President Obama on Friday took a shot at the NFL for failing to confront domestic violence and other controversial issues quickly enough, saying pro football has been plagued by an “old boys network” that has kept the league from making necessary progress on some social issues.

Speaking on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on ESPN Radio, the president praised NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for instituting new policies on domestic abuse on the heels of the Ray Rice controversy and other recent incidents.

But overall, Mr. Obama said, the NFL has a long way to go.

“The way it was handled also indicates the NFL was behind the curve, as a lot of institutions have been behind the curve in sending a clear message. You don’t want to be winging it when something like this happens. You want to have clear policies in place,” the president said on Mr. Cowherd’s show, the first of three radio interviews Mr. Obama will participate in Friday.

“There has been a little bit of an old boys network in terms of how it operates,” Mr. Obama continued, speaking of the NFL. “There have been some blind spots that are rooted not just in pro football but dating back to college football and certain behaviors have been tolerated historically that really should not have been tolerated. Hopefully this is a wake-up call.”

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