MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: National Football League Scandals

Interview

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SCHULTZ: Let me bring in tonight, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and then also with us tonight, award-winning journalist and sports director at WCCO Television at Minneapolis, Mark Rosen great to have both of you with us tonight.

Senator, you first, I mean all signs point to a lousy investigation, certainly not thorough and even a joke. I have a one long-time journalist tell me today on a podcast that he thinks the NFL is lying. Put this together for us Senator, how do you see this?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D) CONNECTICUT: Far from a joke, Ed. Domestic violence is a scourge. What Ray Rice did to his then fiancee, punching her, knocking her out, dragging her out of an elevator is exactly the kind of assault and abuse that I thought as attorney general for 20 years. People are fighting today, advocates are working to stop and so, the failure of Roger Goodell to demonstrate more leadership is really a glaring gap and apparent, "See no evil, hear no evil", failure to see the tape and then if they had it, to act on it, I think demonstrates the need for new leadership.

If it`s from him, great. Stronger penalties for domestic violence going forward. The six-game suspension, it`s absolutely unacceptable, not nearly strict enough. And Roger Goodell is going to have to demonstrate that he understands his position of public trust, his obligation to the fans...

SCHULTZ: Well...

BLUMENTHAL: ... it`s more than he has done.

SCHULTZ: The league says he didn`t see the tape, Senator. Do you believe that?

BLUMENTHAL: I can`t say whether they saw the tape or not. They should have seen the tape. That`s clear. They should have asked for the tape.

SCHULTZ: OK. So that`s what I meant. Is it the investigation was a joke, if they didn`t see the tape and it certainly wasn`t very thorough in that sits on Roger Goodell`s desk and is that going to acceptable for NFL owners?

Mark Rosen, the NFL does not have a habit of changing commissioners. Since 1960 there have only been three NFL commissioners. There has been Pete Rozelle, Paul Tagliabue and now, Roger Goodell. Put this into perspective is this a pressure that maybe no commissioner has ever seen before?

MARK ROSEN, SPORTS DIR., WCCO: It probably is because of the outcry from the public around the country and because of the number -- in particular the number of women who are National Football League fans who are completely outraged, everyone should be outraged. And they play to that market. The National Football League and Roger Goodell like to be in control of everything but they`ve been backpedaling on the story faster than Deion Sanders and his prime from the get go.

When he held -- when Roger Goodell held that impromptu news conference saying, "Well, we looked at all the tape and -- reason to get this two- games suspension" then, later admitted, it wasn`t enough. Well, yeah it wasn`t enough. Did you really need to see the TMZ tape that we all saw yesterday to convince yourself that something happened out of the elevator, when he was dragging an unconscious body out of that elevator?

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ROSEN: If that wasn`t enough and if the TMZ tape hadn`t been released yesterday, guess what? Ray Rice would have been activated on Friday morning after the Thursday night game on CBS. So there it goes.

SCHULTZ: So Mark, do you think that NFL owners will be looking to replace Goodell over this?

ROSEN: No, I don`t think so.

BLUMENTHAL: Yes, I don`t think...

ROSEN: This is a watershed moment for him. His image will be tarnished and I think forever. I mean he`s got a lot of heavy lifting to do, to work on an image, and the NFL is all about image and so is Roger Goodell. I don`t see the owners right now are giving them to boot unless -- because the NFL has acted. The Ravens have acted. Yes, it was kind of too late but they have done their job and now...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ROSEN: ... it`s up to Goodell -- in spin control fashion to really make this work for him and right now, he`s got a lot of work to do over there Park Avenue.

SCHULTZ: So Senator, what does the NFL have to do, to prove to the public and to officials as yourself who certainly rendered judgment early on this. You know exactly what it was when it all unfolded. What does the NFL have to do?

BLUMENTHAL: The NFL has to do more than just talk. It has to act by imposing stronger penalties, lifetime suspension for any player who engages in domestic violence like Ray Rice did. It has to embark on education and most fundamentally Ed, culture change. Talk about those owners. Look at what the Ravens did with Janay, now, Rice -- Janay Rice, the victim in effect blamed herself on a platform that the Ravens provided and in fact staged manage.

Her apology was a travesty. It`s exactly what victims of domestic violence should not be pressured to do, to apologize, to blame themselves and...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BLUMENTHAL: ... that`s what advocates -- and experts have been saying is one of the great fault lines here. So, the owners have to change the culture too and the NFL has a lot of acting to do to really reverse the culture to impose really strict penalties.

SCHULTZ: Mark Rosen, I was told today by a journalist who`s been around the league since the 70s, Terrence Moore. He thinks that Ray Rice will play in the NFL again. What do you think?

ROSEN: I don`t think so. Maybe if Al Davis, the Oakland Raiders might take a look at him down the road.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ROSEN: You never say never. I think it`s going to take -- quite the owner and quite the amount of work that Ray Rice has to do within the community. And so -- his wife also blamed media today for exposing this tape. And that`s something -- I understand the shock that she`s going through, but one would hope that she will also become an advocate and talk to women shelters around the country and understand that a lot of women who don`t have a voice in this matter, who are too scared to go home, are afraid to do this.

Look, if Ray Rice was a third string running back instead of being Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens wouldn`t say good bye to him. He`d be serving fries in the fast food restaurant by now.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ROSEN: But because he`s Ray Rice, it would been a -- it`s a whole different situation but I hope it`s a learning experience for all of us because it isn`t about sport. It`s much more -- much bigger than that. And the National Football League needs to get out itself off the sand and realize they have a real issue at hand here.

SCHULTZ: Senator, there have been media people who have said things that they have regretted and it`s cost them their careers. Advertisers have left high profile personalities in this country for things they have said. Do you find it interesting that not one sponsor, not one advertiser has told the National Football League, "You better get your act together with women in this country and you better prove it", what do you make on that senator, finally?

BLUMENTHAL: I think they`re ought to be that kind of pressure and never say never, I`m hopeful that some of those advertisers will still put pressure on the NFL and the owners and make it clear that women fans increasingly, heart of the fan base for the NFL will demand this kind of action. Because, the NFL has a special position here, It has a special position under our -- under trust laws or tax laws, our communications and telecommunications laws. So it better fulfill it`s...

SCHULTZ: OK.

BLUMENTHAL: ... position on trust and advertisers especially.

SCHULTZ: Senator Richard Blumenthal with us tonight also Mark Rosen from WCCO Television of Minneapolis, great to have you gentlemen with us.

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