White House slams NFL, orders to ‘get a handle’ on domestic violence issues

The White House has slammed the NFL over its recent spate of child and domestic abuse scandals, calling the revelations ‘deeply troubling’.

An official said in D.C. on Thursday that the football league must ‘get a handle’ on its widespread issues of violence and have a message of ‘zero tolerance’.

During a briefing on an awareness campaign about sexual assaults on college campuses, an official said the NFL had an ‘obligation’ to the U.S. and its millions of young fans to properly discipline those involved in abuse.

The White House official criticized the NFL during a briefing about the ‘It’s On Us’ campaign, an initiative to fundamentally shift thinking about sexual assault and how to prevent it.

Critics have been calling for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s resignation over his handling of domestic abuses incidents involving Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Jonathan Dwyer.

President Obama was shocked by the video showing Rice knocking out his then-fiancée, his chief of staff said earlier this month.

‘The president was shocked by what he saw, let’s put it that way,’ Denis McDonough said.

An official later added: ‘…like any American, (Obama) believes that domestic violence is contemptible and unacceptable in a civilized society’.

The White House’s strong words came after another NFL player, Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer, was arrested on Wednesday.

Police said he head-butted his wife and broke her nose after she refused to have sex with him, and punched her in the face the next day.

The details surfaced in a police report a day after Dwyer was arrested on aggravated assault charges and deactivated from all team activities. He spent a night in jail and made a brief court appearance before being released early on Thursday.

Dwyer, 25, was arrested over two incidents that occurred on July 21 and 22 at his Phoenix residence, just days before the Cardinals reported to training camp.

The player denied assault but acknowledged that he punched walls in his home, threw a phone and that his wife bit his lip during the disputes, according to the police report. As he was released from jail on Thursday, he said he never hurt his son.

He was ordered to wear an electronic tag and banned from contact with his wife.

The Cardinals released a statement on Wednesday which said the team was ‘aware of these allegations this afternoon when notified by Phoenix police and are cooperating fully.

‘Given the serious nature of the allegations we have taken the immediate step to deactivate Jonathan from all team activities.’

More at The DailyMail Online.