Former Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said hundreds of domestic violence incidents went unpunished during his 30 years in the NFL, USA Today reported Thursday.

Angelo served as Bears GM from 2001 to 2011 and started working in the NFL as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys in 1980.

“I made a mistake,” Angelo told USA Today. “I was human. I was part of it. I’m not proud of it.

“We knew it was wrong. … For whatever reason, it just kind of got glossed over. I’m no psychiatrist, so I can’t really get into what that part of it is. I’m just telling you how I was. I’ve got to look at myself first. And I was part of that, but I didn’t stand alone.”

Angelo said he would typically ask a player if everyone was OK and then move on.

“We were surprised by Jerry’s comments and do not know what he is referring to,” the Bears said in a statement on Thursday.

The league has come under fire since video surfaced of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out his wife last February in a hotel elevator. Commissioner Roger Goodell initially suspended Rice for two games before suspending him indefinitely.

“Short of killing somebody, there is absolutely nothing worse than abusing a child or a woman. Nothing,” Angelo said. “And I think everybody understands that now much, much better. We’ll be better for it. Everybody will be better. The players, the NFL, everybody.”

Commissioner Roger Goodell met with NFL owners on Wednesday to discuss, among other things, domestic violence and personal conduct.

“Our business is to win games,” Angelo said. “We’ve got to win games, and the commissioner’s job is to make sure the credibility of the National Football League is held in the highest esteem. But to start with that, you have to know who’s representing the shield. We got our priorities a little out of order.”

Former Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson was never associated with domestic violence during his playing days but received a six-game suspension from the league in 2007 on gun charges.

“Looking at the Ray Rice situation, it’s got to make everybody step back and say, ‘OK, how many times has this happened and it’s gone unreported?'” Johnson told USA Today. “And how many times have we overlooked this?

“Any time you a picture or a video to something, it makes it 100 percent more real. … When you see something so vivid, so violent, it makes everyone gasp and say, ‘Wow, this is real.'”