The term “memo” may very well be the new word of the day as it relates to the NFL. In a memo obtained by The Baltimore Sun, the league focuses on the hiring of Beth E. Richie (more on her below) as its senior advisor on domestic conduct. It also looks at what the league has done to help with the larger scale domestic violence and sexual assault issues in American society.
Goodell writes…
We have continued our work on implementing our commitments to address incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault, both in the NFL and in our society. This memo will briefly review some of the actions over the past week.
First, at the invitation of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a group from our office joined me at The Hotline in Austin, Texas last weekend. We spent almost three hours with the leadership and staff of The Hotline, discussing the needs of the people they serve and issues they face in providing those services.
It was a deeply moving experience that underscored the extent to which domestic violence and sexual assault are broad societal problems. You will be pleased to know that the financial support provided by the NFL has already made a real difference in the number of victims/survivors that The Hotline is able to serve. This week, they have reported to us that their staff is able to answer nearly 20 percent more calls, chats and texts than a week ago.
It’s great to see the NFL engaged in active participation as it relates to those helping curb the issues of violence against women and children in this country. It’s not so great to see the NFL almost blatantly use this meeting as a PR tool to further its public perception.
The memo, originally sent out to the 32 chief executives on Thursday night, just so happened to fall on to the laps of The Baltimore Sun. This comes on the heels of another memo sent last week that was also made public.
Maybe the league should continue to work behind the scenes on the issues of the day without sending out a weekly memo (through a news outlet) to spin it in the league’s favor publicly. That would seem a bit more sincere.
Third, we expanded our group of outside experts by adding Beth E. Richie as a new senior advisor. Dr. Richie is the director of the Institute of Research on Race and Public Policy and a professor of African American studies, criminology, sociology, gender and women’s studies, and criminal law and justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
She is also one of the nation’s leading experts on issues of sexual assault, as well as having considerable experience in domestic violence issues. Our existing group of experts, including Lisa Friel, Peter Harvey, Tony Porter, Jane Randel and Rita Smith, continue to meet with us almost daily to help develop our educational and service programs, and to assist in revising our Personal Conduct Policy.
Personally, I am more interested in what specific actions the league is taking from within its own ranks as it relates to violence off the field. Name dropping in a memo to NFL executives proves nothing more than that the league itself is more interesting in furthering its public perception. Sure these experts could play a vital role moving forward, but who really needs the league to run off their qualifications at the level that it did above?
This isn’t to question the league’s intentions moving forward. Hopefully Goodell and Co. received the message loud and clear. As the NFL continues to transcend the sports world and becomes connected to the larger society, it’s the responsibility of the league to act as a leader against the issues that we face. And among the biggest issues, even outside of the context of the NFL itself, is domestic violence.
Maybe (just maybe) the NFL can use this recent scandal as an opportunity to further knowledge of domestic violence and help us all overcome what has become a growing epidemic in the United States.