Owners Approve New Conduct Policy, Amidst Release Of Ray Rice Transcript

The NFL Owners unanimously approved a new personal conduct policy Wednesday, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced.

• This news is naturally being greeted against the release of the transcript of the Ray Rice arbitration hearing.

Some of the more notable provisions from the new policy include:

• the hiring of special outside counsel for initial investigations into conduct; the Commissioner will only be involved in the appeal process
• those players charged with violent crimes will be afforded leave with pay during the investigation

In light of the Ray Rice situation, the key provision of the new policy is undoubtedly the commissioner’s assignment of power to outside counsel for the purposes of an initial investigation.

Some may point to the fact that the NFL remains the party in charge of hiring the outside investigator, but it simply is not feasible for the league to be divested of all power.

Ironically, this announcement was made at roughly the same time the transcript from the Ray Rice appeal was released.

The transcript reveals an unprepared Goodell according to ESPN’s Lester Munson.  Munson questions why Goodell was not more familiar with the league’s personal conduct policy procedures, particularly where he played an integral part in the initial investigation and punishment.

While opinions regarding the transcript will vary, it is important that the league has taken steps to reconcile what proved to be a flawed process.