The National Organization of Women’s call for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to resign over the way the league handles domestic violence issues pushed an ESPN panelist into a meltdown.
In a Wednesday statement, NOW said that the league’s problems go beyond the way it handled the Ray Rice case and that the NFL has a “violence against women problem.”
“The only workable solution is for Roger Goodell to resign, and for his successor to appoint an independent investigator with full authority to gather factual data about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking within the NFL community, and to recommend real and lasting reforms,” the statement reads.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith vehemently disagreed.
“I’m sorry, I think this woman is off her rocker. I think she’s lost her mind. That’s right, I said it,” Smith said about the NOW statement.
He said that unless there was evidence that Goodell saw the video and tried to hide it, he shouldn’t have to go.
“This is the most ridiculous nonsense I’ve ever heard in my life. Roger Goodell deserves to lose his job? Why are you acting like he’s Ray Rice? Roger Goodell did not hit Janay Palmer Rice. He hasn’t hit any women,” Smith said.
“And by the way, the last time I checked, why are we talking about the NFL as if it’s some cesspool for domestic violence? There’s a few cases. It’s being dealt with. It needs to be dealt with harshly,” he continued.
Deadspin has the full clip.
In July, Smith was suspended from ESPN for a week after a comment he made about domestic violence.
While discussing Rice’s indictment for assaulting his then-fiancee Janay Palmer, Smith said that women should not to “provoke” their partners.
