Where is Roger Goodell? The football-loving world finally got its answer on Friday afternoon when the embattled NFL commissioner made his first public appearance in over a week to address his league's spiraling domestic abuse and discipline crisis.
It went downhill in a hurry. Goodell was criticized by current players on Twitter during the conference, a prankster interrupted him during the appearance before being dragged away, pundits on TV generally panned his performance afterward and NFL legend Teddy Bruschi maintained after the conference that Goodell should resign.
Goodell announced at Friday's 45-minute press conference in New York City that the league will develop a new personal conduct policy, establish a conduct committee to monitor off-the-field issues, reiterated that he mishandled the Ray Rice case and said the league "looks forward" to an investigation of the league's handling of Rice led by former FBI director Robert Mueller.
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The league's public-image meltdown began in late July, when Goodell suspended running back Ray Rice just two games for punching his then-fiancée in a casino elevator last February. That was seen by most as a light punishment and drew widespread outrage. When TMZ leaked footage of Rice's actual punch on Sept. 8, that outrage exploded.
Goodell had about 10 days prior announced a new domestic violence policy mandating six-game suspensions for first-time offenders -- but then promptly banned the first-time offender Rice from the NFL indefinitely. The contradiction appeared to many as a reactionary move by a rudderless league front office. Meanwhile, more domestic abuse cases have continued to rock the league since.
Sponsors of the league were forced to speak out critically and Crest toothpaste canceled a promotion with the league set for next month. In short: Goodell couldn't hide out any longer and active leadership -- or at least the appearance of active leadership -- was desperately needed.
A tense press conference
Goodell's much-anticipated press conference drew criticism before it even began -- he was 15 minutes late to the podium.
In his approximately 10-minute prepared statement, and in answering questions from reporters, Goodell continually stressed the importance of "getting better" as a league and his hopes to effect change beyond just the NFL. He said he intends to have the new conduct policy drafted by Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1. He is not considering resigning, despite calls from many pundits to step down, and admitted the league lacks a consistent policy for dealing with domestic violence by players.
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Goodell also repeatedly stressed the importance and value of an "independent investigation" by former FBI director Robert Mueller that the league first announced last week. That investigation has been questioned, however, for two reasons. First, the league said Mueller's "independent" investigation will be overseen by two longtime NFL owners -- one of whom, John Mara of the New York Giants, expressed support for Goodell as the Ray Rice controversy reached its apex. Mueller also works for the law firm WilmerHale, according to NBC Sports, which "helped the NFL recently negotiate a multi-billion-dollar contract with DirecTV."
During Goodell's press conference, several current NFL players posted critical tweets of the commissioner and his statements.
This press conference is pointless— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) September 19, 2014
ESPN ran tweets of dismayed NFL players during Goodell's press conference http://t.co/BATpjim0Qz pic.twitter.com/dQyydl74wj— Erick Morelos (@emorelos17) September 19, 2014
What Roger just said is the exact same thing that players say when they make a mistake and plead their case— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) September 19, 2014
RT @AndrewBaca55: @TorreySmithWR He needs to resign!...not gonna say all of that but he needs to get it right...I'm sure they will with time— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) September 19, 2014
At one point, the conference was interrupted by a prankster -- identified by some as Benjy Bronk from The Howard Stern Show -- screaming, "Don't take me to an elevator!" as security dragged him away.
Weird interruption in the Goodell presser just now. "DONT TAKE ME TO AN ELEVATOR" https://t.co/R1GrCEYK7K— Sam Laird (@samcmlaird) September 19, 2014
Goodell's performance was widely panned by most observers for lacking passion or the appearance of sincerity, as well as his evading direct answers to tough questions.
Earlier Friday, Goodell sent a memo to league staff saying that every NFL employee must participate in educational sessions on domestic violence and sexual assault during the next month. On Thursday night, it pledged longterm financial support of the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Hurting the bottom line?
Just as Crest's canceled promotion was a huge deal symbolically -- representing the first brand to do more than release finger-wagging statements -- evidence emerged this week that recent events may finally be hurting the appeal of America's most popular sports league.
An NBC News/Marist poll found that while 86% of fans say the NFL's domestic violence problem hasn't changed the amount of football they watch, 11% said they're now less likely to tune into games. While that 11% may seem negligible, sports-media blog Awful Announcing contextualized the number well on Friday.
Bears-49ers on Sunday Night Football reached 16.5 million viewers in Week 2. If 11% of fans refuse to tune in, that’s a loss of 1.8 million fans. Should the NFL not be concerned with potentially losing 1.8 MILLION PEOPLE because of their own mistakes? What if 10% of the population boycotts the Super Bowl this winter? You’re looking at a loss of over 10 million fans for the big game. These are not numbers to sneeze at.
Time will tell if the new measures unveiled by Goodell at Friday's press conference will be enough to keep his ship from taking on more water -- because words alone aren't enough to mollify most observers after the NFL's brutal past several weeks.