Bloomberg Features Torrenzano on NFL Probe

Former FBI Director to Probe Rice Case Amid NFL Video Questions

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller will conduct an independent probe into the National Football League’s handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence case, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last night in a news release.

The announcement came hours after the NFL said it was looking into an Associated Press report that a law enforcement official sent the league a video five months ago of Rice punching his fiancee in the head and knocking her unconscious...

‘‘The law enforcement official is an unattributable source. If they can attribute that source, then Goodell has a problem,” said Rich Torrenzano, chief executive of The Torrenzano Group, a crisis management firm. “I’m not taking Goodell’s side, just that if you’re saying the NFL had it, stand up and be counted. In terms of appearances, it’s not good, but you can’t go on just appearances, you have to go on fact...”

...“I’m not surprised when senators and congressmen start to posture,” said Torrenzano, the crisis manager. “They’re all trying to be a savior and that’s not helpful either, but at the same time it’s a good thing because it throws sunlight on the problem. The NFL has kind of brought it on themselves.”

Torrenzano said the reaction to the Rice incident has followed a pattern he calls a crisis predictability arrow and applies to not only sports, but business, religion or politics.

“After the outrage, it’s who is coming in as the saviors? Where is the government oversight? How are these people going to be punished?” he said.

Continue reading: Former FBI Director to Probe Rice Case Amid NFL Video Questions

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