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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Richardson stresses responsibility in letter

The Panthers’ Jerry Richardson sent the letter to his fellow NFL owners.
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Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, one of the most influential owners in the NFL, sent a letter to his peers recently urging them to not just rely on the league to oversee player personal-conduct matters. The letter also encouraged owners not to focus only on business and profits.

Several NFL owners described the letter and said it was not directed at any particular team.

The letter does come shortly after Richardson and the Panthers declined to re-sign defensive end Greg Hardy, who was accused of domestic violence last year and is facing a likely league suspension. The Dallas Cowboys earlier this month signed Hardy, a move that sparked steep criticism, including from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. Longer term, the letter comes on the heels of the player-misconduct scandals that rocked the NFL in 2014.

“The league office has a responsibility, but we have, in my opinion, a bigger responsibility,” said Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who said he also spoke to the owners about the same issue last week at the league’s annual meeting. Richardson’s letter, Blank said, is “a really good reminder, given the last seven, eight months, that it is the responsibility of the owners.

BLANK
“It has not been consistent all the time,” Blank added. “There is a point in the letter that our business is not just about the economics, but culture.”

Richardson declined to comment.

Other owners seconded how Blank described the letter, including the New York Giants’ John Mara and Philadelphia’s Jeffrey Lurie. Mara noted that the Richardson correspondence was not unique in that Richardson frequently sends letters to his fellow owners.

JONES

One owner, however, disagreed with the description of the letter provided by others: Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys.

“Nothing about the issue of conduct. That is a reach; it is a total reach to talk about anything to do with conduct,” Jones said of his interpretation of the letter. “It was a letter about really more recognizing how the people who have gone before us have given us an opportunity.”

Joe Ellis, the owner representative for the Denver Broncos, wrote in an email, “It was a thoughtful letter that called on us, as clubs, to do the right thing and take responsibility for how we conduct ourselves — whether it be on the field, off the field, or in our daily course of business.”

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