NFL Commissioner Goodell: 'We Will Get Our House In Order' On Player Domestic Violence Issues
NEW YORK (CBS SF) -- National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell pledged to overhaul the league's approach to player conduct issues and once again faulted himself for failures to adequately address repeated instances of players involved in domestic violence cases.
"We have seen all too much of the NFL doing wrong," said Goodell. "That starts with me."
Goodell vowed major changes on how the league addresses player conduct issues, saying the league plans to implement new personal conduct policies by the Super Bowl. "We will get our house in order first," he said.
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Responding to a question from a reporter, Goodell said he has not considered resigning his post and said he is focused on doing his job. "I acknowledged my mistake," he said, referring to how he botched the handling of the Ray Rice case.
Goodell did not offer many specifics on what the league would change, but said he and the head of the NFL Players Association would meet next week along with outside experts to evaluate the league's policies.
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The press conference generated a flurry of negative reaction on Twitter, including from number of current NFL players.
Goodell issued the comments during a press conference Friday in New York amid criticism he and NFL have not acted quickly or decisively on the issue of player conduct.
It was Goodell's first public remarks on the league's recent slew of domestic abuse and player conduct issues in more than a week.
Both the commissioner and some NFL teams have been under fire for their handling of domestic violence cases involving some of the league's marquee players.
Earlier, the NFL announced it would partner with the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center to provide financial and operational support.
In San Francisco, The Riley Center domestic violence support group said it was heartened to hear the league was partnering with the national groups. "This effort will broaden the NFL's understanding of Domestic Violence and hopefully engage them in further advocacy and social change," the center said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Bay Area Domestic Violence Shelter Collaboration has called on the San Francisco 49ers to bench defensive lineman Ray McDonald while the investigation into his arrest on alleged domestic violence is conducted.
