NFL football player Ray Rice from Westchester County is at the eye of a media storm after he pleaded guilty to knocking out his fiancée in an Atlantic City elevator. The assault triggered a public relations mess for the National Football League. The NFL first accepted a brief suspension of Rice but has now extended the suspension indefinitely and is considering extending its domestic abuse sensitivity training. Washington, DC based crisis manager and media psychologist Scott Sobel advises the NFL and all big time sports programs to take advantage of the tragic Rice situation to help combat future violence.
No doubt rules and laws must be applied evenly, whether you are a football star or an employee living paycheck to paycheck. Of course, fame, contracts, moral clauses and a player’s union separate football player Ray Rice from most regular employees. Regardless, there could be a benefit of social redemption in the Rice case, after he was caught on video knocking out his then fiancée, if the NFL would concentrate on using Rice’s deplorable actions and the results – his NFL suspension and public vilification – more as a teaching tool for prevention of domestic violence and abuse rather than a meat cleaver-like warning to its players and staff. I’m not talking about the obviously questionable and inch-deep sensitivity class that many football programs offer, but a real program that could be repeated in stages and followed so there is muscle memory for athletes and others whose nurture and nature open the door to impetuous violence that deeply impacts spouses and children … all of whom suffer from the vicious cycle of domestic abuse.
I have a crisis management suggestion for the NFL: reach out to Rice and his family, instead of distance itself from the cause of the league’s current pain. One would hope the NFL has learned lessons from the concussion scandal. You can’t run away or ignore an ugly scar when you are in that public and media fishbowl and you have captured the title of the most popular sport going in America. Now is the time for a visible display of understanding and compassion, which will push the PR meter in a desirable direction rather than waiting to see what Rice does with his court-ordered rehab and waiting to see if the public polls critical of the NFL start to rebound. Reach out to Rice and his wife; convince them to be more public and open during the rehabilitation therapy and process. Possibly create a program around their tragedy and their personal experience, a program that can be sustainable and beneficial to sport and beyond.
It appears the Rice’s could be open to that visibility and outreach, both Ray and wife Janay attended his New Rochelle High School’s football game where his former coach Louis DiRienzo predicted, “The mistake he made will be erased by the good deeds he will continue to do.”
The problem of domestic violence and spousal abuse is systemic and must be treated and prevented in a long-term thoughtful way. I have learned from my dual careers as a journalist and a crisis PR counselor that answers for domestic violence and spousal abuse don’t warrant a simple “just say no” or one-size-fits-all solution. I know as someone who has reported on pro and top athletic institutions, and as a father of Division I and II football players that domestic abuse among some football and other sports organizations is a dirty little secret. It’s past time for big-time organized sports to get serious and strategic about solutions and not band-aide short term PR fixes. It is past time for the NFL, in this case, to embrace an opportunity to make the Rice case the start of a rehabilitation program that is both long-term and effective.
The NFL could also begin its enhanced sensitivity toward the tragedy of domestic violence very early on. Maybe an athlete’s screening process should include profiling that deals with other tendencies beside yards after the catch and forty times and those illegal and violent tendencies could be tested and recognized before a player is signed at any level and then dealt with as long as a player puts on pads and cleats.
The Rice case is the worst kind of crisis for the NFL or any business. The NFL glorifies controlled violence but can’t condone violence outside of accepted and legal norms. Wow, what a crazy thin line to walk! It’s tantamount to a business that produces products that cause pleasure when taken in moderation but can be deadly when abused … I bet we can all identify those kinds of products. In that context, the NFL also offers as courage, tenacity, strength, and teamwork as some of its “products,” with a total package being a player who can be a role model. The Rice case is a PR opportunity and a societal opportunity to make some real valuable changes, if the NFL shows the courage and strength to run toward and embrace the issues raised by the Rice case and work with Rice and his family for the prevention of domestic abuse and violence. It’s not an easy business and PR decision but it can be the right decision for the NFL and all of sport to run to the daylight of transparency and long-lasting solutions.
Scott Sobel is president of Media & Communications Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based public relations firm that manages reputation and communications challenges of all kinds, worldwide. www.macstrategies.com. He is also a former corporate public relations practitioner; major market and TV network journalist and a media psychologist.
