I must admit to my lack of surprise at the hypocritical attitude of the NFL when dealing with Ray Rice. While I am apalled at what Ray Rice did, I don't see why he is being made this scapegoat in order to "salvage" the image of the NFL. Why should the fact that there is a video make his punishment any different or more severe than the guidelines outlined in the policy introduced by Goodell a few weeks back? Why should McDonald be allowed to play when he was initially charged with felony assault of a pregnant women? Because there's a video? please. And one of the biggest hypocrites is Robert Kraft. For him to shill for Goodell when his team signed Talib, who took a shot at someone. Had Corey Dillon, who was convicted of a felony and has had his picture taken with a convicted abuser in Mayweather. The pot calling the kettle black. I simply believe that Ray Rice deserves to be punished. Not ruined for life. He is going to have trouble finding a job at a McDonalds. Ray Rice should be punished, and a six game suspension falls within the guidelines set by Goodell. A first time offense while under the influence from an otherwise clean player. Rice should not be denied an opportunity to pursue his livelihood and this incident has made him a pariah undeservedly.
I'm with you about Rice's act being shocking and unforgettable - even fireable, but this is proof that Goodell and the NFL has no clue about how to manage their rep via player punishment by hamfisting this matter in quite possibly the worst possible way. Didn't they learn from Penn State? At least the Ravens organization/Steve Biscotti issued a contrite letter and owned up to their mistake. The NFL/Goodell need to take a note from his page. The choice to dismiss Rice from the team was clearly predicated on the indefinite suspension by the league and their wanton and willful disregard for their own policies. Again, not defending Rice's action, but the NFL went from instituting a new DV punishment policy of 6 games for first time offenders to putting Rice in double jeopardy by punishing twice for the same crime AND disregarding their newest punitive policy whilst still fresh in their mind.
Yeah I agree. If they had suspended him for the entire year from the beginning, I wouldn't see a problem. If they had changed his 2 game suspension to the new 6 game rule, I wouldn't see a problem. But they changed his suspension to something BEYOND what they just established as a punishment from a month ago. Rice is the scapegoat and it's a shame that this country only cares about these things when the media forces them to see it. Not a word is being said about the Panthers player who was found guilty for domestic violence in July I think. People need video evidence to be outraged
i agreee that the NFL had no business applying double jeopardy here. like RR1 said - if they started out at a year, fine - but to me, there's no justification for changing their minds later. to imply that seeing the elevator tape made it that much different is absurd, imo. but... "He is going to have trouble finding a job at a McDonalds." - seriously? just a bit hyperbolic there, don't u think? IF (and that's an ENORMOUS if, imo) he has trouble getting a job at mickey d's or wallyworld or anywhere else, it will be because of people seeing him punch his woman - NOT because the NFL upped his suspension. and if playing football is the only way he would ever be able to earn a living, then it truly sucks to be him - and that's not on the NFL.
Blame TMZ because that is the only reason anyone even remotely cares about this case which is sad. All the "outrage" people feel has nothing to do with domestic violence at all. What do they think Hardy or McDonald's cases looked like? What do they think the many, many other cases of domestic assault look like (from their own teams)? The coverage is simply a joke which is why I've avoided it all. False heroes standing on mountaintops for nothing. How about trying to get some stiffer punishment with the actual judicial system in this country? What about standing up for the low income woman who is scared to leave because she has no money or job? Nah, ignore everything you can't see on video because if it's not on video, then people can turn a blind eye to it.
Of course it was hyperbole. My point was, and is, that this incident has been overblown to the point where his reputation has been sullied almost beyond repair. Who's going to hire him, and for what? Here is a guy who hadn't been associated with any problems up to this pont who is being made a scapegoat of. The punishment doesn't fit the crime.
I'm not going to fault Rice for suing the NFL later and it is intriguing/disturbing how the video seems to have changed everything around Rice. Without that video, this probably goes away quickly and quietly.
Ugh - please dont think I'm taking up for Goodell................because it is the LAST thing I want to do. But he is suspended indefinitely. Usually, that indicated that they are deciding on what to do with him. Maybe they come out and say we are going to punish Ray under the new rules, and give him 6 games. If it happens again, he is gone for good. Indefinite just means that for the time being, he needs to stay away. I actually find this disgusting.......................disgusting in the fact that a majority of the US population even tunes into this kind of garbage of "reporting/journalism". They are creepy, shady, and are out to make a buck off of people's (mostly celebrities) misery. It is said that an organization like this even exists, and its even sadder that it gains enough attention by the US public that it has its own show on TV. Every time I see something start off with "TMZ is reporting............" - I'd rather just read something else.
Which is why I am forced to assume that Ray, Janay and his attorneys all lied their ass off in the face of the commissioner and the owner and when the tape hit they simply said "Oh yeah? Well fuck you too Ray!".
That makes perfect sense and it might be exactly what went down. Regardless, I wouldn't be surprised if the indefinite suspension was vindictive. The only major reason I think the league office knew specifics about the video content was because the initial reports in july, however flawed, still referenced that the tape was ugly and that she hit her head on the banister.
People should pay more attention to what Janay Rice had to say. Before I start, I want to point out that I'm not trying to apologize in any way for Ray Rice's actions...... Janay realizes that what happened 7 months ago in that elevator was a "WE" situation, not a "HE" situation. She wasn't some poor victim that was beaten by her man for no reason. She was just as responsible for the whole mess as Ray was. They were both probably twisted drunk, got into a fight, both acted irresponsible, irrational, and stupidly. First and foremost, Ray should not have hit Janay. Case closed. No if's, and's or but's about it. At that same time Janay should not have hit Ray either, yet our media and public lynch mobs ignoring what she did is just more proof that our society is telling women it's okay to hit your man. Neither is okay, and neither should be tolerated. Media outlets in general, especially the likes of TMZ, are trash who pollute our morality and our way of life for an easy buck yet we applaud them as if they "report" any of this information for some selfless good in their hearts, as if they actually care. What they did has possibly destroyed a career Ray has worked very hard for his entire life up to this point and is now negatively affecting his family even more so than before. Their family has already paid for the incident in spades. They didn't need to pay and suffer any more, which is what is happening now. People and media are making Ray out to be a monster. He's not, never was, and never will be. He's just a man who made a mistake, like a lot of human beings do in terrible dark moments. I feel shame for the Ravens and the NFL as a whole. Instead of cutting ties with the Rice family, why not bring the problem to the forefront and use this as a chance to demonstrate the right way of approaching situations such as this, by trying to help the Rice family through social reinforcement. They could have used this as a way to bring domestic violence to light, and Ray could have been an example of someone growing beyond a terrible mistake, to teach others to be better humans. But no..... We as a society want our "eye for an eye", no matter what the repercussions are. SMDH.
It was a criminal act. They didn't destroy anything, he did it. You take a monster NFL paycheck, you accept a public life. You punch a women in public as a veteran public figure, you're an idiot. He wasn't at home, he was at a casino. This is a Ditka-esque line of thought. He worked hard, and he screwed up, he has to deal with consequences. Let's not forget that he screwed up by lying, or at least giving a version of events that didn't match up with video that his attorney would have had access to. Wait, I should hold up on that thought because Ray's story is quickly revising now too. I have plenty of thoughts on Janay, I'm not sure what to make of it all though. The only thing I know for sure about her is that Goodell was willing to interview her in the same room as the attacker and willing to use her in public. I'm not sure what she steered and what she was steered into, but that whole thing is regrettable.
The last report on one of the local channels clearly say that during Ray's interview that he, Janay and another couple consumer 2 full bottles of "HARD" liquor.
I wonder if Ray has some type of recourse in making TMZ reveal WHO they got the video from. I am betting that policy of the REVEL hotel and casino clearly says that the contents of the security system is the property of the hotel and casino and is not to be removed for ANY reason...let alone to sell for cash.
I agree with the double jeopardy but having sat back and looked at the situation Ray would and should not fall under the new policy as the crime happened before the penalty policy was created....I'm sure that is what Goodell will say and that he was free and clear to issue any punishment he saw as appropriate. Not only did Goodell punish him twice...he punished him the second time while in the middle of his FIRST imposed suspension.
The Ravens actually were trying to support and help out Ray and Janay as best they could. They stood behind him and let him keep his job as long as he went through all the protocols. The problem was after the second video surfaced, a lynch mob grew that wants to attack everything under the sun because people love seeing themselves in the spotlight. Look no further than the N.O.W. president demanding Goodell's resignation. What a freaking joke she is. Where was she over the past 15 years with the 88 other domestic violence cases (not counting sexual assault cases) against women. The Ravens got blasted from the second the second video aired, and you need to look no further than this forum to see evidence of those individuals. By that point, it's still a business, and the team had no choice but to cut bait even if they wanted to help him. There is so much scum circling this case that I won't be surprised if by the end, you see a reversal of sorts in public opinion where people start to feel sorry for Ray and Janay continuing to go through this nonsense. None of this fixes or changes what happened in February. All it does is cause more problems (because none of these shouters is doing a thing to prove they care about fixing domestic violence problems).
