(Updates with ESPN report, paragraph 16)
By Larry Fine
NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A chastened NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Friday that the league's poor response to its domestic violence crisis will prompt an overhaul of how it deals with player behavior and punishment in America's most popular sports league.
Goodell has been under fire since the NFL's slow and fumbled response to the domestic violence incident involving Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice, whose knock-out punch to his then-fiancee was captured in a video that went viral last week.
"I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter," Goodell told a packed news conference. "And I'm sorry for that. I got it wrong on a number of levels, from the process that I led to the decision that I reached."
It was the embattled commissioner's first public appearance in more than a week, after the number of domestic violence cases involving players grew to five, teams bowed to public pressure and major sponsors criticized the league.
Doubts about Goodell's leadership had spiralled due to his failure to address the issue in public earlier. But Goodell said he never considered resigning from the post he has held since 2006.
Rules governing personal conduct for players and other employees will change, he said, and experts from outside the league will help it shape that new policy.
A "conduct committee" will be established by the NFL to review policy, a significant concession for an organization known for its top-down, fortress-like approach to management.
"We will get our house in order," Goodell said.
"I know this because we will make it happen," he said. "Nothing is off the table. Let me say it again, we will implement new conduct policies."
Players often criticise Goodell as being "judge, jury and executioner" on disciplinary matters, as he hands out punishment and rules on most appeals.
While Goodell offered no specifics on what the future would be like, it was clear he was preparing to cede a measure of the near-absolute authority that had made him one of the most powerful and well-paid figures in all of sports.
Although the committee could make the NFL punishment process more democratic, it also allows Goodell to distance himself from future controversies in how the league metes out discipline.
Goodell said he will discuss many of the pending changes with the union but NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith was not at the news conference, raising some eyebrows.
'TOOK THE BLAME'
The domestic violence issue emerged when Goodell suspended Rice for two games after he knocked out fiancee Janay Palmer, who is now his wife, in a New Jersey casino elevator in February. Many saw the commissioner's penalty as too light.