Angelo: NFL swept 100's of domestic violence issues away

[Guest]

The NFL has mostly stumbled since the Ray Rice news broke and the important issue of domestic violence came to the forefront for the league. Although commissioner Roger Goodell attempted to fix his initial response by acknowledging that he had made a mistake and overhauling the punishment system for those involved in domestic violence, there's little question that the league has not been proactive around these issues.

Maybe even more so than we originally thought.

Jerry Angelo, the Bears general manager from 2001-11, told USA Today that NFL teams did not discipline "hundreds and hundreds" of domestic violence incidents during the three decades he worked in the NFL.

"I made a mistake,'' Jerry Angelo told the newspaper. "I was human. I was part of it. I'm not proud of it."

Frankly, it's a staggering admission for a league that continues to look hopelessly and willfully uncaring about its employees and their families.

Angelo said his response when he heard about a domestic violence incident was to ask, "OK, is everybody OK? Yeah. How are they doing? Good. And then we'd just move on. We'd move on."

"We knew it was wrong," Angelo said. "…For whatever reason, it just kind of got glossed over. I'm no psychiatrist, so I can't really get into what that part of it is. I'm just telling you how I was. I've got to look at myself first. And I was part of that, but I didn't stand alone."

Angelo, who hasn't been with the league since he was fired from Chicago after the 2011 season, said he's come forward now because he was distraught by the Ray Rice video.

He also said he didn't involve the NFL at the time of these incidents because he didn't want his players punished.

"Our business is to win games," Angelo said. "We've got to win games, and the commissioner's job is to make sure the credibility of the National Football League is held in the highest esteem. But to start with that, you have to know who's representing the shield. ... We got our priorities a little out of order."

As for Goodell, Angelo said "he would never cover anything up," but when talking about the league's inability to procure the Rice elevator tape, Angelo said it appeared as if the league was "just trying to cover [its] ass."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-...ence-incidents

Very damning if true. My guess is a third party group is going to be brought in to do an audit on the NFL's handling of these domestic violence claims. I just wonder how long Goodell tries to stick it out.

[Tailback U]

Very damning if true. My guess is a third party group is going to be brought in to do an audit on the NFL's handling of these domestic violence claims. I just wonder how long Goodell tries to stick it out.

Not trying to excuse this but I'm guessing NFL teams looked the other way on a lot of worse shit than domestic violence over the years. The internet and social media's magnifying glass have changed everything.

It sounds bad but I don't even blame them. Back then it was the laws job to lay down punishments for crime. If the legal system wasn't punishing my player, why would I?

Very rarely did the NFL or teams get involved unless it was a huge case (Rae Carruth). Hell, Ray Lewis was on trial for murder, got off, and came back as a hero. Hernandez, who might actually get off, was suspended as soon as the allegations broke.

Way different time.

[dave]

Dan Wilkinson allegedly pushed his pregnant wife down a flight of stairs. Of course the NFL ignored this.

I absolutely love the NFL, but it's pretty much doomed. You can't ask people to play this game the way it's played and be normal people.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Again who gives a shit. This aint the National Moral League. This is an EXTREMELY well known fact since the 60s. NFL players and Domestic Violence are synonymous. Let the law do its job. As TBU said and Ive been harping if the legal system isn't punishing a guy why the hell should the NFL ? Angelos covering his ass when the fem machine inevitably unearth the mountain of cases no one spoke about or went unpunished.
Goodells stupid ego led to the personal conduct policy and nothing has changed. Let him get roasted by it and be done with.

[dave]

Again who gives a shit. This aint the National Moral League. This is an EXTREMELY well known fact since the 60s. NFL players and Domestic Violence are synonymous. Let the law do its job. As TBU said and Ive been harping if the legal system isn't punishing a guy why the hell should the NFL ? Angelos covering his ass when the fem machine inevitably unearth the mountain of cases no one spoke about or went unpunished.
Goodells stupid ego led to the personal conduct policy and nothing has changed. Let him get roasted by it and be done with.

I get your love of football KOF, I have it too ... but simply throwing these issues off to law enforcement simply isn't the easy answer. The NFL has anti-trust protection (when it shouldn't) and simply saying these are legal issues is a cop-out.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

I get your love of football KOF, I have it too ... but simply throwing these issues off to law enforcement simply isn't the easy answer. The NFL has anti-trust protection (when it shouldn't) and simply saying these are legal issues is a cop-out.

But as I said in the other thread where do you draw the line ? At some point you're going to end up past "punching women in elevators". What happens when Michael Sam punches a BF...what if Eli punches Peyton during Thanksgiving..all are domestic disputes.What about a local bar fight ? What if all there is was a 911 call?
What about the other side of the NFL fact of life of players victimized and blackmailed by women and family. One false report and tweeted bruise and a career can end.
The NFL isnt equipped nor be expected to have any special insight or investigatory powers in a criminal matter. If the legal system cant find reason to send a guy to jail or even counseling on what basis does the NFL end a season or career ?
Morality clauses are too subjective and a slippery slope and NFL is highlighting every reason why.

[RosettaStoned]

The law should handle legal matters, anybody saying otherwise is an idiot. Here is what's happening, the far left have been trying to implement this cultural Marxism shit for a while but can't get around the constitution. So they are just going to implement by circumventing it. This is happening in colleges across the country with rape accusations. Now instead of it being handled by law enforcement it's handled by student unions and university staff with no training on law or investigating. They are railroading boys out of colleges country wide and it's coming straight from the Whitehouse.

[MrBill]

It's impossible for the league to have a domestic policy that works for every situation. They are all unique and the person (or group) that hands out punishment has to be able to look at each case as an individual incident. A player that grabs his girlfriend by the arm and bruises it because they are both drunk and fighting should not get the same punishment as the player that punches his pregnant girlfriend. The league hasn't acted for years and now is trying to make up for lost time but as KOF said, this is a slippery slope and is best left to law enforcement. What the NFL needs to do is get out of the business of covering it up when it does happen and let the authorities come to their own conclusions without the league office calling local politicians to get involved.

[EmpireWF]

When Stone Cold Steve Austin beat his wife, he had the decency to walk out on his employer before doing so, and deal with all the legal issues (including divorce) before returning to work.

As for this Angelos story, no shit. Nobody cared 5, 10 years ago let alone in the 20th century if some NFL player attacked his spouse. Nobody gave two shits about Ray Lewis most definitely having some role in the murder of two men, the league has been teflon for years.

But, when it starts to impact their sponsors and raise the attention of politicians who may start asking questions the NFL does not want to answer, we see Goodell and company circle the wagons to shut shit down. The players have no one to blame for whatever policies emerge but themselves.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Speaking of sponsors Goodells pink player movement to bring in female fans and sponsors had raised a measly 9 million since inception. To put that into perspective NFL pays Goodell 30 million and spend 35 million in new offices last year. They could have tossed 10 million into a donation check ,done the good deed , and kept the additional gyno vultures off the microscope. Now the league has a giant black eye they'd have to color the turf pink for years to undo.