The National Football League has an image problem when it comes to its handling of domestic violence issues, and when Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones confronts NFL Investigator Lisa Friel over that exact issue, it only acts to make that poor perception worse.
Jerry Jones Confronts NFL Investigator Over Ezekiel Elliott
Several eyewitnesses report Jones approach Friel about her domestic violence investigation of Dallas rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott at last week’s owners meetings in Houston. One such witness, ESPN The Magazine‘s Seth Wickersham, states that Jones said that he realized such cases are Friel’s “bread and butter.” Jones then allegedly raised his voice at Friel and had the following to say:
“Your bread and butter is going to get both of us thrown out on the street.”
The eyewitness’ report concludes with a league employee leading Jones out of the room. According to ESPN’s Jane McManus, the league has had no comment outside of stating that there is no rule against interactions between an investigator and the owner of the team that a player being investigated plays for.
Perhaps there should be such a rule, however, because that’s exactly how Jones’ actions were foolish.
Jones Kicked the NFL Investigation Process When it was Down
Considering Jones’ widely-criticized free-agent signing and support of Greg Hardy and the league’s botched investigation into the Josh Brown domestic violence incident, this exact situation is the worst-case scenario for the league’s attempt to create a favorable public perception of its handling of domestic violence issues with players.
An owner confronting an investigator of such a case in person with an elevated voice, presumably in defense of one of his players, does nothing to help the perception that the NFL is trying to sweep such cases under the rug. When that owner already has a history of overlooking domestic violence issues, that makes that situation even worse.
What’s worse, this is an investigation that is yet on-going. While Elliott has already been cleared of any criminal charges over his ex-girlfriend’s allegations that he assaulted her, the NFL’s Conduct Policy doesn’t require criminal charges being brought against a player for the league to discipline said player.
Because of Jones’ actions, if the investigation leads to no discipline being brought against Elliott, critics of the league’s process could say that it was due to intimidation by Jones. If there is discipline forthcoming, fans of Elliott could say that the move was retaliatory against Jones. Either way, the perception of the investigation and its outcome are now tainted.
The league is trying to figure out how to handle this issue as it goes, and this is a great opportunity to learn from experience and make an adjustment to make the process better. A simple rule that bans owner-initiated contact with any league investigator of any conduct policy violation of any player on that owner’s team while the investigation is ongoing would eliminate this scenario resurfacing.
If the NFL sweeps this encounter under the rug and doesn’t learn from it, that’s just another arrow of incompetence that critics can fling at its handling of these situations.
