NFL Wants To Attract Women Fans, but League has a Domestic Violence Problem

In the early morning hours of Friday, June 5, 2025 Denver Broncos EDGE Jonathon Cooper was arrested for domestic violence.

It was the first off-the-field arrest during the Sean Payton Era with the Broncos (Josh Reynolds got shot in 2024), and Cooper's arrest is part of a league-wide domestic violence problem concerning NFL players.

Ironically, the NFL wants to attract more women fans, but that is made more difficult when players physically abuse women on a regular basis. In fact, the rise of these cases of violence against women makes it tougher for even longtime fans to keep tuning in and support a league that allows it to continue.

Jonathon Cooper the Latest Player in NFL's Domestic Violence Problem

Cooper and his girlfriend were both arrested on domestic violence charges.

From Mike Klis of 9News:

Cooper and the woman are both being held on suspicion of two counts of domestic violence and one count of criminal mischief, according to Douglas County jail records.

Represented by Denver attorney Harvey Steinberg, Cooper had a hearing at about 9:45 a.m. Friday in a Douglas County courtroom. A follow-up hearing will be held Monday when Cooper is expected to enter a plea. After the hearing, Cooper was released on a personal recognizance bond, according to a source.

Cooper's girlfriend thought he may be cheating on her, she threw his phone and tried to look through it, the two tussled over the phone and Cooper "braced his neck against [her] neck to prevent her from getting the phone," per the affidavit and 9News.

Then Cooper bit her phone and disabled it.

Bit. Her. Phone.

The woman's affidavit says he picked her up by the neck and held her in the air, but police on the scene say the marks on her weren't consistent with that.

Also, Klis added, "NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said: 'We are aware of the matter and have been in contact with the club.'"

Just another day in the NFL.

And just another arrest for the Denver Broncos.

Denver has 56 arrests since 2000 according to USA TODAY's database. That doesn't include Cooper's arrest, which pushes it to 57 and would be a tie with the Minnesota Vikings for the most among any NFL team.

Not good, Bob.

Embarrassing for any Denver Broncos fan, actually.

14 of the 57 (24.5%) of the Broncos arrests since 2000 were domestic violence, with only DUI (14, tie) being the cause as often.

A Busy NFL Offseason for Domestic Violence in the NFL

Cooper's arrest is just the latest in domestic violence cases in the NFL this offseason.

Alaric Jackson

LA Rams tackle Alaric Jackson was arrested on Monday night for suspicion of felony domestic violence.

Jackson thought a woman was trying to film him and he tried to take her phone away. The woman had scratches on her arm, per FOX.

From FOX and the AP:

Jackson was sued last year by a woman who alleged he recorded sexual acts with her on his phone without her consent. The incident led to Jackson being suspended for the first two games of the 2024 season for an undisclosed violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, but the reason for the suspension was not publicly revealed until the unnamed woman filed her lawsuit.

Rashee Rice

Back in February, NBC News reported Rashee Rice of the Kansas City Chiefs was accused in a civil case to have abused a woman numerous times over the course of 19 months, including when she was pregnant.

The plaintiff says Rice choked, strangled, hit, and even headbutted her. She's seeking $1M in damages.

Since then, Rice tested positive for THC, which violated his probation from a 2024 case where he was charged with two felonies for driving an SUV at 119 MPH on a Dallas freeway and crashed. He's currently in jail serving a 30-day sentence, a second one.

Despite the civil case still ongoing, the NFL has decided not to suspend Rice this time around, though they did for 6 games in 2024 after his crash.

Tyreek Hill

Tyreek Hill was one of the best receivers in the league from 2016-2023, earning five different Associated Press First-Team selections. But he's also got a long history of domestic abuse.

It goes all the way back to college in 2014, when he plead guilty to choking and punching his pregnant girlfriend in the face and stomach. That resulted in Hill being booted from Oklahoma State, and he wasn't invited to the NFL Combine in 2016, either. Still, the Chiefs took him in the 5th round of the 2016 draft.

Three years later, Hill was investigated for child abuse when his 3-year old son had a broken arm. The receiver was suspended from the team. A few months later, the investigation ended, and after an 8-hour talk with the NFL, he was cleared to play.

Many were surprised the league didn't suspend him as there was an audio recording where he's heard telling his then-fiancée (the same woman he punched while pregnant in 2016), "You need to be terrified of me to, dumb bitch."

In 2024, he invited Instagram model Sophie Hall to his house, performed offensive line drills with her, and ended up fracturing her leg, allegedly.

Finally, last fall, his estranged wife and mother of his child Keeta Vaccaro alleges eight instances of domestic violence.

NFL investigating Tyreek Hill domestic violence allegations

The NFL is investigating recent accusations of domestic violence involving Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

ESPNStephen Holder

Hill is a prime example of a star player the league lets get away with domestic abuse because he brings eyes to televisions and puts butts in seats. It's inconsistent and seemingly biased decision-making from the NFL to let some guys slide. In reality, they let many players go without suspension.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2017 to find a case where a player was suspended 6 games—which is the first strike in the NFL's domestic violence policy—with Ezekiel Elliott being the guilty party. That, according to Wikipedia's list of suspensions.

James Pearce Jr.

One of the wildest episodes of domestic violence in league history happened this offseason, too.

From The Athletic:

Pearce, 22, was arrested on Feb. 7 after allegedly hitting [WNBA star Rickea] Jackson’s vehicle several times with his own and trying to block her access to the Doral (Fla.) Police Department. He was charged with felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, felony fleeing and eluding police, felony resisting an officer with violence and misdemeanor stalking.

The incident was part of a tumultuous, multiyear relationship between Pearce and Jackson, 25, according to a petition for injunction for protection against dating violence Jackson filed on Feb. 9.

“James appears to have an underlying mental disorder, and he is violent,” she stated in the petition. “I am in fear of my life, and I believe, if this Court does not assist me with this issue, James will kill me.”

According to Jackson’s petition, Pearce threatened to kill her, threatened to put a bag over her head and “verbally and physically abused” her on multiple occasions before the Feb. 7 incident that led to his arrest. 

Threatening to kill his longtime girlfriend.

But, as long as he completes a pretrial intervention program, all the charges will be dropped.

The NFL is still investigating and may suspend him for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Time will tell.

Stefon Diggs

Diggs allegedly slapped and choked his former private chef, who is a woman.

His chef, Jamila Adams, had a complicated relationship with the NFL star. They became friends in 2022, had a sexual relationship, and she later moved in where she made all his meals. She said the altercation began when Diggs didn't pay her, but his lawyers argued he did.

In May, a jury found the former Patriots receiver not guilty.

The Super Bowl is a Domestic Violence Trigger, Especially When Betting is Involved

According to the Progressive Magazine, who cites a National Institutes of Health study from 2013, domestic violence spikes by more than 10 percent following NFL losses.

This is not speculation. One peer-reviewed study found that male-on-female violence increases by more than 10 percent following unexpected NFL losses, especially in states where sports betting is prevalent. Year after year, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the most dangerous days to be at home with an abusive partner. 

Even before betting was legalized, women were at risk on any NFL Sunday of experiencing violence in the home.

Why?

The interplay of drinking alcohol, heightened emotions from the game, and now the financial stress that betting brings into the fold too leaves women at a higher risk of domestic violence.

And as this Now.org piece explains, players' actions have an affect on fans' actions, too.

The NFL has faced many issues with players that have been involved in domestic abuse cases. Since 2000, 134 players have been arrested for domestic violence, making it the most common criminal charge among them [xi]. This creates a harmful cycle where the actions of these players, both good and bad, have a big impact on fans and young viewers. When professional athletes, who are often seen as role models, are involved in domestic violence cases, it sends the wrong message that this kind of behavior is somehow okay or doesn’t have real consequences. 

If you've read this far into the piece and are wondering, "What's the point of all of this?"

This is the point.

Fans idolize NFL players

Fans idolize NFL players.

In many cases, they worship them.

Within the Denver Broncos, the "Bolievers" often have a tag "GBBN" which stands for "God Bless Bo Nix." If you question how well Nix plays, his most staunch supporters get up in arms to defend him.

This is true of basically every fanbase. They have a favorite player—oftentimes a quarterback—who they defend with all their hearts.

Watching football isn't just fun, it's an emotional endeavor. Men are very emotional.

The cardiac kid Broncos showed that rollercoaster ride of emotions last year. They came from behind to win 12 games, which was a record for single season.

Fans get hyped all week long, look at stats, break down what they think will happen, and many put money on the outcome of games.

As the game unfolds, fans emotions can range from extremely high to low, and fluctuate all game long until the final whistle. A last-second loss can send a fan into an emotional spiral and violence can ensue. That's why there are many videos online of dudes getting so pissed they break their TV at the end of a game.

Some of them turn that anger and violence onto their loved ones.

And NFL fans often seek to delegitimize and minimize these domestic violence cases. They say the women are looking to shakedown the players and make a quick buck.

To jump to that is misogynistic and heartless.

And when players get away with domestic violence, it can seep into fans' brains whether consciously or unconsciously, and the result can be domestic violence in the home.

NFL Wants to Attract More Women Fans

The biggest irony of this issue and the callousness of the NFL's need to drive profits has left them wanting to attract more women fans to the league.

This piece from the Associated Press outlines the NFL's efforts to attract more women to become NFL fans.

Specifically, the league has partnered with Betches and The Gist, which are women-oriented publications in a way to cash in on the rising popularity of football among women thanks in part to Travis Kelce's fiancée Taylor Swift.

From the AP:

In addition to traditional game reports and on-the-field breakdowns, a large part of the strategy around appealing to women — and to a new generation of NFL fans more broadly — is human-centric content. Through an approach aptly dubbed “helmets off” by the NFL, the league and their partners are focusing on content about the players themselves, looking to forge stronger connections by using more personal storytelling.

From a journalistic standpoint, their desire to show players in a human light is smart. Telling their stories and how they got to this point is often not only interesting but illuminating, and makes the players more approachable as humans instead of superhumans.

For instance, Terrell Davis explained his admiration for soldiers as the inspiration for the Mile High Salute. Or the video of Quinn Meinerz pushing over trees in Wisconsin, or how J.K. Dobbins' mom was only 18 when she had him and raised him as a single parent.

And yet, doing that same sort of journalistic exploring can lead to finding out some players have a history of domestic violence or other issues.

Considering the NFL hid concussion data from their players for decades, continues to add games which goes against their player safety initiatives, and often downplays domestic violence, it seems the league is facing an uphill battle in terms of getting more women to like the game.

Roger Goodell Under Fire

Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the NFL, isn't well-liked by fans.

In fact many NFL fans loathe him. He's often booed loudly at every NFL Draft.

Part of that is his sweeping power to decide on suspensions of players.

One such important case came in 2014 with one of the most disgusting and public cases of domestic violence in NFL history, with Ray Rice.

Rice was caught on camera in an elevator knocking out his fiancée, then dragged her out.

Goodell only suspended Rice for two games originally and faced a lot of backlash from groups wanting his job. The Commissioner then issued an apology letter—which, for some reason can't be found on the internet anymore on NFL.com—and changed the personal conduct policy to suspend a player six games for the first instance of domestic violence, and banning the player for the second instance.

Following the short investigation of the Rice instance, "Outside the Lines" interviewed many sources within the NFL who sought to ignore and even conceal domestic violence.

The calls for Goodell's job continued in 2016 when he condescendingly told the BBC, "I understand the public's misunderstanding of those things and how that can be difficult for them to understand how we get to those positions."

He's saying here, basically, the public is too dumb to understand how this all works.

But the league was once again covering themselves so they could continue to rake in the billions of dollars per year. Just like with concussions and CTE, downplaying domestic violence because they knew it was an existential issue. If the true nature of domestic violence is exposed, fans will turn off their TVs.

In 2018, when a video of Kareem Hunt assaulting a woman surfaced, Goodell said the league wouldn't spend money to buy such videos.

In 2019, a US Senator urged Goodell to take domestic violence more seriously.

In 2024, Goodell was asked by reporters about Jay-Z's civil case (which was dropped) in which a woman alleged the rapper and Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs raped her when she was 13 after the MTV Video Music Awards. Goodell responded, "The relationship is not changing" between the NFL and Jay-Z, who books artists for the Super Bowl.

Fast forward all the way to the Jonathon Cooper arrest, and some fans are mocking Goodell's handling of domestic violence while others are defending players.

The NFL's Personal Conduct Policy is a Joke

While the league decided to change their policies following the 2014 arrest of Ray Rice, and all the public backlash that followed, they're still way too lenient on domestic abusers.

Punishments for players have been incredibly inconsistent and have favored stars, keeping them from ever being suspended at all. Kareem Hunt wasn't suspended in 2018, and Tyreek Hill has never been suspended despite a long list of domestic violence cases.

And then there's Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns quarterback who was accused by more than two dozen women for sexually abusing them during massage sessions. Watson was suspended for an entire season, but argued it down to an 11-game suspension.

The NFL's lawyer Lisa Friel says she wants to be 100% sure before a player is suspended for any games. So, she must've been certain Watson committed sexual abuse, and then Goodell doled out the full-season suspension.

He could have booted him from the league, but didn't.

Now Watson is gearing up for his eighth professional season in the NFL and is set to make $41M in 2026.

Meanwhile, some fans don't care about this at all. They want their favorite players on the field every Sunday.

Other fans see Goodell and the league's personal conduct policy as a joke. Not stiff enough, inconsistent, and the precedent it's setting is "protect the shield" at all costs. Goodell needs his players on the field, even if they do brutally abuse or attack women.

It should also be acknowledged that these cases can sometimes be difficult to sift through in terms of the severity—like in Cooper's case, it was more an argument than a football player attacking his girlfriend—and sometimes, even if it is rare, people are tying to shakedown players for money.

Yet, even when the league has a mountain of evidence, like with Tyreek Hill for instance, they allow him to continue to play unobstructed.

While the league in 2024 pointed to NFL arrests "being down by half" in 2023 compared to 2011, the total amount of domestic violence cases (11) were the most of any year listed.

Domestic violence is a huge issue the NFL is trying to sweep under the rug. And it keeps rearing its ugly head.

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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.