not accustomed to.” But she added Goodell “never felt threatened that he was going to lose his job.” He “didn’t really get" the criticism of his handling of the Rice situation at the outset, but “over the course of the last weeks, he has surrounded himself with a lot of domestic violence experts and he is learning how he really got it wrong" (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 12/10).
