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It took long enough, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell faced the media for the first time since the footage of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking his wife out in an elevator surfaced two weeks ago. He promised change throughout the league — but will it be enough to keep fans tuning in on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights?
After the most embarrassing two weeks in league history, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted what we already knew: “I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter and I’m sorry for that. I got it wrong on a number of levels, from the process that I lead to the decision that I reached.”
Many people reached the decision that the commissioner should resign due to the league’s poor handling of a slew of instances involving domestic violence. But he’s not going anywhere: “I understand when people are critical of your performance, but we have a lot of work to do, that’s my focus.”
First on the list, a new personal conduct policy.
Roger Goodell: “They will have a set of clear and transparent rules for league and club personnel, owners and players.”
Speaking of club personnel, just four hours after the commissioner’s spoke, a report from ESPN said that the Baltimore Ravens knew of Ray Rice’s abuse of his then fiancé hours after it happened. Head Coach John Harbaugh’s immediate request to cut Rice were turned down by the team G.M., President and Owner — only to then ask the commissioner to be lenient.
There’s no doubt the NFL’s image has been damaged. But will it affect their viewership? We asked people at Hamilton sports bar if they would still tune in to the NFL?
“Just because a few controversial things have happened, no one is going to stop watching it.”
“As long as they accept those mistakes and move on then I’m okay with that.”
“Hockey hasn’t started yet so there’s not really much else to watch.”
“Football season, everyone comes in. No one says anything bad about it. They all love it. They live for it. Yeah, they literally live for it.”
Just to demonstrate how impervious the NFL is to scandal, according to the Nielson ratings for the week of September 8th — so a week after the Ray Rice video surfaced — six of the top seven rated shows were all the NFL.
