NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday addressed Ray Rice's two-game suspension for domestic assault for the first time publicly, saying it was "consistent with other cases," according to Lorenzo Reyes of USA TODAY. Goodell said, "Our policy is clear on this. We have a very firm policy that domestic violence is not acceptable in the NFL and that there will be consequences for that. When we're going through the process of evaluating the issue and whether there will be discipline, you look at all of the facts that you have available to us." He noted that Rice's previous history was "taken into account when determining the length of the discipline." Goodell: "Ray Rice did not have another incident. There were other cases, and we take them into account. We have to remain consistent. We can't just make up the discipline. It has to be consistent with other cases and it was consistent with other cases." Reyes noted "much of the criticism hurled at the NFL has centered on the apparent discrepancy between suspensions that result from violations of the league's drug policy, versus those incurred through the code of personal conduct." Goodell: "When we have a drug program that is collectively bargained, it takes four incidents before you actually reach a suspension" (USATODAY.com, 8/1). More Goodell: "You have a lot of people voicing their opinions, but what you have to understand is that this is a young man (Rice) who made a terrible mistake -- it's inconsistent with what we're all about. We have dealt with it in a serious manner, and we're very confident that this young man understands where he is and what he needs to do going forward. ... When we make decisions we always get reactions. We understand that, we listen to it, and we use it to make ourselves better. We're comfortable with that and we understand that" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 8/2).
MISSING THE POINT: THE MMQB's Peter King writes Goodell "erred Friday" with his comments. He was "fairly dispassionate and clinical," and what was "missing was the kind of passion and connection he needed to show with his consumers, particularly but not exclusively with women who are outraged that the sanctions for Rice were not more stringent" (MMQB.SI.com, 8/4). ESPN's Tim Hasselbeck said, "I'm kind of floored in some sense that Roger Goodell was talking about how Ray Rice is responsible and accountable. He even said, ‘I have been impressed with Ray accepting these consequences.’ He was on camera. How do you deny it? ... To me, in some ways it's insulting to anybody that listened to Roger Goodell, to hear him say that.” ESPN’s Mark Schlereth added, “'Consistency' is the word that I heard, and there has been anything but consistency. ... When you start looking at the NFL as a whole, what does the commissioner always tell us as players? ‘Protect that shield.’ How is the NFL protecting that shield with that punishment? It is not consistent. It's an embarrassment.” ESPN’s Ashley Fox: “I heard him say finally, ‘We have to use this to make ourselves better,’ which to me was the only time that he gave my sort of a hint that, ‘Okay, maybe we screwed up, maybe we should have punished Ray Rice harder’" (“NFL Live,” ESPN, 8/1). In Boston, Ben Volin wrote the suspension "goes against the NFL's M.O. on both fronts," as it "doesn't send a strong message to players, and doesn't make it seem like the NFL cares much about domestic violence." The response from the league and the Ravens "has been so outrageously tone deaf that it makes you wonder if there's a lot more behind the scenes that has been left out of the public discourse" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/3). In Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote Goodell "whiffed on a chance to transcend the sport, to do something big and bold." But this problem "doesn't belong to the NFL." It "starts long before that" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8/3).
ROGER THAT: ESPN.com's Dan Graziano wrote it is "time for the NFL commissioner to give up his absolute power over the league's personal conduct policy," as his "judge-jury-executioner act is played out." Goodell once "wielded the policy with new-sheriff bravado," but now he "seems almost reluctant to wield it." And the "result is that he's wielding it very poorly." Goodell "needs to turn this power over to a committee or an independent arbitrator, and he needs to do it as soon as possible." He is "not especially good at it anymore, and he appears to have lost sight of the policy's original purpose" (ESPN.com, 8/1). Senior Bowl Exec Dir Phil Savage noted Goodell was on the cover of Time magazine in '12 under the header, "The Enforcer." Savage: "I think the league has dialed back in terms of the punishments for these players” (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN, 8/1). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Ken Belson noted Credo and UltraViolet, two national advocacy groups, have "collected more than 100,000 signatures on a petition urging the NFL to do more to 'address its domestic violence problem.'” Credo Political Dir Becky Bond in a statement said, “This is not an isolated incident. The NFL is perpetuating a culture that tolerates violence against women. Responsibility for that culture goes straight to the top -- Commissioner Roger Goodell" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/2).
TIME TO HANG IT UP? ESPN's Keith Olbermann on Friday called on Goodell to resign in part due to the league's soft response to domestic violence. Referencing Goodell's comments, Olbermann said, "It was a performance distinguished only by a thorough, consistent, self-congratulatory tone deafness to the realities of domestic violence and the near universal outrage at the NFL’s weak, damaging, almost enabling reaction." Olbermann: "Whatever Rice did, even if it was a tip of an abuse iceberg, was in the moment and its consequences might be repaired. What you’ve done, Commissioner, has been after long deliberation. It is premeditated. You did not blurt out, ‘only two games’ while suddenly throwing an unexpected figurative punch at every woman in America. This you planned. Like the disregard for the quality of play during the officials’ lockout, like the evasion and foolishness about the Washington team name issue, like the tragic and callous disregard about brain trauma in the NFL. This is enough. If there had been some recognition today, some form of acknowledgement, if only to the women fans of the NFL that this two-game suspension is a virtual attack on them perhaps these following words would not be necessary. For the sake of the NFL, and more importantly for the sake of those women, and all others and all of us in a country in which this is so much more than a mere sports league, it is necessary Mr. Goodell, for you to now resign as its commissioner” (“Olbermann,” ESPN2, 8/2).
BEHIND THE SCENES: ESPNW's Kate Fagan wrote the NFL is "already doing solid work around the issue of domestic violence," though "not many people know about it." It is "not something the league publicizes, and it's certainly not a cause the league champions publicly." Fagan: "If it's such good, smart work, why keep it hidden behind closed doors? Why share it with reporters in hushed tones, from anonymous sources? Why not have the commissioner stand front and center today and announce that domestic violence is a priority cause for the NFL?" (ESPNW.com, 8/1).
