The sad saga continues.
There is more dirty laundry stuffed into the NFL's bad boy baggage than Lady Gaga concert costumes.
NFL leaders wear the dirtiest garments.
Roger Goodell's evasive, wooden treatment of the Rice scandal and silence on the Adrian Peterson one reveals the cultural acceptance of violence among league executives, whether it is on the playing field or not.
This romance of violence has blurred the lines of player behavior that the league fails to discern.
Team owners are unwilling to speak out against their beleaguered leader, in part because their own teams have soiled linen of their own. It demonstrates a prevailing industry attitude that boys will be boys.
The league and their teams need to begin repairing the damage that allows criminal behavior among players.
Communicating honestly with the public is the critical first step.
For future reference, here are 7 enduring rules for effective and ethical communications in public crises:
#1: Put the top decision maker front and center.
Even when titular leaders are not comfortable spokespeople, it is they alone who must speak for the organization. Keep lieutenants on the sidelines. Speak from the heart and above all, don't read canned statements.
#2: Never first take action and then retreat.
Both The NFL and Vikings issued statements of consequences for the perpetrators, but then backtracked. It is better to correct a mistake rather than perpetuate one, but the leaders had their fingers in the air of public opinion and misread the wind direction. Shifting from overdrive to reverse was a rookie mistake.
#3: Humanize the story.
When you do you will humanize your team and yourself.
True humility can't be rehearsed. But it can be expressed. The Vikings should have spent less time rehearsing stiff responses and more time in silent consideration of the environment they helped create. And they should have spoken candidly about the harm caused by the teams own employees.
#4: Genuinely apologize to the public and your fans for your history of unacceptable off-the-field conduct.
Sincerely and publicly apologize to the public and fans for allowing your players to behave reprehensibly off-the-field of play with few consequences.
With apology comes humility. With humility comes clarity. With clarity comes action. With action comes a safer community and stronger sports industry. A humble apology will be good for business--and the soul.
#5: Take action against your NFL Commissioner.
Owners should fire Goodell.
It would tell the world teams have a moral compass that doesn't always point in the direction of self-interest hiding in the status quo.
Truthfully, Goodell is a good ol' boy who has been along for the ride in a period of breathtaking growth of influence and prosperity of the NFL. But he has a poor record of action on profoundly human issues such as player concussions, drug and alcohol addiction and sub-human issues like physical violence against strangers and loved ones.
#6: Announce a clear, dramatic Plan Of Action.
The issue of player violence does not need Blue Ribbon Commission or Task Force. The League will go a long way toward restoring integrity and public confidence by promptly advancing an agenda for action—and following through with it.
#7: Immediately impose a draconian penalty against perpetrators
Adrian Peterson makes around $15 million per year. Roger Goodell makes $44 million per year. The league should institute harsh fines on first time offenders and banish repeat offenders from football. It should announce the money collected will go to a dedicated fund to be used for player training and treatment; and restitution payments to victims.
Abuse is always a proposition of the strong dominating the weak; exploitation versus equity, excuses vs. consequences. It is what makes abuse abuse.
This definition applies to predatory players, and, by extension, to complicit owners and executives.
It is part of the ethic of a sport whose leaders remain silent or pay lip service to a problem that will not heal until they stop condoning it with casual ignorance.
