President Barack Obama called the NFL an “old boys network” while discussing the league’s handling of the Ray Rice controversy, as well as issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, in an ESPN radio interview Friday.
“The way [the Ray Rice case] was handled indicates the NFL was behind the curve, as a lot of institutions have been behind the curve in sending a clear message. You don’t want to be winging it when something like this happens. You want to have clear policies in place,” the president told Colin Cowherd, host of “The Herd.”
“There have been some blind spots that are rooted not just in pro football but dating back to college football and certain behaviors have been tolerated historically that really should not have been tolerated. Hopefully this is a wake-up call,” Obama added.
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In the aftermath of the Rice incident, Obama said he was “so glad that we’ve got more awareness about domestic violence.” The president went on to offer his support from more diversity in the higher echelons of pro sports. “You make better decisions when you’ve got different viewpoints.” he said.









