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It was a clear penalty flag from the President of the United States, who on Friday whistled NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for his handling of the Ray Rice situation.
Rice was originally suspended for two games after a video surfaced in mid-February of the former Baltimore Ravens running back dragging his unconscious fiancee from an elevator in a New Jersey casino, then he was indefinitely suspended in September when a second video from inside the elevator surfaced that showed Rice hitting the woman who is now his wife. Goodell was roundly criticized for what was seen as a weak original suspension, and his follow-up efforts showed inconsistency and mismanagement. Rice had his suspension overturned by an arbitrator in late November, but Rice hasn't signed with a team.*

Goodell and the NFL have been under intense scrutiny by everyone, and even President Barack Obama took notice. Obama said that he hoped the Rice situation at least brought attention to a problem that may have been overlooked.
"I think the most prominent example, obviously, was the Ray Rice situation. I'm so glad we got more awareness about domestic violence. Obviously, the situation that happened in the Rice family was important, but it did lift up awareness that this is a real problem that we have to root out and men have to change their attitudes and their behavior," Obama said in an appearance with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio on Friday.

Then Obama brought down the hammer on Goodell, whose new and tougher conduct policy was just unanimously agreed to by NFL owners this week.

"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 [on this]." Obama told Cowherd. "You don't want to be winging it when something like this happens. You want to have clear policies in place, the fact that policies have now been established - I think - will be helpful in sending a message that there is no place for that kind of behavior in society."
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Kristian R. Dyer writes for Metro New York and is a contributor to Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KristianRDyer