Nearly two years ago, Ray Rice was indicted on aggravated assault charges and the NFL suspended him for two games about five months later. After that suspension was met with harsh criticism for not being tough enough, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell banned Rice from the league indefinitely and announced new protocols for domestic violence offenses.
But that indefinite ban was lifted after an appeal and the story was no longer about Rice, but how the NFL approached the incident, what league officials knew and how Goodell came to his decision. Now, the NFL Players Association is negotiating with the league to remove Goodell's authority to discipline players for off-field behavior.
"We've been talking about changes to the personal conduct policy since October and have traded proposals," NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said. "We looked at the league's proposal for neutral arbitration. There is a common ground for us to get something done."
The NFL and NFLPA are not close to reaching an agreement, and doing so would likely entail clearing a number of hurdles. The NFL stated it would not discuss the matter publicly, but indicated it was open to having the negotiations.
"This is an important area that deserves to be addressed thoughtfully and with full consideration for everyone's interests-players, clubs and fans," Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesman, said in a statement. "We are addressing the subject in a serious way and will continue to discuss this directly with the union and not in the media."
The NFL and NFLPA agreed to allow Goodell rule on player discipline and appeals in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. But since the Rice incident, the NFL has been scrutinized more heavily for how it handles disciplining players for off-field conduct, especially given Goodell's compensation for running the league.
Goodell has exercised his authority on such cases as Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy and most recently the DeflateGate saga involving Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, causing criticism for the league to fall squarely on him. Goodell previously indicated he would be open to being relieved of his disciplinary authority to free himself up to focus on other matters.
The same day Outside the Lines released an extensive report detailing the NFL's relationship with the Patriots during both the Spygate and DeflateGate investigations, Goodell appeared on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike." Though the questions Goodell fielded could not be considered tough by any stretch, he did say he was "very open to changing" his role in disciplinary situations.
Multiple people from the NFL and the players union began voicing their agreement for such a decision over the past year. In early August, NLFPA President Eric Winston, an offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals, said he "can't imagine taking a new deal back to the players and say personal conduct isn't going to change."
There did not appear to be concrete evidence the NFLPA had broached the subject with the NFL then, but it was clear it wanted to. Later that month, New England Patriots President Jonathan Kraft, son of the team's owner Robert, publicly echoed Winston's sentiment. San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York appears to be interested in such a decision as well, having retweeted the story on Kraft's statements.
