Two Black Eyes for the NFL: The Domestic Abuse and Concussion Crises - PowerPoint Presentation

1. Two Black Eyes for the NFL: The Domestic Abuse and Concussion Crises Terry Rentner, Ph.D.Bowling Green State University Cory Young, Ph.D.Ithaca College

2. Domestic Abuse77 players across 27 of the league’s 32 teams have been arrested since 2000 on domestic abuse charges (Harwell and Halzack, 2014)ConcussionsOver two seasons 306 players suffered a combined 323 concussions (Breslow, 2015)

3. Domestic Violence and Child Abuse?Three high-profile domestic abuse and sexual assault cases gained media attention in 2014 Most notably the infamous video of Baltimore Ravens Running Back Ray Rice hitting his at-the-time fiancé in a casino elevator Initial response of no action by the League followed by a two-game suspension led to even greater public outcry Arizona Cardinal’s running back Jonathan Dwyer and Minnesota Viking’s running back Adrian Petersen were accused of assaulting and abusing their children

4. Concussions Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Class action lawsuit in which former players accused the NFL of knowing the evidence and risks associated with traumatic brain injuries for many decades, but deliberately ignored and actively concealed the information from playersNFL settled in 2013 but admitted no liability Mike Webster, Andre Waters, Junior Seau, and Dave Duerson are former NFL players who have committed suicide or died from CTE

5. ConcussionsCTE was discovered in the brains of 131 of 165 players who, before they died, played football at some level, ranging from high school to professional (Breslow, 2015) CTE debate has become so prominent that the film industry released the 2015 movie Concussion, years after Frontline’s documentary League of Denial and HBO’s “Real Sports” aired.

6. A hit on integrity and credibilityDomestic ViolenceCover up of the Ray Rice video followed by denial to the public about its awareness of the tapeControversial punishment and new league rulesFive months before League took pro-active steps such as partnering with anti-domestic violence organizations Little attempt to expand the “NO MORE” campaign partnership with NFLSanctions not being applied to new domestic violence cases; alienating female fans (Bedrosian, 2014)#NotAFan social media campaignBraud (2014): “The non-verbal message from the NFL is that they are more concerned about one man hitting another man in the head on the field than they are about a man– essentially and employee– hitting a woman in the head, or more specifically, punching a woman in the face”

7. A hit on integrity and credibilityConcussionsLack of transparency since 1994 (aka league of denial)Withheld information among players at all levels, increasing risksPublic attacks on well-respected researchersNFL commissions to study brain injuries led by NFL appointed “experts”Congressional report reprimanding NFL’s health and safety officials Role of team physiciansClass action lawsuit

8. Impact on NFLTelevision ratings are down Viewership drop by an average of 8 percent for the 2016 regular season; typical game watched by 1.4 million fewer people than last season (16.5 million versus 17.9 million) (ESPN Jan. 5,. 2017)Dissatisfaction with League rules and punishments“Far worse in the league’s eyes to take some Adderall or smoke some marijuana than it is to, say, allegedly knock your fiancée out cold and then drag her unconscious body from a casino elevator” (Sport Illustrated writer Chris Burke, 2014)Player injuries are up 87 percent of parents cannot define concussions, yet 32 percent fear their children will get them 25 percent will not let their children play contact sports because of these fears (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2015)

9. Impact on NFLPlayer injuries are up 87 percent of parents cannot define concussions, yet 32 percent fear their children will get them 25 percent will not let their children play contact sports because of these fears (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2015)Fewer youth participating in the sport25 percent drop in youth participation over the last six years, despite a modest 1.9 percent increase in 2015 (Moore, 2016)Media/Documentaries/FilmsFrontline’s Concussion Watch Ray Rice, Johnny Manziel, Josh BrownFeature Film Concussion Domestic Violence organizations

10. NFL and its employeesPlayers, who are NFL employees, bring in billions of dollars in revenue each year NFL has admitted to a possible link between football and long-term brain injuries and concussions, as well as the link between football and aggressive acts of violence off the fieldGrowing research indicate link between the twoNFL should be more proactive in researching the link between domestic violence and concussions, as the question has already been raised (HBO “Real Sports,” Time Magazine, Counter Punch, New York Daily News, Forbes)

11. Link between concussions (CTE) and domestic violenceChallenging due to a number of factors:Lack of victim/witness cooperation (guilt, dropping charges) Publicity of players and breach of privacy for familyHe said, she said accountsAnecdotal evidence of former players --Chelsea Oliver, wife/widow of NFL player Paul Oliver (O’Keefe, 2014)Normalization of bodily violence, sacrifice, pain, and injury, de-naturalization of concussions, and obsfucation of neurological consent (Furness, 2016)New evidence by Barrow Neurological Institute (2016), has potential implications:“. . . Barrow social worker Ashley Bridwelll and physicians identified a three-way link between homelessness, domestic violence, and TBI [traumatic brain injury]” (St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center, story published in Science Daily).

12. Branding of the NFL“You’re going to war with a corporation that owns a day of the week” (Dr. Cyril Wecht, played by Albert Brooks in the 2015 movie “Concussion” starring Will Smith)Criticism: Rather than take responsibility and admit its failing for the way it handled both, the NFL is rebranding itself as a leader against domestic violence and concussion-related injuriesDomestic Violence: No Morehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfto6ZXgt70Concussions: Play Smart, Play Safehttps://www.playsmartplaysafe.com/newsroom/videos/the-eyes-in-the-sky/CSR campaigns: healthier communities and stronger society

13. Lessons learned from this crisisLegally, domestic violence is a difficult issue to prosecute. To address this conflict effectively the NFL will need more understanding of the dynamics. Go back to basics– best practices for crisis communication Heed prodromes, assess risks, conduct crisis inventories, and be proactive BEFORE a crisis occursApologize, take responsibility, break denial, and be consistent and transparent in all communicationsInvolve, be concerned with stakeholders, not just shareholdersKnow a smoldering crisis when you see one and begin to investigate like “an expert prosecutor or an expert investigative reporter” for information that executives need to know (Braud, 2014).

14. On a positive note . . . according to Braud (2014) . . .Goodell has apologized (rare occurrence); his resignation has been calledSporting Goods stores PR– exchange Ray Rice football jerseys Removal of Rice from AE video games

15. Thank you!Questions? Terry Rentner, Ph.D. Cory Young, Ph.D.trentne@bgsu.edu youngc@ithica.edu