A New Policy

Well, the NFL has a new Personal Conduct Policy. It was unanimously approved by the 32 team owners. Of course it was. It was their people that wrote the thing without a hint of input from the NFLPA. The need for a new conduct policy was made obvious by the complete bungling of the review, investigation, and disciplining of pretty much every off-the-field incident in recent memory. The arbitrary rule of Commissioner Roger Goodell had to be brought under control. Hopefully this new policy will do just that.

One of the key elements of the new policy is the formation of a nine-member conduct committee. According to the league's press release, the committee "will review the policy at least annually and recommend appropriate changes with advice from outside experts. The committee will ensure that the policy remains current and consistent with best practices and evolving legal and social standards."

The nine members on the committee include chairman and Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, Dee Haslam (wife of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam), Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson, Chicago Bears owner George McCaskey, Houston Texans owner Robert McNair, and two former players that are part of NFL ownership-Warrick Dunn (Atlanta Falcons) and John Stallworth (Pittsburgh Steelers).

Some of the key aspects of the new policy:
-the conduct committee
-baseline suspensions
-the formation of a disciplinary position in the league office
-the Commissioner or designee will still hear appeals
-a more extensive list of prohibited conduct
-extensive counseling and treatment
-the use of expert counsel
-covers everybody from an NFL Network wonk to the commissioner himself.

It's ridiculous that the NFL was so unprepared for what hit them over the past few months. They (Goodell) did just about everything wrong and then tried to kick it all under the carpet. At least, they did the right thing, finally, by getting a comprehensive policy in place. There are still some problems with it. Big surprise there. Players charged with crimes of violence will still be placed on paid leave pending the outcome of their legal cases and the resolution of their disciplinary proceedings through appeal. The players will miss the games but they won't get credit for time served. For some reason the decision-makers in the league don't consider a football player missing a football game a proper penalty. The suits consider it a vacation. It would be for them as they probably never played the game. The players want to play football. That's why most of them do this. Missing games is disciplinary. Adrian Peterson was on paid leave for a tenth of his NFL career. That hurts him far more than a fist-full of game checks. It's simply stunning that the NFL can elude common sense like this. An even bigger mistake was made when the NFL didn't include the NFLPA in the development of the Personal Conduct Policy. The league and the union are supposed to be in this together. Simple common courtesy would have allowed the union some degree of input. With the number of things that the NFL has done wrong over the past several months you'd think that they might want to do this one thing right.