Your Opinion: NOW calls for NFL commissioner's resignation

Dear Editor:

This week, we learned that the National Football League (NFL) had access to the second video in the Ray Rice case months ago, contrary to their denial, and that an investigator has been engaged to look into the NFL's internal processes concerning the Ray Rice spousal abuse case.

The independent investigator, Robert Mueller, however, is only investigating the Ray Rice case. The National Organization for Women (NOW) demands the resignation of Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner since 2006; and that his successor appoint an independent investigator with full authority to gather factual data about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking within the NFL community; and to recommend real and lasting reforms.

NOW's call for Goodell's resignation is not about Ray Rice alone. The Rice case highlights the systemic failure in the NFL to effectively deal with the culture of violence tolerated by the NFL. Whether or not Goodell had seen the second video in the Rice case prior to its release this past week is irrelevant; he has a long history of failing to deal with the league's domestic violence problem. With players and team owners alike accused and convicted of assaulting women remaining in the game or suspended for one or two games before returning to the field, the message is clear that such violence is not taken seriously.

The NFL does not just have a Ray Rice problem; they have a violence against women problem. NOW's petition calling for Goodell's resignation and a meaningful accounting of NFL violence against women can be found at action.now.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=10358.

NFL attitudes and practices trickle down through college sports to attitudes formed in grade school toward women and girls, and every single one of us must speak up.