Questions Had you been public relations advisor to the NFL commissioner, what ad
ID: 365391 • Letter: Q
Question
Questions
Had you been public relations advisor to the NFL commissioner, what advice would you
have given him after the Ray Rice incident was first reported?
What is your view on the fairness of the Rice suspension after the second TMZ video was
exposed?
Should the NFL allow players like Rice and Peterson and future domestic abusers to
remain in the league?
What public relations initiatives would you recommend the NFL take relative to
domestic and child abuse?
Answer the above questions using the below case study.
Your written assignment should answer the questions that follow the case. Include the text of the question before each answer. Each answer should be detailed, with a word count of 150-200 words. Write in complete sentences, in third person, and proofread to ensure no errors and mistakes are present. Your answers should be professional in tone and thoroughly persuade the reader.
Case Study Welcome to the NFL
In 2015, the annual compensation of the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL),
Roger Goodell, was $44 million. And why not?
The NFL’s annual revenues exceeded $9.5 billion, the highest for any world professional sports
league. The NFL’s 32 teams collect more than $1 billion yearly in sponsorship revenues. The
league has a $400 million contract with Microsoft for exclusive technologies on the sidelines and
a $4 billion partnership with DirectTV to broadcast every football game. The 2015 NFL Super
Bowl drew an average audience of 114 million TV viewers, the most watched broadcast in U.S.
television history.
So you would think that Commissioner Goodell and the NFL would be enjoying the moment.
Well, you’d be wrong.
In the second decade of the 21st century, the league was rocked by a series of scandals, the most
damaging of which stemmed from society’s growing concern over domestic violence,
particularly the abuse of women and children.
Fight in an Elevator
The NFL’s problems began in February 2014 when star Baltimore Ravens running back Ray
Rice and his then fiancée, Janay Palmer, were involved in an early-morning fight in an Atlantic
City hotel elevator. Both were charged with simple assault and released by the Atlantic City
Police Department.
A day later, TMZ.com released a video showing Rice dragging Palmer out of the elevator.
Ravens Coach Jim Harbaugh responded to the video by alluding to his conversation with Rice
about what happened and the fact that the couple would attend a seminar to deal with the
incident. Meanwhile, the NFL said nothing, allowing the team to deal with what appeared to be a
minor problem.
A month later, after an Atlantic City grand jury charged Rice with third-degree aggravated
assault, the Ravens issued a statement: “This is part of the due process for Ray. We know there is
more to Ray Rice than this one incident.”
Photo of Janay Palmer and Ray Rice walking past a large crowd of reporters
Figure 2-8 Abused and abuser.
Former NFL star Ray Rice and his wife, Janay Palmer, attend arbitration hearing with NFL
Commissioner Roger Goodell in November 2014.
Rice and Palmer then got married, and Rice acknowledged his actions were “inexcusable.” In
July, the NFL issued the star player a two-game suspension, after meeting personally with the
couple. By August, Goodell was being roundly criticized for the lightness of Rice’s punishment,
and on August 28, the league reacted by adopting a stricter domestic violence policy. Announced
a chagrined Goodell:
My disciplinary decision led the public to question our sincerity, our commitment, and
whether we understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families. I take
responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our actions in the future properly reflect
our values. I didn’t get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will.
The new goodwill lasted a week.
Video Knockout
On September 8, TMZ.com released new surveillance video from inside the elevator, showing
Rice punching Palmer and knocking her senseless.
The outrage from the public was immediate and uncompromising. Celebrities and other NFL
players immediately condemned Rice’s behavior. Nike dropped its sponsorship of him. EA
Sports announced it would delete the running back from its popular video games. The Ravens
offered to exchange Rice jerseys for those of other players, and the team terminated his contract.
The NFL then suspended Rice indefinitely—all as a result of the TMZ video.
The league and the team both claimed they had never before seen the video that TMZ published.
Rice’s now wife issued a statement on Instagram talking about the “horrible nightmare” her
family was now living through. She begged forgiveness for her husband and pleaded that he be
allowed to go back to his work to support the family. Rice, himself, texted the media, expressing
fear that he wouldn’t be allowed to play again. “I’m just holding strong for my wife and kid
that’s all I can do right now,” he wrote.
Inevitably, demands grew for Rice’s permanent suspension from football and Goodell’s firing.
Commissioner Goodell, in full damage control mode, went on national television and announced
the recruitment of domestic abuse specialists and plans to lead a campaign against national
domestic violence. He also said he couldn’t rule out that Ray Rice would never again play in the
NFL.
Learning the Hard Way
In the wake of the Ray Rice disaster, the NFL and its commissioner had learned their lesson.
A week after the Rice video, another NFL star running back, Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota
Vikings, was indicted in a child abuse case in which he used a wooden switch to discipline his
four-year- old son. In this case, however, NFL justice was swift and severe.
Goodell immediately announced that Peterson would be suspended without pay for the
remainder of the league season. Declared the commissioner in invoking the punishment:
The difference in size and strength between you and the child is significant, and your actions
clearly caused physical injury to the child. While an adult may have a number of options when
confronted with abuse—to flee, to fight back, or to seek help from law enforcement—none of
those options is realistically available to a four-year- old child. Further, the injury inflicted on
your son includes the emotional and psychological trauma to a young child who suffers criminal
physical abuse at the hands of his father.
As for Ray Rice, he ultimately appealed his NFL suspension in federal court and won the right to
become a free agent, eligible to be picked up by a team for the 2015 season. However, two
weeks before the season started, Rice still hadn’t been signed by a new team.
Unfortunately for the player and his family—but certainly understandable in light of the
domestic abuse baggage he carried—no team was willing to take a chance on the one-time star
who had become a public relations pariah.
Explanation / Answer
Had you been public relations advisor to the NFL commissioner, what advice would you
have given him after the Ray Rice incident was first reported?
If I were the public relations advisor to NFL I would have advised the commissioner to suspend Ray Rice from playing in the league for one season soon after the first incident of assault occurred. I would also advise him to take Rice back only if he genuinely repented his actions and issued a public statement of apology to Janay Palmer. I would also urge the commissioner to make a public announcement that any such actions are highly condemned and will not be taken lightly. He should make it clear that future cases will be dealt with strictly and could lead to permanent suspension of a player.
What is your view on the fairness of the Rice suspension after the second TMZ video was exposed?
The second TMZ video revealed abuse of a more severe nature. It was fair that Rice was suspended indefinitely from playing post that incident. However, the commissioner doesn't rule out the possibility of him playing again for NFL. Had I been in his place I would have permanently disbarred Rice from ever playing for NFL. If any mistake related to sexual assault is repeated in spite of warnings, there is no grounds to pardon that. The Commissioner was too light on his decision after the first incident which resulted in a second occurrence.
Should the NFL allow players like Rice and Peterson and future domestic abusers to remain in the league?
The NFL should not allow players like Rice and Peterson to remain in the league. If they continue pardoning such domestic abusers it sends out a wrong message to the public especially the youth regarding the consequences of such actions. It just shows that NFL values money generated by these players more than the moral correctness of their deeds. The youth of any generation grows up seeing the current state of affairs and they might feel it is ok to sexually assault or abuse someone because they can still get away with it. A sense of fear has to be cultivated against such horrendous deeds so that no one ever thinks of repeating it under the impression that they will be pardoned.
What public relations initiatives would you recommend the NFL take relative to domestic and child abuse?
NFL should tie up with some Foundations which work towards combating domestic and child abuse related issues. They should occasionally attend outreach initiatives aiming to stop domestic violence. It is also recommended that they have a few experts of the matter on their team who could help and advice their players facing any such issues in their personal life. NFL should publicly condemn any kind of domestic/child abuse and announce strict actions against those who are found guilty within the league. NFL could also go a step ahead and announce monetary support for a few affected victims in extreme circumstances as a part of their social responsibility activities.
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