NEW YORK - The NFL chastised the New York Jets on Friday for unprofessional conduct but found no evidence that a female television reporter was "bumped, touched, brushed against or otherwise subjected to any physical contact" by any member of the team or coaching staff.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said while the "conduct of the Jets clearly should have been better" team owner Woody Johnson and his staff acted promptly to correct the situation that arose last weekend when TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz said she felt uncomfortable in the team's locker room.
Goodell said that, as a result of the incident, the league will implement a training program for all 32 teams on proper conduct in the workplace and that the program would be underwritten by Johnson, who personally apologized to Sainz.
The NFL came to its conclusion after interviewing 17 people who were present — including Sainz — when she visited practice on assignment for her Mexican TV network.
In a letter to Johnson, Goodell said that while "there seems little doubt that passes were thrown in Sainz's direction at last Saturday's practice, it is also clear that she was never bumped, touched, brushed against, or otherwise subjected to any physical contact by any player or coach.
"Sainz herself was unequivocal in saying both that no physical contact occurred, and that no player or other Jets staff member made any comment or gesture that could be construed as threatening, demeaning or offensive," he said.
Sainz said on her Twitter account last Saturday that she felt "very uncomfortable!" in the Jets' locker room, where a few players made catcalls as she waited with two male co-workers to interview quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is of Mexican descent.
"Of course you feel it when you are being stared at and when you are being spoken of in a certain way," Sainz told The Associated Press. "I opted to ignore it ... I tried to not even pay attention."