Of the five major sporting leagues in the United States, the NFL is by far the strictest when it comes to protecting the league's image. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is notorious for inflicting harsh penalties on those players and owners who threaten to damage the league from a public relations point of view. It was shocking when the NFL only decided to suspend Baltimore Raven's running back Ray Rice for two games after allegedly being involved in a domestic violence case. NFL fans were critical of the lacking penalty due in part to the leagues harsher stance on testing positive for banned substances. 

Although Rice was extremely apologetic and visibly upset about his actions, critics felt that the penalty did not reflect the alleged crime at hand. Nevertheless Goodell and the NFL moved forward with only a two game suspension, and fans thought that would be the ends of the conversation.

On Thursday Goodell sent out a statement to all 32 NFL teams informing them of the blunder or mishandling of the domestic violence situation. Goodell did not mention Rice by name, but with the timing it's almost undoubtedly in response to his case.   

"Although the NFL is celebrated for what happens on the field, we must be equally vigilant in what we do off the field," Goodell said in the statement. "At times, however, and despite our best efforts, we fall short of our goals. We clearly did so in response to a recent incident of domestic violence. We allowed our standards to fall below where they should be and lost an important opportunity to emphasize our strong stance on a critical issue and the effective programs we have in place."

Goodell brings up the interesting point of conjoining off-and-on field behavior. While NFL players are physically paid for their athletic endeavors on the field, they also have a responsibility to the public and the millions of fans who admire them. If a player is found to be participating in illegal activities of any kind it sends mixed messages to the public about what the NFL stands for.

Goodell went on to outline the updated version of the new penalties for domestic violence violations.

"Effective immediately, violations of the Personal Conduct Policy regarding assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault that involve physical force will be subject to a suspension without pay of six games for a first offense, with consideration given to mitigating factors, as well as a longer suspension when circumstances warrant," Goodell said in the statement. "A second offense will result in banishment from the NFL."