By their acts if not deeds, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell are finally admitting the issue of domestic abuse might be too pervasive and persistent for the league to conquer all by its lonesome.
In the wake of the PR nightmare yet raging over Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice’s Atlantic City elevator attack on his defenseless wife and the ongoing legal drama stemming from the blood-inducing “whooping” Adrian Peterson inflicted on his four-year-old son, league officials confirmed on Monday they plan to “hire an outside team of advisers and counselors on domestic violence, similar to the talent surge on player health-and-safety issues, including concussions.”
Goodell and crew also plan to employ an in-house team of staffers entrusted with handling compliance and training on the issue and further intend to make awareness and education programs at the high school and college levels staples of their many outreach programs.
It’s all part of what league officials tout as “doing everything we can to earn the trust of our fans and community, on and off the field.” And all of it comes not a moment too soon, as the totally vanquished Rice is expected to petition this week to have the indefinite suspension part of his sentence lifted by the NFL and, despite their early stance, rumors are growing the Minnesota Vikings have no plans of parting ways with the since-reinstated Peterson over the long haul.
After being formally indicted, charged, and booked on child abuse charges, Peterson over the weekend tweeted out the biblical expression “come to me and rest. Give your life a rest from its habitual judgment. You form judgments about this situation, that situation, this person, that person, yourself, even the weather— as if judging were your main function in life.”
No matter what you make of the crime Adrian Peterson stands accused of, the NFL knows given all its mounting problems it doesn’t have the benefit of being able to express the same level of righteous indignation the former league MVP’s tweet suggests he still holds when it comes to his individual situation.
It’s been widely reasoned the first step in any recovery is the infirm finally coming to admit their illness to themselves. Given their moves of today, the NFL can only hope it can now soon get back to flexing the kind of muscle that’s made the league what it’s always been and easily crowned it as America’s most riveting show on earth.
