--- title: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Calls NFL Players' Behavior 'Repugnant' description: But she backed Roger Goodell canonical: https://time.com/3398991/pepsi-nfl-ray-rice-adrian-peterson/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-18T18:41:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:00.556Z og:title: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Calls NFL Players' Behavior 'Repugnant' og:description: But she backed Roger Goodell og:url: https://time.com/3398991/pepsi-nfl-ray-rice-adrian-peterson/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc094af601a6971ab/6986a424169ab0283727b407/451561226.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Key Speakers At The Aspen Ideas Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Calls NFL Players' Behavior 'Repugnant' twitter:description: But she backed Roger Goodell twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc094af601a6971ab/6986a424169ab0283727b407/451561226.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pepsi Exec Calls NFL Players' Behavior 'Repugnant'  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 18, 2014 6:41 PM UTC  Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo., arrives to speak during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado, U.S., on Monday, June 30, 2014. Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo., arrives to speak during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado, U.S., on Monday, June 30, 2014.Matthew Staver—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 18, 2014 6:41 PM UTC The CEO of PepsiCo on Thursday [slammed](http://live.pepsico.com/live/pressrelease/pepsico-chairman-and-ceo-statement-on-the-state-of-the-nfl) the behavior of several NFL players who have been accused of domestic abuse in recent days, in harsh words from the head of a major league sponsor. “I am a mother, a wife and a passionate football fan,” CEO Indra Nooyi said in a statement. “I am deeply disturbed that the repugnant behavior of a few players and the NFL’s acknowledged mishandling of these issues, is casting a cloud over the integrity of the league and the reputations of the majority of players who’ve dedicated their lives to a career they love. When it comes to child abuse and domestic violence, there is no middle ground. The behaviors are disgusting, absolutely unacceptable, and completely fly in the face of the values we at PepsiCo believe in and cherish.” Nooyi went on to place her confidence in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s leadership. “I know him to be a man of integrity, and I am confident that he will do the right thing for the league in light of the serious issues it is facing,”Nooyi said. “The reality for Commissioner Goodell and the NFL is that they now have an opportunity to effect positive change with the situation presented to them. I urge them to seize this moment.” Goodell has [come under fire](http://time.com/3386996/women-nfl-football-ray-rice-adrian-peterson/) in recent weeks after a video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his now-wife was released by TMZ. Goodell has originally suspended Rice for only two games for the incident, but the league decided to suspend the running back indefinitely after the video leaked. The NFL came under further scrutiny when news outlets reported that several other players were under police scrutiny, including Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson, San Francisco 49ers’ Ray McDonald and, as of Wednesday night, Arizona Cardinals’ Jonathan Dwyer. Critics say Goodell hasn’t done enough and have some have sought his resignation. PepsiCo pays over $100 million per year as a sponsor of the NFL. Nooyi is one of the few female CEOs of a major American company and is consistently ranked among the most powerful women in the world. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3398991/pepsi-nfl-ray-rice-adrian-peterson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3398991/pepsi-nfl-ray-rice-adrian-peterson/"},"headline":"Pepsi Exec Calls NFL Players' Behavior 'Repugnant'","datePublished":"2014-09-18T18:41:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:00.556Z","description":"But she backed Roger Goodell","url":"https://time.com/3398991/pepsi-nfl-ray-rice-adrian-peterson/","keywords":["Living","domestic violence"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc094af601a6971ab/6986a424169ab0283727b407/451561226.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc094af601a6971ab/6986a424169ab0283727b407/451561226.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At The Aspen Ideas Festival","caption":"Key Speakers At The Aspen Ideas Festival","creditText":"Matthew Staver—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3398991/pepsi-nfl-ray-rice-adrian-peterson/","name":"Pepsi Exec Calls NFL Players' Behavior 'Repugnant'"}}]}] ```