The NFL has been battling a bit of an image problem over the last couple of years with regard to how it responds to domestic violence against women issues with players. As the NFL continues to try and reshape its image in this sensitive subject, recently unveiled comments and public comments from President-Elect Donald Trump have left a slightly more challenging job for the NFL, as commissioner Roger Goodell suggests.
Goodell was asked about Trump’s string of comments about women that were thrown under a microscope during the election process while attending The New York Times’ DealBook conference.
“It makes my job harder at home too,” Goodell claimed. “I have twin daughters and a wife so I have to explain that to them. So yes, on that front. Does it make it harder publicly? Listen, I think our country has to have more respect for one another, and we have to unite.”
NFL Goodell says Trump's comments on women hard to explain to his daughters.
— Ken Belson (@el_belson) November 10, 2016
The immediate response here is how Goodell explains some of his own decision-making in punishing players in his league for various domestic violence situations. But Goodell says the nation should focus on uniting as one as the country moves forward. To his credit, Goodell is right. The nation has some healing to do but it is best when we do come together to move forward as one.
But that also means not disparaging any segment of our nation, like women. The NFL has failed in this category a few times, bu it is striving to improve. The NFL has a female referee and a female assistant coach, so we are seeing changes for the better. It is the off-field issues that remain a concern.
“We re-did our personal conduct policy two years ago and we saw a 40 percent drop over the next year in our player arrests,” Goodell explained. “This year, we’re at a 30 percent reduction off of that. So we’re seeing a very significant impact on educating and helping players deal with situations. Coaches, league office executives, team executives, we want to teach them how to handle situations so they avoid getting into problems.”
Here’s hoping these improvements continue and the NFL takes the lead in domestic violence awareness.
