NEW YORK (AP) – The 2014 NFL fall meetings were like none before. It was more like a crisis management clinic.
Roger Goodell met Wednesday with the full body of NFL owners for the first time since several missteps by the league involving personal conduct incidents. The agenda was filled with discussion of domestic violence and discipline for misbehaviour, educating everyone involved in the league on the dangers of abuse, and even included a powerful video by a former player calling for preventative action.
It’s been a difficult time for the NFL. Instead of celebrating the nation’s most popular sport and its games, the league has seen the spotlight focused glaringly on the abuse cases involving Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and others.
“We take these incidents very seriously,” Goodell added. “They are unacceptable … illegal.”
Goodell said the five hours of discussions were productive as the owners looked into potential changes to NFL policies to make them more effective, and how to make decisions in a more timely manner.
“To that point, we talked specifically about the investigation process,” said Goodell, whose office has been criticized for the way it probed the Rice case in particular. “Questions were debated about whether we should continue to be completely reliant on law enforcement or have independent investigations, and the time period in which those investigations would occur. There were discussions about basing decisions – maybe interim decisions, including leave of absence – on findings of fact by a court or some legal entity, a law enforcement entity.”
On Goodell’s role in handing out discipline, he reiterated that all options “are on the table.” He said the league has been discussing those options for more than a year, “debating whether there’s a better process, more efficient, fair.”
“Something that will allow us to deal with this complexity in a way we as a league will be satisfied, players will be satisfied,” he said.
Goodell added that “when something affects the integrity of the game, I believe (the owners) think this commissioner should have the authority.”
Rice has appealed his indefinite suspension, handed out after a video of the former Ravens running back was released publicly showing him punching his then-fiancée in a casino elevator. He originally was handed a two-game suspension, something Goodell later admitted was the wrong punishment. Goodell increased punishments under the personal conduct policy in late August, before the video was released and Rice was cut by Baltimore.
Unlike Rice, Vikings star running back Peterson, Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy and Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer wound up on an exempt list while the legal process plays out in their abuse cases. Goodell was asked if that list will continue to be used for future cases, or whether the NFL might hand out punishment even before due process in the courts has been completed.
He said the owners talked about “If there are findings of reasonable facts that there’s been a violation (of the conduct policy), should there be some interim step?”
The independent investigation into how the NFL handled the Rice case being conducted by former FBI director Robert Mueller could take “several months,” according to New York Giants owner John Mara, a liaison between the league and Mueller.
“We’re not trying to rush it,” Mara said. “We want him to be as thorough as possible.”
After approving the sale of the Buffalo Bills to Terry and Kim Pegula in the morning, the owners listened to a presentation on domestic violence that included the video,
Joe Ehrmann, a defensive tackle for ten pro seasons (1973-82), beseeches viewers to imagine what it would be like to see a loved one being subjected to abuse. He then urges intervention to curb such behaviour.
“Think about the role you have to raise up a generation of men that are going to have the clarity, have the moral courage to call out other men,” Ehrmann says.
The video was part of a 40-minute presentation put together by the league with the help of a group of outside advisers. The goal is to educate everyone in the NFL about the dangers of spousal abuse, child abuse, sexual assault and other domestic violence topics.
Goodell and other owners praised the presentation on domestic violence.
“There was a great deal of focus on what support services we can supply,” Goodell said.
The educational program will examine workplace policy, disciplinary considerations and “increasing understanding of the prevalence in society of these issues and how it impacts the NFL,” according to Deana Garner, the league’s director of player engagement and education.
Garner said the owners were particularly interested in all the internal and external resources available, including LifeLine, a 24-hour toll-free number created for “the entire NFL community and families.”
“They asked specifically how to activate those resources within their clubs,” she said.
Approval of the $1.4 billion sale of the Bills was a slam dunk as the Pegulas gained unanimous support from the 31 other owners – and strong applause, too.
The Pegulas, owners of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, expect the sale to be finalized by the end of the week.
“This is a significant step in us owning the team.” Terry Pegula said. “There’s a small matter of having to pay some money and we’ll get that done.”
Longtime Bills owner Ralph Wilson died in March, prompting the sale.
Buffalo sports fans were concerned the Bills could be moved out of state if purchased by another group. But the Pegulas are committed to the Buffalo area.
“If you asked me 10 years ago if I would own the Sabres and the Bills, I would have called you a liar,” Pegula said. “I just got a hell of a deal. I own the team.”
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