NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has received a lot of backlash for his poor public handling of league controversies surrounding Ray Rice or, more recently, Deflate-gate. Count Arizona Sen. John McCain among some of his harsher critics.
The former Republican presidential candidate who is the face of opposition toward the NFL's controversial blackout policies offered up a lesson in handling public perception to Goodell during a recent interview with USA Today.
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"I think these controversies would have gone away a lot easier if they had approached them from, 'How are the American people going to react to seeing the video of a professional football player knock out his wife?' " McCain said, in reference to the video of Rice punching his then-fiance in a hotel elevator.
"If I were them, I would review my whole PR scheme."
When TMZ released footage of the Rice incident earlier this year, Goodell failed to respond publicly to the matter in a timely fashion and was chided for his lack of accountability on the issue, a mistake to which he has admitted. He similarly has remained without issuing public comment in the wake of Deflate-gate, although the NFL wasted little time launching an investigation against the Patriots last week.
"One thing we do in politics when there's an issue that arises, smart politicians have a rapid-response team. What is the reaction of Mr. Goodell in this latest one? He's MIA as far as I can tell."
McCain also thinks Patriots coach Bill Belichick could have handled the situation better.
"I'm a great admirer of coach Belichick, but I'm not sure he's the best at PR," McCain said of the coach, who held an impromptu news conference Saturday, during which he offered little insight. "He doesn't have a warm feeling about the media. It's obvious."
As his state prepares to host Super Bowl XLIX this weekend, McCain's speaking out is really nothing more than a good PR tactic.
"The whole scandal resonates very badly because just before the Super Bowl, which is the premier sporting event in America, the question is not about the contest," McCain said, referring to Deflate-gate. "It's about the pressurization of the football. That's too bad."
