In days of yore — maybe last year? — the NFL would have reaped the benefit of releasing a "tough" new personal conduct policy in the form of positive stories throughout a news cycle.
But now? Even as the NFL trots out the new policy, they are getting hammered from two fronts.
First, a new ESPN story that digs deeper into the inconsistencies in Roger Goodell's handling of the Ray Rice story. That story undermines — in a good, well-reported way — a lot of whatever the NFL was trying to achieve today.
Second, the NFLPA, which has been at odds with owners and the commish during much of this season, released a statement blasting the league for not consulting with the players before releasing the new policy.
As a result, the NFL doesn't get to own this positive story, even for a day. They probably don't deserve to, and it's nice to see the league constantly challenged the way it is now.
