Female Senators send Goodell letter, express domestic violence concerns, reports Lindsay H. Jones, of USA Today. Senator Elizabeth Warren, and 15 other female Senators, signed a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell protesting the NFL's new policy of giving players who commit domestic violence only a six game suspension.
"We are deeply concerned that the NFL's new policy, announced last month, would allow a player to commit a violent act and return after a short suspension," the letter, released by California Senator Barbara Boxer, read. "If you violently assault a woman, you shouldn't get a second chance to play in the NFL." ...
"It is long past time for the NFL to institute a real zero-tolerance policy and send a strong message that the league will not tolerate violence against women by its players, who are role models for children across America. We hope the NFL will seize this opportunity to lead by example and demonstrate its commitment to the safety of women and families," the letter read.
The following Senators signed the letter: Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
Warren Joins Senators in Petition Blasting NFL’s Domestic Violence Policy
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined 15 other female senators on Thursday to demand that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell institute a zero-tolerance policy for domestic violence.
Spearheaded by Senator Barbara Boxer of California, the letter blasts the NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice scandal, saying, “it is long past time for the NFL to institute a real zero-tolerance policy and send a strong message that the league will not tolerate violence against women by its players, who are role models for children across America.”
Warren and her co-signers are “shocked and disgusted” by the video that surfaced earlier this week of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice beating his now-wife Janay Palmer back in February, and by reports that NFL officials may have seen the video prior to dealing out Rice’s initial two-game suspension.
The NFL also announced today that it has retained Ex-FBI head to investigate NFL's handling of Rice case Tom Pelissero according to Tom Pelissero of USA TODAY.
The NFL has hired former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III to investigate the league's pursuit and handling of evidence in the Ray Rice domestic violence case after a report Wednesday that a league executive received videotape evidence five months before it became public.
The announcement came hours after the Associated Press published a report citing an unnamed law enforcement official who said he sent a tape of Rice punching his then-fiancée to an NFL executive long before the video surfaced on TMZ.com on Monday, leading to Rice's release from the Baltimore Ravens and his indefinite suspension by the league.
The law enforcement official — speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation — also played the AP a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirming the video arrived. A female voice expresses thanks and says: "You're right. It's terrible."
Roger Goodell's career seems to be hanging by a thin and unraveling threat today. If evidence turns up showing that he and others in the NFL saw this shocking tape of Ray Rice's brutal attack on Janay Rice, he will have to resign or be fired. Many believe this is his appropriate fate regardless of whether it can be proven he is lying about seeing the tape. His bungling of this whole affair from start to finish reflects poorly on the NFL and himself and sends a poor message about the lack of seriousness in the NFL with regard to violence against women.