Obama on Domestic Violence: ‘Men Have To Change Their Attitudes and Their Behavior’

"If I was 21, 22, and suddenly I got a multimillion dollar contract, I’m sure I would have made not only more mistakes than I made, but they would be a lot more publicized and I recognize that. On the other hand, just like any other job, when you have the privilege of playing in a sports league and people looking up to you, you got responsibilities to the fans and to your employers and you got to be treated the way other people are treated when you do make mistakes. Some of those mistakes are ones that are very serious where you are breaking a law. So the one thing I’m glad about is where I see leagues establish clear policies and guidelines ahead of time. You know, I think the most prominent example obviously was the Ray Rice situation ... I am so glad that we got more awareness about domestic violence. Obviously the situation that happened in the Rice family was unfortunate, but it did lift up awareness that this is a real problem that we've got to root out and men have to change their attitudes and their behavior and it has to start young. But the way it was handled also indicates that the NFL was behind the curve, as a lot of institutions have been behind the curve, in sending a clear message. You know, you don’t want to be weighing it."