In 1998, Rita Smith had her very first conversation with leaders of the National Football League (NFL) about the role the league can play in addressing domestic violence and sexual assault offenses committed by its players. It took 15 years, numerous allegations of intimate partner abuse against football players, and a lot of persistence from Smith and others for the league to take action. The turning point was the Ray Rice incident of 2014. Since that time, the NFL has retained Rita Smith as a Senior Advisor and together they have worked to not only bring awareness to the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault but also to hold football players accountable for their actions in meaningful ways. What’s more, with its worldwide following, the NFL has an opportunity to usher in a game-changing culture shift as a role model for healthy relationships, equitable opportunities, and community safety. In this episode, we explore with Senior Advisor to the NFL Rita Smith what’s changed and what it will take to coach America’s most popular sports league from the sidelines to the all-star champions of the movement to end domestic violence and sexual assault.

Rita Smith has been a Senior Advisor to the National Football League since September 2014 working with them on their efforts to address domestic violence and sexual assault. Ms. Smith began working in the violence against women space as a crisis line advocate in a shelter for battered women and their children in Colorado in 1981. Later, she served as the Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence for nearly 22 years.