Roger Goodell on previous personal conduct policy: 'I blew it'
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell again acknowledged that the league's previous stance on the personal conduct policy was not sufficient when dealing with players who are accused of crimes, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Goodell was slammed by advocates who said that former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice's two-game suspension for striking and dragging his then-fiancée out of an Atlantic City casino elevator in February was not enough.
Rice was indefinitely suspended by the NFL and cut by the Ravens in September after a second video surfaced showing what happened inside of the elevator.
• BRANDT: Players union cut out of NFL personal conduct policy talks
Goodell and league officials are expected to reveal a new personal-conduct policy on Wednesday with NFL owners. The Washington Post reported last week that the league and NFLPA are willing to revise commissioner Goodell's role when determining player discipline.
“I blew it,” Goodell told The Wall Street Journal. “Our penalties didn’t fit the crimes.”
“I’m not trying to run away from this problem, which is a societal problem,” Goodell said. “But people hold the NFL to a high standard.”
According to the newspaper, there have been 135 domestic-violence allegations against NFL players since the turn of the century. Most of the cases were dropped after the accuser refused to press charges. If players were punished, most received a one-game suspension.
The new policy is expected to state that if a player or any person that is employed by the NFL is accused of a crime, they will go on paid leave until an investigation is complete or charges are filed against that person.
- Scooby Axson
