Where's the next video? When was the last incident the NFL didn't follow up on? What's going to surface next? Those are the questions the public is asking in the wake of yet another very bad week for the NFL when it comes to the issue of domestic violence by the league's players. That's a lousy position in which to put the roughly 1,700 men playing on NFL rosters. The vast majority of them are good citizens who contribute to their community, don't hit women and don't commit criminal acts. And it's an even more distressing situation for victims. The NFL's approach and the individual teams' strategies place women who suffer domestic assault in an untenable position. They can be almost assured that nothing will be done, except to have their names and reputations ruined. It's an effective way to suppress reporting. The endgame, it seems, is not justice or holding perpetrators accountable or keeping communities safe. It is hoping there isn't video, hoping law enforcement looks the other way, hoping things can be settled quietly, and hoping that accusers go away. In other words, follow the Ben Roethlisberger model: The Pittsburgh quarterback was twice accused of rape, settled one claim out of court and saw the other go away. He is now held up as a great family man and elder statesman. The issue isn't a problem for just the NFL. But ... the NFL is a multibillion-dollar industry [that] can't seem to make domestic-violence training, education or investigation a real priority.
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