Last week, former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs was arrested for DUI after crashing his corvette at 156 mph into the back of a woman’s Toyota Rav-4, ultimately leading to the woman’s death. Ruggs is now facing charges of driving under the influence, causing death or a substantial bodily injury, and reckless driving. This was huge news for the football community because not only is Ruggs a young 22 year old athlete that made a mistake that can potentially change the PR plans of the NFL forever.
This is not the first incident of an athlete drunk driving and accidentally killing someone. For this reason, leagues already have systems in place to try to prevent these tragic events from happening. Sports leagues PR departments attempt to create programs and amenities that will hinder their players from making bad decisions and ruining their reputation as well as bruising the league’s reputation as a whole. The NFL has a system in place that allows 24/7 chauffeur service to all players, anywhere in the country. This idea was specifically put into place after a similar drunk driving crisis in order to prevent it from happening again.
NFL’s PR department wants to do anything they can to plan ahead of these crises and make sure players do not act in ways that hurt the wellbeing of the organization. It is crucial to protect the reputation of the organization, which is deeply impacted when a prominent athlete that is idolized by young fans across the nation makes a bad decision. When things like this happen, it makes the public wonder what the NFL is doing wrong that causes history to repeat itself.
Now that Ruggs did not use the services that the league offers to all players to influence them not to drink and drive, it is time for the NFL to come up with a new plan that will prevent players from drinking and driving in the future. As a PR professional, it would be a good idea to implement mandatory classes and programs that players must attend that teaches them the importance of being held accountable for actions. By teaching players the dangers of drinking and driving and drilling information into their heads, the NFL can scare players into following the rules, therefore protecting the goodwill of their organization.
Whether it is a string of learning programs, a complete ban of drinking for all players, or a complete ban of driving for all players, the NFL is looking at a tough decision that needs to be made in a timely manner to appease the public and prevent similar crises from occurring again in the future.