NFL’s Goodell apologizes and establishes ‘conduct committee,’ but will that satisfy critics?

After a 10-day period of silence, the NFL commissioner spoke to reporters and apologized for the league’s mishandling of domestic violence involving players. Many still call for his resignation.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke to the press for the first time in 10 days in a Friday afternoon press conference, apologizing for the league’s handling of domestic abuse that made sponsors call for corrective action and fans call for the commissioner’s resignation.

In his statement, Goodell said:

Unfortunately, over the past several weeks, we have seen all too much of the NFL doing wrong. That starts with me. I said this before back on Aug. 28, and I’ll say it again now. I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter, and I’m sorry for that. I got it wrong on a number of levels, from the process that I lead, to the decision that I reached. But now I will get it right and do whatever is necessary to accomplish that.

The NFL’s answer

Goodell said action, not just words, are needed in order to answer to recent events. He then announced the following five initiatives:

1. An internal investigation Former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III will oversee an independent investigation into how the league handled the Rice domestic violence situation.

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