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JASON LA CANFORACBS Sports NFL Insider

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How can NFL fix perceptionproblem? Help is in the lockerroomOctober 9, 2014 12:38 pm ET

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Current or former NFL players are doing something for others, somewhere,every day. They are volunteering at a soup kitchen or mentoring children orplanning the next event for their foundation or speaking to at-risk kids at agroup home. They are handing out backpacks full of school supplies and payingfor a stranger's college tuition. They are doing good, privately and quietly, andthey far outnumber their peers who have made international news in this youngseason for their arrests or arraignments or suspensions.

The NFL has a perception problem, which begins at the highest reaches of theleague office and extends to the last man on the practice squad of every team.A league so concerned with "The Shield" is at a crossroads at a time whenmany of its decisions and actions stand on the short side of public sentiment.

Time for the O's to get it going in KC. Keep the faith. Plenty of baseball still to play

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Caleb Joseph will straight up shut you down

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The umpires not working this series must be sitting back watching in disgust. Hardy alone robbed by BS strikes in 2 ABs. Norris robbed of K

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That's how @simplyAJ10 do. Look out

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My god don't be afraid to take a ball. This kid is dying to put people on base

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Buck stops and chats with a @MrJoshCharles before Game 2.

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Jason La Canfora TweetsTweets from a list by CBS Sports

Raiders safety Usama Young has worked with children in Washington and Oakland.(USATSI)

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There's Commissioner Roger Goodell, owners flip-flopping in their punishmentsbut now reaching out the NFLPA -- and also some new female voices broughtinto the league office for assistance in how to rework the personal conductpolicy and league discipline moving forward.

Never has there been a time when the behavior of professional football playershas been more scrutinized by fans, non-fans, media and NFL officials alike,obscuring the greater reality about what a small percentage of these famous,and in many cases very wealthy, players actually run afoul of the law. All arepainted by the same broad brush, one more discolored and jaundiced than everbefore, but to take that dim a view of the 1,600-odd men who make up theserosters each week, and the legion of NFL alumni who are dedicated to serviceand commitment to the families and communities, is to do a great disservice.

At a time when the league is searching for answers and probing for ways to re-imagine its brand and improve its standing with America, it might be best toturn inward, to the very men who make up the majority of their locker rooms,past and present, who toil in their charity efforts in relative anonymity but whohave strong thoughts and feelings about the current state of NFL. The helpGoodell needs might be found within, by tapping into the many good soulsalready serving as beacons in locker rooms, by shining more of a light on themand providing them with a greater pulpit and infrastructure to bring theirteammates into the fold.

Having initial discussions with NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith was a good firststep for Goodell, and countless meetings and discussions remain. But havingdiscussed these issues with current and former players who are particularlydedicated to service and who have worked closely with life coach Chrissy Carewand her community-minded Insightful Player initiative, I believe the leaguemight best bridge a brighter future with its players by empowering these menas part of the personal-conduct process, and trying to restore the NFL's imagewith players and fans alike.

"There is a disconnect in trust," said Saints tight end Ben Watson, who throughhis "One More" foundation does hands-on counseling and mentorship with

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middle and high school girls, conducts mission trips to help rebuild needycommunities, and hosts football clinics. "The trust level is not there for the mostpart, I would say, between players and the Commissioner, and the NFL as awhole right now, when you look at all of the allegations of cover-ups and whoknew what in regards to the Ray Rice situation. That's just another block in thealready tall tower of incidents that have happened that have made players kindof distrust the disciplinary action Roger Goodell passes down. A lot of times itseems to be self-serving and unfair.

"We as players are all for more voices of reason when it comes to playerdiscipline and more consistency and allowing players to have somewhat of asay in the matter. But a lot of what comes out seems to be reactionary and itseems to be we live in a reactionary activist time -- things happen and then werespond and give a politically correct response after the fact to the publicresponse to what happened."

These are frustrating times for the majority of NFL players.

Just this week, Adrian Peterson was arraigned in Texas on child-abuse charges,and Greg Hardy's domestic violence court date looms next month. OnWednesday, Goodell and the owners made it clear they spent the bulk of thetime at their annual fall league meeting discussing domestic violence issues.The image problem is all of theirs to share, regardless of culpability, and listingyour occupation as an NFL player these days can draw some sideways glances.

When every television network breaks into regularly scheduled programming toshow a 45-minute impromptu Goodell press conference and when Ravenscoach John Harbaugh's press conferences following Ray Rice's release receivedas much coverage on CNN as they did on ESPN, the league has a big problem.

"The media has done so much for this game, its popularity worldwide, breakingrecords every year with the Super Bowl viewership," said Raiders safety UsamaYoung who has worked closely with children in his native Washington, D.C., aswell as in the Bay Area. "It's an amazing thing. But at the same time you lookand say, 'Wow, what's happening here.' I understand these are huge issues, but

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for them to continually replay it, and to show the video over and over and postthe pictures of Adrian Peterson's child, it was disheartening for me. I thinkabout all the good players we have out there, and all positive things they'redoing, and those two guys do a lot of positive thing in the community, too, andhave done so much to impact our league and their communities in a positiveway, but this is all they're going to be remembered for right now.

"When you first hear of a player that got into trouble, whether it be domesticviolence or driving under the influence, you automatically equate it to, 'Wowthey've got that problem specifically in that league, in the NFL.' And that's notaccurate at all. Those situations happen all across all sectors, around theworld."

Indeed, when players like Young are taking underprivileged on college visitsaround the country or taking them to volunteer at a Washington food bank, orworking to weed a garden or help feed the hungry or organizing coach drivesfor the holidays, no one knows. When players get arrested or commit crimes,increasingly, we see the net results, if not the crime itself being committed.

"The spotlight has really increased," said former Eagle Kevin Reilly, a cancersurvivor and amputee who works extensively in the community, "andunfortunately the news that sells is the news with tension, and we're not seeingthe $100,000 donations that an Eagles player makes for a park in a bad sectionof Philadelphia. It might get a little mention, and then it's lost. To put things inperspective, I think lot of this is going on a long time, but back in the day, gosh,no one was aware of your personal life, and if they knew they wouldn't writeabout it. It was kind of off base.

"That being said, I don't believe it's any worse today than it's been in the past.As a matter of fact if I had a magic wand I would say it's better than when Iplayed, and everything was in the dark. I really would."

Watson believes that it is incumbent on the players themselves, while askingmore of the league's primary leaders, to also demand more from themselves inpolicing their own locker rooms and reaching out to troubled teammates.

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Watson and other players are in essence calling for greater truthfulness andtransparency from the rank and file of each team in making it part of their jobto intercede when possible and be proactive in reaching out to teammates inthe same way players are demanding a more forthright approach from theleague in its handling of disciplinary issues.

"The NFL is doing some good things when it comes to encouraging menthrough player programs, and there is some good stuff out there available tous," Watson said, "but we can always do more. And we also have to realize thatus in the locker room, with each other, it's our job to challenge each other to dobetter, too. We're sometimes scared to challenge each other and we feel likeour teammates may ostracize you, and you don't wan to look like a hypocrite.But at this point in my life and career I realize of course we're all going to makemistakes, but we have a chance to challenge these young men when it comesto raising children, the right way of being faithful to your family, the right kindof person to try to be.

"You'd be surprised how people respond sometimes when you are telling themthe truth and you are challenging them in a positive way. We challenge eachother in so many ways on the field and at practice and to attain a certain like ofproficiency on the field, why not challenge each other to be great when itcomes to things off the field like being a husband and being a leader in yourcommunity and to your family?"

Former Dolphins and Saints cornerback Reggie Howard is among the manyplayers who have dedicated their post-playing careers to helping others andtrying to inspire current players to follow in their footsteps. Howard realized byhis sixth NFL season that although he had always taken part in communityevents and given generously of his money in aiding causes, he felt a highercalling to do more. He is currently the President and Executive Director of theUnited Athletes Foundation, a non-profit organization that empowers athletes toimpact communities through education and social development, working veryclosely with legends like Ray Lewis and Hall of Famer Jim Brown to connectathletes' various foundations to work together in various geographic areas to

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attack social ills like poverty and lack of housing.

They work directly in communities building affordable homes in inner cities andestablishing college scholarships for kids who otherwise might not pursueeducation at all.

"For me it came down to the fact I always felt fulfilled in my life, so how do Igive back," Howard said, "and also, how can I educate and help instill in othershow to do the same thing. We try to bring the resources to help that happen.So often guys in this league are looking at people with their hand out looking forsomething from them. So the first for me to say is, 'I'm here with my hand outto help you, to be a service to you. In sports we're always taught teamwork, sowhy not use that same approach in philanthropy and changing lives?

"Our true mission is to be a partner with the players and help them be moreefficient no matter what their purpose is in the community. Collaboration is sobig for our organization and doing what we say we can do, and because of thatin six years we've establishes strong partnerships with St. Jude's MedialResearch Hospital. We've work with Microsoft on innovation programs for STEMeducational diversity. We've started our own credit card company out of theMichigan Great Lakes Capital Fund which for over 20 years has foughtforeclosures and fought for more affordable housing. We've launched projectfor financial literacy and technology diversity. We've worked with the NYSE onprograms, we've partnered with Toyota and their employees on programs forfinancial literacy we've worked with the Jackie Robinson Community Center inNY on youth initiatives."

If I'm Roger Goodell, this is someone I want to spend some considerable timewith -- someone who played the game and shined on the field, who hasaccomplished big things in exhaustive outreach work, who can relate to playersand share their experiences and who has unique knowledge and insight intobring out the best in these athletes outside the locker room. He might havesome thoughts on team-based programs and methods to cultivate leadership.Might be the kind of guy I'd want on a personal-conduct committee feting outdiscipline to players.

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One could also argue the point as to whether the league does enough topromote the good deeds its players are doing, shining a bright enough light onthem.

"One thing I think is missing is when I watch an NBA game it seems likethroughout the game we see the things these guys are going whether it's theholiday season or just a typical February game," Young said. "When I see OKCplay, you best believe during that game we're going to see Russell Westbrookand Kevin Durant and what they are going in the community. I think the NFLmisses the mark on that one. ... I think that media aspect is missing and when itcomes to the NFL it's almost getting tagged as 'Bad Boy League' and that sucks,because it's a very small percentage of guys who are getting arrested or failingdrug test or doing things that are a negative influence to the youngergeneration that is looking up to these players."

If nothing else, this sobering start to the 2013 season has forced the NFL intolong overdue change. Falling back on the way things were always done, or pastprecedents, isn't good enough anymore, and the league knows it. It's not nearlyas proactive as it should have been, but it's a start. And, at its finish, when anew conduct policy is unveiled and a new discipline arm is in place, we can allhope it's more reflective of the greater good players do, and more in step withsocietal feelings about the scourge that is child abuse and domestic violence.

"This is a multibillion-dollar corporation that has been flying under the radar foron these issues for an awful long time now," said Reilly, who played in the NFLfrom 1973-75 and later lost an arm to cancer. "It's still part of the old-boynetwork and you look at the coaching staffs and who keeps getting hired andbrought back. You would never get away with that in the business world. I spent30 years with Xerox and taught sexual harassment and values and diversity andthey made us teach it to our peers; not from an outsider. It has to come fromyour own people.

"This is where I find fault with the NFL. One of the things it can do a lot betterjob of is reaching out to alumni who are going a good job and understand the

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right way and bringing them in more. A lot of these guys really want to do theright thing, but I don't think they are given the direction a lot of us take forgranted. They go from high school to college and the colleges aren't doing a lotto mentor them and then they get a lot of money and are thrown in thespotlight, and they don't know where some of the lines are."

Topics: Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, Usama Young, NFL

ABOUT JASON LA CANFORABefore joining CBS Sports, Jason La Canfora was the WashingtonRedskins beat writer for The Washington Post for six years andserved as NFL Network's insider. The Baltimore native can be seenevery Sunday during the season on The NFL Today.

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COMMENTS

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SHANALE68

GoSox1983

Troy Aldrich

SIGN IN WITH17 people listening

1 hour agoThe good being done is by the NFL as an institution. The bad being done andthe hatred being spewed is for individual players. I personally do not think ofRay Rice or any of these thugs when I hear someone speak of "the NFL". WhenI hear someone talk about Ray Rice or any of these thugs the term thugscrosses my mind not Irsay or any other owner. The players make or break theleague and if the NFL does not change what the general population sees astheir brand they are F'ed with a capital F.

12 hours agoFor whatever reason positive stories don't sell but negative stories do. It'snot just sports either. If some Eagles donate $100K for a park it probably gota 20 second blurb on a local TV news station. McCoy tips a server 20 centsand it is national news.

21 hours agoIt would be Called NFL Cares. Roger has gotten a second life as Commish.

60

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Mearns

He needs to understand that.

1 day agoThe NFL doesn't have a problem, but it is prone to the trash and hysterical andconstant drama of the trash media that covers them. The NFL is NOTresponsible for the ghetto culture many players come from, they are not theirparent nor responsible for their lack of culture. For that look elsewhere in therudderless American culture.

Clean your house first of trash in your media culture before blaming the NFL forthe FEW thugs (out of the 1700 players) in the NFL. For starters - stop the tabloiddramatics which you the sports media is responsible of.

Mearns

POONDOG111

1 day agoBTW you know what you can do with your infantile hogie crap.

1 day agoThey are much better than society in general. Our society has aproblem, not the NFL. If we covered the reporters we might get moreviolations of the law.

SHANALE68 1 hour ago They get reported and prosecuted much less than societyin general. The league is full of thugs and if we knew the truenumber of violent cases ignored we would all be ashamedfor supporting it.

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Goudney

dirty dan

LannyH

1 day agoSorry, but the fact that a bunch of "mostly" unknowns do the wonderful acts ofcharity which are exactly the same as most of the country does on a regularbasis does NOT balance out the fact that a lot of STARS are despicable.

1 day agothe nfl will never have an image problem. these moron reporters love to talktheir trash.betting football is the American way no matter who hits who.they could throw half the nfl players in jail and the games would go on.

1 day agoHaha, the solution is for the sport to go under, and that's already in progress. You can't spoon out enough free soup to make up for using your wife as apunching bag.In classy sports like golf, the players routinely do great things for charitablecauses. For example, Rory McIlroy was UNICEF's Irish Ambassador to Haitibetween his meltdown at Augusta in 2011 and his redeeming victory atCongressional in the US Open two months later.Pro football is a violent sport played by violent men for low-brow fans. Look atthe recent assault in a restroom at a San Francisco game. There is a reasongolfers routinely make tens of millions in sponsorship deals for brokerage firmsand accounting corporations and football players are lucky to get deals withtheir local car dealers.

POONDOG111 1 day agogolf sucks

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Hawkman77

Hawkman77

roxtar1017

BaseFan56 19 hours ago LannyH sucks

1 day agoThe NFL only has an image problem because there are a lot of reactionary,really stupid people in the world and the media. Out of about 1700 players,very few get in trouble but are highly publicized. They not only do more goodin the community than employees of other organizations, they get in lesstrouble than the average person. And now the NFL has an "image problem" because they are taking action toaddress issues even before there's evidence a player did anything wrong. People are just not happy unless they have something to be outraged about. Inthis case, it's the way the league PREVIOUSLY handled issues.

1 day agoDid you get paid by the word for this article? Here, let me summarize:"The NFL should advertise all the good works it does."

2 days agoThe "solution" is not shining a spotlight on the good or focusing on the good oranything else -- it's STOP THE BAD! Just changing the media message and theperception of the NFL isn't a "solution" and not a long-term answer...certainlynot in this day and age of media circuses and dirt-digging sensationalism.

How about asking - no DEMANDING - a higher standard of the group of 20-something year olds in exchange for the MILLIONS OF DOLLARS they earn???In order for you to be set for life and be gifted an ungodly amount of money to

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catch a ball or bat down a pass, you need to live to a standard above everyonearound you. You need to give up your affinity to smoke pot at every turn. Youneed to surrender your desire to head to the strip club and drive home drunk.You need to not beat your four year old with a stick in the name of teachingsome lesson and you need to not beat your girlfriend unconscious in anelevator.

For a mere fraction of what they earn, I manage to do that every day. And, sodo most of them. You want a new image? It's not mask the dark-side of theimage that's there...it's PURGE the dark side. Make the NFL truly stand forsomething. I would think, for $3 million a year, it's not too much to ask. Andhey...if they don't want to be role models or live by those rules (yeah, you JoshGordon), then the world needs fence builders, roofers, accountants, computertechs and someone to supersize my fries as well. As with any job, there arerequirements. Make the NFL's as elite as the paychecks they earn -- don't tryand pretend the problem isn't there by highlighting the good. It'll be like thecommercials are now that we suddenly see about domestic violence: aninsincere attempt by a group of overpaid, profit-hungry, entitled hypocritesnow trying to ensure that the money stops leaving their pockets.

WPG-Giants

Hawkman77

BaseFan56

1 day agoGood post. I would also add that if players think the discipline thatRoger G. hands out is unfair, then just don't do anything wrong! Instead of worrying about what would happen to you when you do thisor that, just don't do it!

1 day agoYou do "that" for a fraction of what they earn? You have no moralreservations with only doing it because you get paid for it? That'sreally sad.

19 hours ago

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1stBallotHoF

777Gators

To hold any group to a much higher standard than the societywithin it resides is to deny human nature. It doesn't improvebehavior, it leads to deceit, denial, and cover ups. All the ills we seewith NFL players can be found in every other corner of society - youneed look no further than the clergy of every religion to find all ofthe same failings as we see reported here.

2 days agoSo what are your thoughts on the Sayreville High School team, Jason? Howabout the Steubenville boys? O The U of Montana rapes by football players.What's fixing that before they reach the NFL?

WPG-Giants 1 day agoIf the high school and college kids see that the NFL will not allowpeople who break the law to play in their leage, the kids in high schooland college will stop if they want to play in the league. It wont' stop allof it, there are still idiots out there. But, if a player realizes that theycan no longer get away with whatever they want to do, it could have aserious effect on their attitude towards others.

Hawkman77 1 day agoThat's a hilarious post, especially considering the NFL is notexactly an option for just about any of the players mentioned.

2 days agoThere will always be bad apples in all walks of life in any profession ororganization and 95% of players in the NFL keep their nose clean andeventhough any issue becomes front page media hype, I still think the NFLdoes far more good for communities then bad.

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mikebhai

go zips

mikebhai

Hawkman77 1 day agoThey do. It takes someone determined to be negative to thinkotherwise.

2 days agoban espn & yahoo from sports.

2 days agoyears ago, the browns had the inner circle - an alcoholics anonymous typesituation, where the players could go and talk about drug issues and such. why not have something like that on each team, where at risk players couldseek counseling and advice from some who volunteer to mentor theseplayers?

2 days agocut down salary cap to 25 mills. lower ticket prices. 1 strike and life ban fromsport.

Hawkman77 1 day agoEat more bananas and drink less coffee.

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mikebhai

mikebhai

ImNo1now

Brocktagon

dk13beso

2 days agokeep politics away from sports.

2 days agoinstall coed showers in locker room

2 days agoNice book Jason, I made it through the first paragraph then noticed how muchmore reading I had to go. I didn't want to waste my entire lunch break!

2 days agohaving katy perry doing a halftime show isn't helping the NFL's image

Hawkman77 1 day agoIt's not hurting it. Or does she have a criminal record I'm not aware of?

2 days agoOne of the best things about the NFL is also why there is no incentive forcrappy teams to improve themselves. The salary cap ( both minimum andmaximum) and the fact that all 32 teams share the enormous TV moniesequally creates situations like you see in Oakland, Jacksonville and a few otherperennially downtrodden organizations. Every NFL owner makes so much offTV rights that even if no one shows up on Sunday to their games, they stillmake out like bandits. All the revenue from tickets to parking fees toconcessions is simply gravy and is chump change in the grand scheme ofthings.

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climb171

StlPlatoonBozo

climb171

sawmanfury

go zips

2 days agoIn addition, many teams have PSL arrangement where the seasonticket holders are basically held captive to buy their season tickets. Itis a win win situation for the owners. I guess the no shows do hurtrevenue because they are not drinking the $10 cup of beer. Besidesthat there is very little downside.

2 days agofans have stopped going to some of the games. bills, dolphins,jags,raiders...the list goes on and on --these teams have sucked for over adecade

2 days ago and yet most teams area t or close to .500...

2 days agoDid Canfora actually write this drivel....or did he just print and NFL marketingpiece and add his name to it?

2 days agoGetting rid of Goodell would by far be the most effective way to start an imagechange for the better. This POS does not deserve to be making the retarded amount ofmoney he makes every year considering how clueless he is when it comes to running abusiness. He is not just useless..he's hurting the entire league. What makes it worse now isthat he has lost ALL credibility. You can just 'grab' that back....it's over.

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dk13beso

camefromESPN

Robert Backus

WPG-Giants

Hawkman77

1 day agoGoodell is not hurting the league, the players are. The leaguerevenues continue to grow, that is all that the owners care about. Goodell is responsible for that.

1 day ago"considering how clueless he is when it comes to running a business".The NFL as a business has thrived under Goodell. You're not makingany sense.

2 days agoOne way to fix the problem is to bury any newsworthy story like thisunbelievably stupid Adrian Peterson story. Face it Rog; fans are starting to stay away fromgoing to NFL games in person and staying home or going to the relative safety of a sportsbar instead of enduring 7 hours of torture.

2 days agoThe brutal truth is the majority of fans don't care. The mindset is "I don't carewhat you do, all I care is that on Sunday you get in the end zone." If this wasnot the truth, the ratings would be down, people would stop going to the gameetc etc. That is not what is happening. The Ravens stadium was full after theRice situation and it would have been full whether he was suspended or not.Most fans by their continued support believe it's a legal issue and thepolice/legal situation will take care of it.

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biggerjohn

jerk2

Wake up and realize the environment you are in. For years the good acts byplayers, teams etc have outweighed the handful of crimes, and yet no mentionabout it whatsoever. For every Rice, there are multiples working to stopspouse abuse. For every violent behavior, many more help inner city kids,hold camps, etc etc. Stories like this, stories that help battered women,children are heralded by feminist groups, because good doesn't feed theiragenda. Heck, the women's groups today aren't even intelligent to realize thestory has nothing to do with whether someone saw a video or not, but howwhen Ozzie Newsome was told the truth about the Rice incident, he thought 2game suspension was fine. But in reality land it's not actually ending theviolence but continuing the whining so activists can keep their job.

2 days agoCongressional hearing of KSE CORP> will show who flip flops and makes theNFL breath. NFL owners,Press releases, TV producers scripts etc. ofcoursevegas has them working to connect their billions and keep it covered alongwith NFL owners. La lee gagging. Oh here comes the guy stating to answer meI know languages fluently what is he saying.Yes Sir MY Opinions are guided bythe TRUTH>t

Hawkman77 1 day agoDoes the circus music ever stop?

2 days agowhen was the last time you saw someone building a park on TMZ...peeing inone maybe, but not building one. The fact is, players using their money forgood deeds is a noble, but uninteresting, endeavor. Reggie Howard making aspeech about the creation of a scholarship, is wonderful news, however I bet itdoesn't arouse interest the way a starting DE beating up his wife/girlfrienddoes. The fact is, that no matter how much the good acts outnumber thehorrible acts, the horrible acts will always outweigh the the good ones in termsof ratings. Awful, but true.

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sawmanfury

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Coleman young

777Gators 2 days agoGreat post, agree 100%

2 days agoit's a society driven issue, we have placed people that can play sports at a highlevel and given them a high quality of life. for what, playing sports? it's prettyhilarious if you think about it. if we don't buy their stuff or watch...they go backto being not much. it's almost there for me, a lot of these athletes are POS. trash...and so are some of the coaches and owners. society can easily makethese folks avg joes in a heartbeat

2 days agofree Adrian Peterson

2 days agoWhat a pile of BS. I just read a long list of examples that rationalize decadesof bad behavior by an elite set of athletes. Now the strategy is to talk a lot, bring in lifecoaches, and have players build up more stupid outreach programs. Its so fake.

The players hire some stooge cousin to set up a charity. Then they show up for 15minutes for the photo and route a tiny fraction of the dollars to needy people. Its allfocused on the PR not the people. When the press identifies real victims and stories todebunk the ruse, everyone freaks out.

Just call it what it is already....

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