NFL hires ex-White House official

The NFL has hired Cynthia C. Hogan, a former deputy assistant in the Obama administration, as its senior vice president of public policy and government affairs.

Hogan will help run the NFL's Washington, D.C., office and will report to Paul Hicks, the league's executive vice president of communications and public affairs.

The addition of Hogan, who was part of the White House staff from 2009 to 2013, marks the NFL's latest front-office hire following widespread criticism for its handling of Ray Rice's domestic abuse case.

The NFL announced the hiring of Hogan on Tuesday, one day after appointing three domestic-violence experts -- all women -- to serve as senior advisers to the league.

"We are pleased to welcome Cynthia to our leadership team," Hicks said in a statement released by the league. "Cynthia's broad experience on a wide range of public policy issues will help advance our initiatives in Washington and around the country."

Said Hogan: "The complex and compelling issues of interest to the NFL and the opportunity to help shape policy on those issues is a unique and exciting challenge. I could not be more excited about joining the NFL team."

Hogan helped lead several of the Obama administration's reforms, including gun-violence proposals.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who has come under intense scrutiny in the wake of the Rice incident, sent a memo to all teams Monday announcing that Lisa Friel, Jane Randel and Rita Smith will "help lead and shape the NFL's policies and programs relating to domestic violence and sexual assault."

Goodell also announced Monday that Anna Isaacson will be the league's vice president for social responsibility -- a new position -- in addition to her current role as the league's vice president of community affairs and philanthropy.

Terry O'Neill, the president for the National Organization of Women, issued a statement that the NFL's hires are "a step in the right direction -- but it's not enough."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized the NFL for not including any African-American women when it brought on three domestic violence experts as consultants.About two-thirds of NFL players are African-American, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.

Jackson said Tuesday: "Where is the jury of your peers?" The civil rights leader calls the lack of diversity among the senior advisers a "shameful insensitivity" that "compounds the credibility crisis."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.