NFL commissioner Roger Goodell promised major revisions to the league’s conduct policies as he spoke out Friday for the first time in days after a series of domestic violence allegations rocked the league this week.
“At our best, the NFL sets an example that makes a positive difference,” he said, speaking in New York. “Unfortunately over the past two weeks, we have seen all too much of the NFL doing wrong. That starts with me.”
But after reading from a prepared statement, Goodell faced a series of tough questions about the NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice controversy in a news conference that was in parts combative and circus-like, featuring a momentary panic caused by a man screaming “Don’t take me into an elevator!”
As he apologized for the league’s handling of the Ray Rice controversy, Goodell also announced a partnership with the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, though the commissioner did not elaborate on what that partnership might entail.
Although he appeared contrite throughout the news conference, Goodell said he has not considered stepping down.
“We’re moving in a very important direction by getting expertise to say how can we do this better,” he said.
The revised conduct policies, which will include a review of Goodell’s role in the disciplinary process, will be created after talks between domestic violence experts and the players’ union. Goodell said he plans to have the revised policies in place by the Super Bowl in February.
“There will be changes to our personal conduct policy. I know this because we will make it happen,” he said.
When the news conference moved to a question-and-answer format, Goodell appeared flustered as reporters peppered him with questions about how the league failed to obtain footage of Rice punching his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City, N.J., elevator, and the independent investigation launched by former FBI director Robert Mueller.
Goodell maintained that no one in the NFL viewed the Rice video before it was leaked by TMZ. But he avoided questions about what Rice told the NFL, whether or not Mueller had interviewed him or the status of the investigation.
At one point, a TMZ reporter asked Goodell how it was possible that the NFL failed to obtain the tape if the gossip site managed to track the footage down with “one phone call.”
“I can’t explain how you got your information, only you can do that,” he said.
Goodell sent a memo to all 32 NFL teams earlier Friday, and the news conference marked the first time the commissioner had spoken publicly this week as a rash of domestic violence allegations continued to plague some of the league’s most visible players.
The controversy erupted in full force two weeks ago when TMZ obtained the surveillance footage. The league came under further fire as reports surfaced that the NFL may have had access to the video before deciding to suspend Rice for only two games. Rice was cut by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely after TMZ’s report.
On Sept. 12. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was indicted on charges that he injured his 4-year-old son after striking him with a tree branch or switch while the boy was in his custody in Texas this summer.
The Vikings initially deactivated Peterson for one game but eventually barred him from all team activities after several sponsors pulled away from the team. Peterson faces up to two years in prison if convicted.
On Wednesday, Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested and charged with aggravated assault in connection with a July incident in which he allegedly broke his wife’s nose and threw a shoe at the couple’s young son.
Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy was also placed on the commissioner’s exempt list earlier this week as he appeals a domestic violence verdict in North Carolina, and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald remains under investigation after he was arrested, but not charged, in a domestic assault case this year.
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