Sources: Most NFL Teams Haven't Changed Their Stances on Domestic Violence

Police arrived at Room 3202 of the Maui Sands Hotel in Sandusky, Ohio, on November 16, and inside was a bloody towel, a broken lamp, a battered woman and another front in the NFL's domestic violence problem.

Police eventually arrested Frank Clark, at the time a star defensive end for the University of Michigan, on charges of assault and domestic violence. The woman in the room was Clark's girlfriend, and photos in a police report obtained by The Seattle Times show her with cuts and bruises on her head and neck.

The Wolverines would kick Clark off the team following the arrest. That didn't stop the Seahawks from selecting Clark with their first pick in the NFL draft (63rd overall). The story would get even bigger after what appeared to be false claims by the Seahawks that they had conducted a thorough investigation into the incident and believed the 6'3", 271-pound player had not struck the victim.

Clark eventually pleaded down to reduced charges, but the Times found witnesses who said they believed Clark had indeed struck the woman, with one saying the victim was "just laying there…She looked like she was unconscious to me." The two witnesses said the Seahawks never spoke to them.

What that entire sordid story shows, along with other examples—many from this year's draft and free-agency signings—is that while the NFL office is finally taking domestic violence issues seriously, teams are still taking risks with players accused of the crime.

In essence, on a team level, the seismic change in attitude toward domestic violence that was supposed to come in the post-Ray Rice world hasn't. On that level, nothing has changed.

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

Since that horrible day Rice knocked his then-fiancee unconscious in an elevator, many in football (as well as many in the the media, including me) have spoken of how a new day was here. The league, eventually with new policies fresh in hand, was going to change the NFL's apologist culture toward domestic violence.

Now, after free agency and the draft, what's become clear is that was only half true. The Seahawks' drafting of Clark with their first pick, without thoroughly investigating the charges that led to his arrest, shows that they're conducting business in the same manner they would have pre-Rice. They're not alone. Several team executives I've spoken to say that almost all teams are.

So while the league office is taking a hard stance against domestic violence, the teams themselves have changed very little.

How does the NFL office reconcile this? I posed the question to NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, who responded, "Everyone in the league is held accountable to the league's personal conduct policy."

Aiello added: "A player is not subject to discipline under our policy for conduct that occurred when he was in college. But it would be a factor in any subsequent incident as an NFL player. While the disciplinary features of the policy are not applicable, a matter of this nature would be considered with respect to the resource, education and other components of our program."

Translation: Should Clark find himself in trouble again with domestic violence, the NFL will take this incident into consideration when deciding punishment.

Yet that didn't stop the Seahawks from drafting him. Clearly, they weren't concerned about the league office's tougher stance. And therein lies the problematic part of this story, a story that isn't quite what we all thought.

It's instead a story about a league that exists in two dimensions, both forward-thinking and stuck in the past when it comes to domestic violence.

There's the league office, trying to reroute the NFL from its past, one where that office rarely severely punished domestic abusers, but now does.

Then there are the teams, whose only mission is to win games and apparently care little about the league's new mission.

In New York, where Commissioner Roger Goodell's office is headquartered, it's a new day. But to teams, some officials of which who were extremely candid in interviews, very little has changed.

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

"As long as there's an NFL," said one general manager, "there will always be teams taking risks on bad guys. It doesn't matter what the league office says."

"You guys [in the media] said the NFL changed," one team personnel man said. "We never did."

"We" meaning the teams themselves, not the league office.

There is no better example of this than the Seahawks. After the Rice video was released, Seattle coach Pete Carroll told ESPN.com's Terry Blount that what happened then would forever change how he evaluated players.

Carroll said at the time:

"

It will never be the same. I have to admit, my awareness is different than it was and will never be the same. Hopefully, we can head off any issue that could come up in the future.

I talked to the team about the serious nature of it. It's an extremely serious situation. We made them aware that we will help them in any way if they have concerns about it. We will try to elevate their awareness. I think it's another example of an enormous situation that people learn from and grow so much from.

Hopefully, the process and visibility will bring an awareness throughout our society. We need to take care of one another better and we need to respond accordingly.

"

Yet apparently, that heightened awareness didn't last long. Not even one year later, the Seahawks used their top pick on Clark without so much as cursory interviews with witnesses of what seemed to be an ugly domestic abuse incident.

Why haven't teams changed? Everyone interviewed gave the same answer: The NFL still isn't holding teams, or the people who draft the players, responsible when those players make mistakes.

As one general manager said, he won't be fired for drafting a domestic abuser, and the NFL isn't stripping draft picks or taking away salary cap space for doing it, so why wouldn't his team still take the risk?

Chris Keane/Associated Press

In December 2014, NFL owners approved a sweeping new domestic violence policy. The league created its own domestic violence investigative branch. This unit was a key part of the Greg Hardy suspension.

The policy states:

"

It is a privilege to be part of the National Football League. Everyone who is part of the league must refrain from conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL. This includes owners, coaches, players, other team employees, game officials, and employees of the league office, NFL Films, NFL Network or any other NFL business. Conduct by anyone in the league that is illegal, violent, dangerous, or irresponsible puts innocent victims at risk, damages the reputation of others in the game, and undercuts public respect and support for the NFL. We must endeavor at all times to be people of high character; we must show respect for others inside and outside our workplace; and we must strive to conduct ourselves in ways that favorably reflect on ourselves, our teams, the communities we represent, and the NFL.

"

It's clear, however, that a number of teams don't care about the part of the policy that states "conduct by anyone in the league that is illegal, violent, dangerous, or irresponsible puts innocent victims at risk, damages the reputation of others in the game, and undercuts public respect and support for the NFL."

The Buccaneers took Jameis Winston first overall despite allegations of sexual assault. There was Clark. There was Hardy. There was Tennessee picking Dorial Green-Beckham. And the Bears signing Ray McDonald. There are numerous other examples.

While the league is comfortable and forthright in speaking about domestic violence, some teams clearly still are not. As espnW's Jane McManus writes, there are also teams that are clearly not properly vetting players accused of the crime. This was one of the most disturbing aspects of the Seahawks drafting Clark.

Overall, team officials made three important points:

First: One thing that's becoming clear is that teams don't fear the tougher policies.

The core of the NFL's new approach is to punish players longer while using its own investigative force. It's a smart way of doing things and was supposed to intimidate teams into staying away from troubled players.

But most teams don't seem to care about the new policies. How many teams is impossible to tell, but each of five executives from different franchises told Bleacher Report that his approach to the draft and free agency was not so different from the past.

"There is slightly more awareness," said one general manager. "That's about it."

Teams have countered it is their support systems that will keep players in check. That phrase—"support system" or "right environment"—is one used by teams repeatedly when it comes to troubled players.

"We believe we have the right kind of environment here with the Cowboys," Dallas coach Jason Garrett recently told NFL Network (via FanSided). "We have an excellent coaching staff who believes in coaching the man first, and we also have an excellent support staff who can help our players in every way possible. ... Some of the off-the-field concerns that we have with Randy, we feel like we can help address."

Second: All of the team officials interviewed said they believed only one franchise removed all domestic abusers from its draft boards and free-agent lists. That team: Baltimore.

Third: Team officials interviewed believe this divided status, where league and teams have different agendas, won't be fixed any time soon.

One team official was asked if he's spoken to his owner about domestic violence since the new policy became official. He said no.

"My marching orders are to win games," the official said. "That will always be the first priority."

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.