To say that the National Football League has a public relations and image problem is like saying Robert DeNiro is a great actor – an obvious conclusion to draw if you’ve watched the news lately or have ever seen Goodfellas.

The 2013 NFL season kicked off with the shocking Aaron Hernandez murder inquiry and arrest, easily the biggest sports story of the year. Mid-season has been disrupted by the Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito bullying saga, a story whose highlights include allegations of racial insults, death threats to families, and possibly even accusations of coercion involving coaches who should be responsible for maintaining locker room culture. Not to mention the serious, widespread, and on-going health concern of the NFL — the concussion pandemic. Retired players from yesteryear are suffering from multiple mental diseases and afflictions resulting in premature memory loss, decline of motor skills, depression and even death, sometimes by suicide.

It’s been a difficult few years for Carnival Cruise Line. Earlier this year, one of its ships, Triumph, got stranded at sea and eventually towed back to port by four tug boats.  Passengers were quick to share horror stories about their “poop cruise” – five days on a boat without electricity, running water, or working toilets –  a Crisis Public Relations nightmare!  Last year, Carnival’s Costa Concordia ran aground off of Italy, killing 32 passengers. Its Captain “tripped and fell into a lifeboat” that seemingly rowed itself safely to shore while 4,228 passengers were left to fend for themselves.  And just a month later, the Carnival-owned Costa Allegra’s engine caught fire, lost power and “was set adrift in pirate-infested waters in the Indian Ocean.” (CNN)

Actions to placate passengers and assume control of the company’s reputation have been ineffective. Of the Triumph, efforts were everything but triumphant.  The CEO apologized, both at a company organized press conference as well over the ship’s PA system as filthy, weary passengers deboarded.  Surely at the time, this was not music to their ears – not the best travel pr either.  Many of these same passengers then experienced a second stranding by Carnival when the cruise line-hired buses in which they were riding broke down somewhere between Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans. If it didn’t actually happen, we’d think this was a scene out of the latest Zach Galifianakis movie. Ultimately,  traumatized passengers were offered only a refund and $500 compensation, less than cost of the cruise itself.   As for the tragedy of the Costa Concordia, last week, it was announced that the Captain will  be tried for Manslaughter and faces up to 20 years in prison.  No refund or gift certificate can ever heal those wounds, especially for the families of those who died.

From the PR industry perspective, a public apology can improve a PR Crisis or it can make a small PR crisis into a much bigger public relations controversy. Perhaps ESPN made things worse than they needed to be when they issued a public apology over comments made by announcer Brent Musburger while he was covering the Alabama v Notre Dame football game.

Musburger was obviously enamored by Katherine Webb, the girlfriend of Alabama Quarterback A.J. McCarren. Musburger repeatedly commented on the appearance of Webb, a former Miss Alabama, calling her “beautiful,” “good-looking” and suggesting that scoring a girlfriend as beautiful as Webb, is ample motivation for young boys to start practicing their football skills.