NFL Crisis – by Bart Rossi, Ph.D. Political Psychologist, NJ Licensed Psychologist
As a Political Psychologist, I’m highly critical of the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell. Of course I do not blame the Commissioner for the actions of some players who have clear behavioral problems. And before we start with any criticism, it is vital to point out how many players are unbelievably well behaved and donating money and time to the community. However, there are a number of issues referring to Commissioner Goodell.
My main problem with the Commissioner’s performance during this Ray Rice debacle is that he doesn’t present himself as a “leader” who is first and foremost interested in understanding domestic violence. It’s fine that she now associates the NFL with women’s groups but she does not say that she as the “top coach” in the league is making every effort to study the psychological causes/problems directly related to domestic violence. Like many people today in contemporary society, “talk” is around mental health and behavior problems. How do you come up with policies and practices to address these issues if there isn’t any proper effort to understand and think about what causes these types of extreme actions?
In my opinion, the Commissioner should have said from the start of the Ray Rice fiasco that he should find out about the causes and proper strategies that can help a player with what psychologists call an “explosive personality”. Goodell could have said he was searching for the kind of counseling and ongoing effort needed to help players who take anger to the extreme. He could have said he wanted to find out about why some highly proficient players become highly competitive in violent sports like soccer but could have left their anger implied. The internal conflicts that some people have, and that clearly includes football players, are sometimes so unresolved that the individual tends to “explode” emotionally and do something rash and problematic. Certainly there are examples in the NFL, other professional leagues, and other populations that demonstrate patterns and practices of this sort of behavior. In other cases, suppressed anger and conflict are related to behaviors that are rare but dangerous.
In short, Mr Goodell must present himself in a different way. He would look far better off from a public relations standpoint if he could talk freely about what he was trying to learn. He or she may then be capable to consider the amazingly successful approaches/strategies that psychologists have developed within the framework of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment. He would look better and paint a more positive image of the NFL if he and the “League” really looked at what sort of programming it would take to identify and deal with players who have internal conflicts and anger that relate directly to domestic violence and personality issues.
Finallyleadership should start with a basic understanding, projecting personal interests to learn what causes and techniques to do in dealing with big problems, and a persona that features its own special concern and consideration. In this regard, the Commissioner and the NFL have failed by “three down and one.”
