Every week, it seems the NFL is in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Earlier this week, before Deflategate again took over the news cycle, it was a man in a white T-shirt caught on video whipping people on a beach. Maybe it isn't Junior Galette. At least, that is what the attorney for the Saints linebacker says in response to a video that has surfaced of a man bearing a resemblance to Galette beating people with a belt.
Plausible deniability is all that stands between Galette and a possibly lengthy suspension from the NFL.
Why does a video from 2013 matter in June 2014? Well, because that video is a lifetime ago in terms of NFL policy, and it looks like the ghost of the league's past. It's a video older than Ray Rice's, the one that exposed the league and set all the recent conduct changes in motion.
And, not lastly, it's a video that could serve as a case study for the rookies gathered in Cleveland right now for the annual Rookie Symposium.
When does behavior overshadow performance? These are the questions the NFL is wrestling with, and now the league's rookies must confront them as well. In several days of sessions with rookies, the NFL is emphasizing the new code of conduct.
"They harp on it," said Raiders rookie Amari Cooper. "They've been telling us about it all day yesterday. The league has turned into something where they aren't giving you too many chances. They really want you to make the right decisions so that NFL logo can really stand for something. With anything, the more you harp on something, the more people will be able to hear it, able to understand it."
The NFL probably doesn't want the logo to be associated with a video of a man wielding a belt, or any other crimes. This year, former first-round pick Donte Stallworth told the group about pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter, and the resulting yearlong NFL suspension.
"It was really an eye-opener," said Browns rookie offensive lineman Cam Erving. "You all know his situation. [Responsible driving] is something you think about that you don't really think about. People do that every day, but [hearing Stallworth speak] is something that makes you realize it is too important."
This year, the rookies are sitting through an expanded program and its four core principles: responsibility to team, respect, integrity and resilience. On Monday, the AFC rookies sat through a 15-minute session on health and safety, followed by 20 minutes on the personal conduct policy, 20 minutes on drugs that fall under the substance abuse policy, and another 20 on performance-enhancing drugs.
That's a lot to take in. Like, really a lot. There may not be a quiz at the end, but it's three-and-a-half wall-to-wall days that are a crash course in money, rules, drugs and responsibility. It has to be exhausting, even with a mandatory bed check at 11:30 p.m.
"It's an action-packed few days, but really good stuff happening," said Dwight Hollier, a former player who now works as a counselor and is the NFL's vice president of transition and clinical services. Hollier was instrumental in implementing the league's crash course on domestic violence and sexual assault in the fall.
"Yes, we do talk about the policies that players are responsible for -- they get a booklet called the playbook which has a lot of that information outlined in it, as well as resources. We're giving them a lot of information, but the real download of all this information we upload to them happens in the breakout rooms."
The breakout sessions are led by former players and are confidential. There are a max of 20 players in the room and minimal NFL staff. Players can get cards to write anonymous questions to be answered later in the day. It's set up, Hollier said, to be conducive to honest interactions between players and staff.
The NFL follows up with the rookies through each team's point person on personnel, and with educational programs through the year in a team setting (there's a big NFL-run educational session during each training camp). The league has also set up resources through a third-party provider to keep things anonymous -- one issue some players have is the fear that the NFL can check up on their issues through counseling. That's why the NFL doesn't directly provide those services but instead has representatives of that firm on site at the symposium.
There have been players over the past year who, when confronted with conduct that doesn't meet the NFL's standards, have said they weren't clear about what constituted a violation. Hollier and the group in Ohio are making very clear where those standards start for the latest crop of young players. In an age of social media and video, any violation can be assessed frame by frame.
There might have been a time when the NFL reviewed a video that may or may not have shown a player behaving badly, shrugged and asked, "Can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it's a member of the Saints?" But that's not the standard the league uses now. There is a new investigative unit, not altogether uncontroversial itself, but ready to pull police reports and interview witnesses if needed.
All 256 rookies are being welcomed into a league that still bears the marks of a tumultuous season. There may be second chances for these players, but perhaps not as many as were allowed in the past.
So they will sit and listen, and then break out and talk. Hopefully, they'll leave with a better sense of just how quickly one bad decision, one fit of anger, can negatively affect their short professional careers.
"This is a different time for our league, and we have to be mindful of how we engage," Hollier said.
Jeremy Fowler contributed to this report.