Domestic abuse hotline head praises NFL's handling of Peterson case
Katie Ray-Jones, the CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, praised NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's response to Adrian Peterson's child abuse case in an interview with Sporting News.
"I think he’s trying to undo many years of attitudes about domestic violence in professional sports surrounding their athletes and how they should react to it," Ray-Jones said. "To be honest, he’s said they made a lot of mistakes in the past and they want to do it right. With this, I felt like they’re taking this very seriously."
On Monday, Goodell announced that Peterson was suspended for the remainder of this season after he pleaded no contest to child abuse charges in Texas earlier this month. The players' union has filed an appeal on Peterson's behalf.
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NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith was critical of Goodell's punishment in a radio interview on Monday. Smith said that he was "surprised at the lack of a consistent process" and that Goodell's disciplinary decisions have been "inconsistent not only with the CBA, but inconsistent with himself."
Ray-Jones declined to address the suspension itself, or Goodell's process. "I’m not positioned to say whether it was in line with other punishments or not," she told Sporting News.
In September, the NFL announced it would partner with the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Goodell visited the hotline's headquarters a week later.
- Dan Gartland
