Xuan Thai, ESPN Senior Writer
On Aug. 13, three days after his first NFL look, Cleveland Browns rookie Michael Hall Jr. was arrested after police stated he held a gun to his fiancée's head and threatened to kill her.
Hall initially pleaded not responsible to a domestic violence cost, and the NFL opened an investigation into the allegations the following day. He performed in the Browns' remaining two preseason video games earlier than the NFL introduced he can be positioned on the commissioner's exempt record and barred from observe or video games till the league concluded its investigation. His fiancée later recanted her assertion that Hall held a gun to her head, and in September, he pleaded no contest to a lowered cost of disorderly conduct. The NFL suspended him Oct. 1 for 5 video games with out pay.
The NFL's quick response to Hall's arrest was a results of the procedures carried out a decade in the past, when public criticism over the league's delayed response to allegations involving then-Baltimore Ravens working again Ray Rice pressured a toughening of insurance policies round domestic violence. The adjustments included new minimal punishments for first-time offenders and obligatory player training.
Since then, the league says, player arrests for every type of offenses have gone down “by half.” However, the variety of gamers accused in domestic violence cases has fluctuated from yr to yr, in keeping with figures launched by the league to ESPN. In 2023, 11 cases of domestic violence had been reported to the NFL, as in comparison with eight cases reported in 2015, the primary full yr after coverage adjustments. Figures in different years ranged from three to 9 incidents. So far in 2024, 5 cases have been reported to the league.
“Domestic violence and sexual assault are huge societal problems,” stated Lisa Friel, the longtime Manhattan prosecutor employed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as a part of his response to the Rice case. “We probably do a better job than just about anywhere of educating all our people and the audience that we have access to about these issues.”
Ten years in the past, in September 2014, video emerged of Rice knocking out his then-fiancée Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, elevator on Feb. 15, 2014. About 5 months earlier than the video turned public, Rice was indicted for third-degree aggravated assault, and the NFL suspended him for 2 video games in July of that yr.
After the video leaked, ESPN reporting on the time confirmed that prime Ravens officers knew nearly instantly in February what the video confirmed and lobbied the league to lighten any punishment for Rice.
Goodell stated nobody in the NFL noticed the inside-elevator video till the general public did. But amid public criticism, Goodell apologized and stated he “didn't get it right.” Rice was suspended indefinitely, and the Ravens minimize him. He by no means performed once more in the league.
As a part of the response, Goodell employed Friel, a 28-year veteran of the Manhattan district legal professional's workplace who as soon as led New York City's intercourse crimes prosecution unit, as particular counsel chargeable for overseeing domestic violence investigations. The NFL additionally promoted Anna Isaacson to a newly created function centered on social and cultural points.
The league carried out sweeping adjustments to its private conduct coverage to incorporate punishments for domestic violence, with a six-game suspension for first-time offenders that may be adjusted based mostly on aggravating or mitigating components and a lifetime ban for second offenses. (Players can petition for reinstatement after one yr.) The NFL additionally mandated annual domestic violence coaching for all league workers, crew house owners and employees and gamers.
In the three years earlier than the NFL modified its private conduct coverage, a mean of about 69 gamers had been arrested per yr for all offenses, together with domestic violence, in keeping with knowledge supplied by the league. From 2021 by way of 2023, a mean of about 34 gamers had been arrested annually.
“Would I like to see that at zero? Of course I would,” Friel advised ESPN. “The public would like to see crimes go down to zero. I don't know how realistic that is, but that we went down by half is a huge change. So I think we've made a big difference here.”
Despite the brand new minimal penalties, the NFL continues to face public criticism that punishments have been inconsistent or selective. Some gamers accused of violating the private conduct coverage have been minimize outright by groups, by no means to play once more, whereas stars reminiscent of Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt had been handed suspensions by the league earlier than resuming their careers. Elliott, who by no means confronted felony expenses, served a six-game suspension after a league investigation into claims he abused his girlfriend in 2016, and Hunt sat out eight video games for his altercation with a lady in a Cleveland lodge in 2018.
Some gamers do not get suspended by the league in any respect, together with Tyreek Hill, the topic of a police investigation after his son sustained a damaged arm in 2019. Police decided the damage was unintended and never baby abuse. After a four-month investigation, the NFL couldn't discover proof that Hill violated the private conduct coverage, a choice that drew criticism as a result of leaked audio of an argument between Hill and the mom of his baby included her accusations of kid abuse. Hill had beforehand pleaded responsible to a domestic assault cost whereas in school. Hill denied each allegations in the recorded argument.
Last week, the NFL suspended Buffalo Bills defensive finish Von Miller for 4 video games with out pay for violating the league's private conduct coverage. Miller turned himself in to Glenn Heights (Texas) police final yr following an arrest warrant for a cost of third-degree felony assault of a pregnant girl. Miller denied the allegations, and a spokesman for the Dallas district legal professional's workplace advised ESPN the case in opposition to Miller has been closed.
On Sept. 30, the league stated it discovered inadequate proof that former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus violated the private conduct coverage after it investigated allegations that he sexually assaulted two girls on the crew's flight to London in 2023.
The NFL stated Monday that it's investigating New England Patriots security Jabrill Peppers, who pleaded not responsible after he was arrested on expenses of assault and battery, assault and battery with a harmful weapon, strangulation, and possession of a Class B substance believed to be cocaine, in keeping with Braintree, Massachusetts, police. A lady alleged that Peppers hit her, choked her, took off her clothes and put her exterior. She advised police she and Peppers had been courting “on and off” for about three years. Peppers' legal professional has stated there may be proof that “sheds real doubt on the allegations, including videotaped evidence.”
‘100% positive'
Though the NFL's coverage doesn't require a felony conviction or perhaps a cost to punish a player — solely “credible evidence … that he engaged in prohibited conduct” is required — Friel stated her normal in making suggestions is much like that when she was a prosecutor.
“I have to be 100% sure when I do an investigation that they did what they were accused of,” Friel stated. “That's my personal statement. I wasn't going to see anybody go to jail as a DA if I wasn't 100% sure, and I'm not going to see anybody disciplined here unless I'm 100% sure.”
Friel doesn't subject player punishments. Following an investigation, she writes a report, and Goodell makes the ultimate choice.
“The NFL is not going to make a disciplinary decision just based on an allegation,” Friel advised ESPN. “We're going to investigate that allegation, and we have to develop sufficient evidence that what someone is saying really occurred. … Zero games means we couldn't prove any allegation in those cases.”
Friel additionally is proscribed in her powers to analyze. As a personal lawyer for the NFL, she doesn't have subpoena authority and may solely compel NFL workers to talk to her, which has pressured her to study new methods to assemble proof. She additionally has to handle stress that arises between the league and the gamers' union.
For instance, an impartial arbiter appointed by the NFL and NFL Players Association dominated in August 2022 that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was accused by greater than two dozen girls of sexual misconduct throughout therapeutic massage periods, ought to serve a six-game suspension. Watson denied the allegations. Goodell stated the proof confirmed Watson ought to serve a full-season suspension, so the NFL appealed. Ultimately, the league and NFLPA settled on an 11-game suspension and a $5 million positive.
“We're definitely not on the same side, so to speak,” Friel stated. “They have a different job to do. Their job is to represent the player the best they can, which includes getting the discipline as low as they can make it. The player is their client, so if a player says to them, ‘I'm not taking any discipline, we're going to go and have an appeal on that,' [the union has to] go along with what the player wants.”
The NFLPA didn't reply to requests for remark.
Friel stated she has needed to educate league and crew workers in regards to the nuances of domestic violence cases, significantly about why individuals usually do not wish to cooperate with investigations or typically recant statements.
“There are so many good reasons that victims don't cooperate or discontinue cooperating,” Friel stated, including that monetary dependency and youngsters usually complicate investigations. “I see cases where I feel like something really happened here. … When you specialize in domestic violence and sexual assault, you have to get over something like disappointment [of not having evidence for a case] pretty early.”
‘Swift and really clear response'
Within weeks of the Rice video, Isaacson, now the league's senior vice chairman of social accountability, organized a go to for Goodell to the National Domestic Violence Hotline name heart based mostly in Austin, Texas, the place the commissioner listened to incoming calls.
“I remember the commissioner being visibly shaken,” stated Katie Ray-Jones, the hotline's chief govt officer.
“He had probably one of the worst calls we've ever had here at the hotline. It was very, very violent, serendipitous maybe that the commissioner would hear something that many women, many victims experience,” Jones stated. “I think it was very hard for him, and when he left our office that night, he said [the NFL] will be a lifelong partner.”
Since then, the NFL has given almost $34 million to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The league additionally established a crucial response crew that assembles to help a player or member of the family in disaster.
Juan Carlos Areán, a program director at Futures Without Violence, stated individuals would possibly discover it troublesome to report an allegation to authorities or to an abuser's employer. Critics of the league's method have stated individuals would possibly really feel intimidated talking about their allegations to the NFL. A survey by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics exhibits that roughly half of domestic violence victims will file a report back to police.
When issuing punishments to gamers, Areán cautioned in opposition to a zero-tolerance coverage, which may additional deter reporting.
“Many survivors want their partners to get help and to change and maybe to be sanctioned in some way, but not necessarily to lose completely their careers,” Areán stated. “The important thing is to have a swift and very clear response. I do believe that consequences and sanctions are necessary.”
Advocates and survivors of domestic violence say they consider there may be nonetheless extra the league may do, together with offering devoted advocates to information individuals making accusations by way of the reporting and restoration course of.
Alleah Taylor, who in 2021 was attacked by her then-boyfriend Chad Wheeler, on the time a Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman, stated the NFL reached out simply as soon as after the assault to ask in regards to the extent of her accidents but didn't supply additional help.
On Jan. 22, 2021, Wheeler choked Taylor into unconsciousness in a bed room. When she got here to, Wheeler was standing close to the mattress and stated, “Wow you're alive?” in keeping with a police report. When police pressured entry into the condominium she shared with Wheeler, they discovered her face “covered in blood” and her left arm limp in opposition to her physique.
Wheeler was minimize by the Seahawks after his arrest. Friel stated the NFL issued no punishment as a result of Wheeler didn't play in the league once more after his arrest. In March 2024, he was sentenced to 81 months in jail for first- and second-degree assault/domestic violence.
Though she would have favored extra assist from the league, Taylor advised ESPN she understands the NFL's most important purpose in a scenario like hers is to “figure out the situation for their employee.” Still, she would have appreciated efforts reminiscent of a suggestion of counseling or different assets.
“I would want them to care a bit more,” Taylor stated.
Friel stated when she contacts a complainant, she is going to ask whether or not the person or their household wants assets and whether or not she will help organize additional help. According to the private conduct coverage, the league could present alleged victims and their households with, or direct them to, counseling or different social providers. In Taylor's case, she was already working with an area domestic abuse advocate, Friel stated.
Friel additionally pointed to the NFL's crucial response crew as a useful resource. Implemented after a 2014 evaluation of the league's practices, the crucial response crew is a group of NFL workers from safety, authorized, human assets, public relations and social accountability, plus a domestic violence adviser, to reply rapidly to conditions starting from psychological well being crises to domestic violence.
“If someone is struggling with their place to live, you may consider offering them temporary housing. What does that look like? Can they stay with a family or a friend? If not, is there a hotel that we could possibly put them up in for a short time until we figure out the situation?” Isaacson stated. “So we have these procedures in place that help guide what the parameters are for the support that we can give.”
Isaacson stated the Rice case impressed “an understanding that we were going to need to take a stand on additional issues.”
“It has shaped who we are as an organization and how we approach social issues. I think it shaped us for the better,” she stated.
