MWPRInsight: Crisis Situation (Commissioner Goodell's handling of recent situations are negatively affecting the NFL brand)

Reports: Urbanski's wife says Goodell reneged on promise of financial help
ESPN.com news services

Kathy Urbanski, whose husband, Tommy, was paralyzed in a melee at a Las Vegas nightclub that involved now-suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell promised to help the family pay its mounting medical expenses, according to published reports.

She now says Goodell has reneged on his offer.

"Roger Goodell told me, 'You don't have to call us. We'll get in touch with you,'" Kathy Urbanski told the New York Daily News for a story published Sunday. "Now I realize he meant, 'Don't call us, we'll call you.'"

The Urbanskis' plight also was reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in recent weeks.
Tommy Urbanski was one of three people wounded in the shooting outside the Minxx Gentleman's Club. He still has a bullet in his spine from the Feb. 19, 2007, incident, which occurred during NBA All-Star Weekend.

Kathy Urbanski told the Daily News she and her husband received two calls from the league about its desire to offer financial help, but when the Urbanskis called back, they received no response.

Prior to Super Bowl XLII, Goodell addressed the Urbanskis' difficulties. "I'm sorry about the tragedy the family is going through, but I don't feel we have any responsibility," Goodell said.
Goodell added that Kathy Urbanski agreed with him during their discussion, but Urbanski later disputed the commissioner's recollection of their conversation.

"This is a David-and-Goliath situation, with working people against a very greedy and evil corporation called the NFL," she told the Daily News. With a civil lawsuit filed by the Urbanski family pending, Clark County District Court Judge Jessie Walsh is due to hear arguments Wednesday on the NFL's claim that Nevada courts lack the reach to hold the league responsible in the wounding of Tommy Urbanski.

Previously, the Nevada court ruled the Titans held no legal responsibility for Jones' actions that night. The Urbanskis are challenging that decision.

Jones pleaded no contest Dec. 6, 2007, to a reduced charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a gross misdemeanor, in regards to his actions in the brawl inside the Las Vegas club.
No one has been charged with the shooting outside, and Jones' lawyer, Robert Langford, has declined to say if Jones knows the identity of the gunman.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.