While finding ways to fight terrorists in Syria, avoid another government shutdown and combat the deadly Ebola outbreak in Africa have dominated Congress’ schedule as of late, lawmakers have found time to lash out at perceived injustice in the National Football League.
From the league’s domestic violence problems to the controversy over the Washington Redskins’ name to even how and when games are broadcast, league Commissioner Roger Goodell has taken a beating from Capitol Hill this year. Here’s a play-by-play:
• Domestic violence
After video surfaced this month that showed former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee in the head, the incident — one of many domestic violence cases involving NFL players — prompted calls for change from Capitol Hill.
Frequent NFL critic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., immediately demanded the NFL, which initially had suspended Rice for two games over a February domestic violence incident, issue a harsher penalty.
“The video … emphasizes how egregiously weak and wrong the initial penalty against Ray Rice was,” the senator said.
Blumenthal and Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, both Democrats, also had written to Goodell in July condemning Rice’s initial suspension, calling it “disturbingly lenient” and “cavalier.”
The Ravens quickly cut Rice after the video surfaced, and the NFL has suspended him indefinitely. But the league suffered further embarrassment with allegations it knew of the video before it went public.
A bipartisan group of 16 female senators last week sent Goodell a letter urging the league to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against domestic violence, saying they were “shocked and disgusted” by Rice’s action.
“If you violently assault a woman, you shouldn’t get a second chance to play football in the NFL,” the senators said. “It is long past time for the NFL to institute a real zero-tolerance policy and send a strong message that the league will not tolerate violence against women by its players, who are role models for children across America.”
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., supports stripping tax-exempt privileges for all of the 10 sports leagues and organizations, including the NFL, that receive them.
“This legislation will help ensure that victims of domestic violence have the resources they need to break away from abusers and begin rebuilding their lives,” Booker said on Tuesday.
The senator’s statement came a day before the Minnesota Vikings reversed an earlier decision and indefinitely suspended star running back Adrian Peterson until his child abuse case is resolved.
• Redskins’ nickname
Several Senate Democrats have demanded the Redskins and the league drop the club’s nickname, which they — and many others — consider an offensive racial slur against Native Americans.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., this week announced she will introduce legislation to cancel the NFL’s tax-exempt status because of its refusal to address the controversy.
“The NFL needs to join the rest of Americans in the 21st century,” said Cantwell, the former chairwoman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “It is about right and wrong.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been particularly vocal in his opposition to the Redskins nickname. He wrote Goodell in May to urge the league to endorse a name change for the team, and 49 other Senate Democrats signed the letter.
A Twitter-based publicity stunt by the Redskins last spring intended to pour cold water on Reid’s opposition to the name backfired, as many fans instead called an audible and tweeted agreement with the Democrat.
While congressional condemnation over the Redskins’ name has come mostly from Democrats, Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican and Native American, also believes the name should go.
“It is very, very, very offensive,” Roll Call reported Cole as saying earlier this year. “This isn’t like ‘warriors’ or ‘chiefs.’ It’s not a term of respect, and it’s needlessly offensive to a large part of our population. They just don’t happen to live around Washington, D.C.”
Cole joined Cantwell in writing Goodell to urge him to reconsider his decision not to force the Redskins to change the team name, telling him the league was “on the wrong side of history.”
• TV blackouts
Blumenthal repeatedly has called on the league to end its “arcane” TV blackout policy and has pressed Congress to pass legislation to make it illegal.
“The threat of a blackout is itself both injury and insult” to fans, he said in early 2014. “The NFL and other sports leagues that enforce blackout policies should not be rewarded with special regulatory status, antitrust exemptions and taxpayer subsidies.”
Blumenthal and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have cosponsored legislation that would do away with the 1970s-era Sports Blackout Rule.
Under the NFL’s policy, teams must enforce blackouts in the home team’s primary media market if at least 85 percent of seats aren’t sold within 72 hours of kickoff, though the league sometimes grants extensions if teams are close to selling out.
The Federal Communications Commission long has backed the league’s blackout policy. But agency Chairman Tom Wheeler has come out against the rule, saying it’s not in the public interest, and says his agency will vote Sept. 30 on whether to repeal the rule.
• Some kudos
Still, not everything the NFL does or doesn’t do have been met with Capitol Hill scorn.
Several lawmakers, including McCain and Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Elijah Cummings, D-Md., applauded the league this week for updating its policy on stamping out performance-enhancing drugs to include testing for human growth hormone.
And even Cantwell, along with and fellow Washington Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray, introduced legislation in February to commemorate the Seattle Seahawks 2014 Super Bowl victory over the Denver Broncos.
“Washington state is proud of the teamwork, focus and tremendous talent that the Seahawks displayed all year long,” Cantwell said at the time. “Congratulations again to coach Pete Carroll and his Seahawks on this long-awaited milestone in Northwest sports history.”
