AUGUSTA — Maine Gov. Paul LePage is urging the commissioner of the NFL to team up with the nation’s governors to tackle the problem of domestic violence.

In a letter to Roger Goodell last week, LePage said that the NFL should create a coalition of team owners and governors to turn the “national spotlight on this reprehensible crime.”

LePage criticized Goodell last month for initially giving only a two-game suspension to Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice, who was arrested for domestic violence. Rice was indefinitely suspended after a video was released showing the running back striking his then-fiancee.

LePage, who was beaten by his father as a boy, says the NFL can be a “catalyst for much-needed change” and that governors can work with the organization to “make this atrocious behavior unacceptable.”