Ray Rice arrested on domestic violence charge

[oochymp 2,393]

thing about the question of did the league see the video is that it looks bad for the league either way, if they didn't see it then they did a half-assed investigation, if they did see it then the way they handled it looks like shit, the two game suspension is even more ridiculous if the NFL had this video and there's no information that's new to the NFL to justify extending the suspension

[BwareDWare94 723]

First of all, Ray Rice needs some serious help, and so does his wife, as she stayed with him for some godforsaken reason.

 

Props to the Ravens and the NFL for making the right call after the release of the video.

 

This is not the time to make this comment, but under no circumstances should a media outlet be able to release this video to the public. Holy shit.

[OSUViking 505]

Ray Rice is a coward for this. That being said, I'm annoyed with the self-righteous reporting of Bleacher Report on this. Not sure if their writing is ever highly regarded, but every person writing about any sensitive moral issue with regards to sports pretends to have the moral high ground and comes off as pretty arrogant.

 

Wouldn't be mad if Ray Rice never played another down in the NFL. Apparently, Goodell's job security is in question because of how he handled this.

 

Also, does anyone believe his wife? Do you guys really think she forgave him, or do you think she feels forced to be so supportive given the situation? I'm not sure what to think, considering I'm sure she'd have national support if she decided to turn on Rice.

[OSUViking 505]

 

 

This is not the time to make this comment, but under no circumstances should a media outlet be able to release this video to the public. Holy shit.

 

I for the most part agree. I hate TMZ. However, if the NFL had such easy access to the evidence, it makes you wonder if people were either trying to cover it up or willing to keep it from the public because of who was involved. Sometimes whistleblowers are necessary, but I honestly hate TMZ for just about everything they do.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

Does anyone find it a bit odd that the NFLPA has been completely mum on this? For that matter, they haven't had a statement on any of the recent domestic issue cases. Continuing on that point, could they challenge Goodell and say something like "Rice was already suspended, you can't punish him again for the same offense." OR more likely, "Rice should be punished according to the new domestic violence laws recently put in place by the NFL."

 

The only bright side to this: If Goodell saw the video and is lying about it, he's done. The negligence displayed there is certainly a fireable offense.

[oochymp 2,393]

Also, does anyone believe his wife? Do you guys really think she forgave him, or do you think she feels forced to be so supportive given the situation? I'm not sure what to think, considering I'm sure she'd have national support if she decided to turn on Rice.

unfortunately that's something you see a lot in domestic violence situations, it typically goes in cycles and the abuser is rarely constantly abusive, so often the abuser "reforms" long enough for the abused person to forgive them, if you want to be cynical you could also say she was anticipating a big paycheck coming Rice's way

 

Does anyone find it a bit odd that the NFLPA has been completely mum on this? For that matter, they haven't had a statement on any of the recent domestic issue cases. Continuing on that point, could they challenge Goodell and say something like "Rice was already suspended, you can't punish him again for the same offense." OR more likely, "Rice should be punished according to the new domestic violence laws recently put in place by the NFL."

I posted this above, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something going on behind closed doors, this is an incredibly difficult suspension to raise issue with, certainly while that video is fresh in everyone's minds, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a statement come out from the NFLPA that hedges on the particulars of the suspension but hammers the way it was done

[BwareDWare94 723]

 

I for the most part agree. I hate TMZ. However, if the NFL had such easy access to the evidence, it makes you wonder if people were either trying to cover it up or willing to keep it from the public because of who was involved. Sometimes whistleblowers are necessary, but I honestly hate TMZ for just about everything they do.

 

This isn't whistle blowing, imo. It's a shameless attempt to force the hands of authority to give what the nation thinks is the punishment Ray Rice deserves. In other words, all of us who know absolutely nothing about what went on that night except for two short videos got to decide another man's future, a future that will likely affect the victim just as much. Now Janay Rice has to relive this whole situation after it looked to be sorted out and moved on from. Yes, Ray deserved more than 2 games, but this situation was all but over. He'd been entered into a rehabilitation program, and there's no doubt that the Baltimore organization probably helped him or forced him to go through more rehabilitation in order to prevent him from hurting his wife + embarrass the organization again. The NFL and the Baltimore organization, along with New Jersey prosecution--they all fucked up, royally. Now they get to cover their tracks because fucking TMZ gets to say they "broke open this situation and revealed the truth.'

This doesn't benefit Janay Rice. It benefits the consciences of the NFL, Ravens organization, and New Jersey prosecution. Instead of helping the victim, it only piled on and made it worse.

 

All this did was hurt Janay Rice. We still don't know ANYTHING about what might have happened off camera, that night. We don't have a clue what had transpired that led up these roughly 6-7 minutes of camera footage. That's hours of undocumented, non-provable happenings that may be the very reason she stayed with him (if she was aggressive, at all, off camera). None of this excuses what Ray Rice did, but to act as if his situation isn't more complicated than a few minutes of recorded footage is absurd.

[blotsfan 2,112]

What happened off camera is irrelevant. What we know is that Rice punched her. She started to fight back, and he punched her again, knocking her out, with 0 remorse.

 

Also Bware, its not uncommon for victims of abuse to stick with their abuser for multiple reasons. It doesn't make it ok.

[BwareDWare94 723]

What happened off camera is irrelevant. What we know is that Rice punched her. She started to fight back, and he punched her again, knocking her out, with 0 remorse.

 

Also Bware, its not uncommon for victims of abuse to stick with their abuser for multiple reasons. It doesn't make it ok.

 

It's easy to say that what happened off camera is irrelevant, but try to tell that to Ray and Janay Rice, and any other couple that has ever been vicious and violent toward one another. It's absolutely relevant to the people who actually matter, in this case. Relationships are 10X more complicated than their worst moments. It's easy to judge from afar--remember that.

 

I did not say that it made what Ray Rice did OK. I did not. Do not say "it doesn't make it OK" when I didn't say otherwise.

 

My main point is that the release of this video wasn't intended to bring Ray Rice down. It was intended for TMZ to get a ton of credit for "breaking it open" instead of actually helping the victim. That's what we should be concerned about, first and foremost, and all this video surfacing does is allow outside parties to feel better and make Janay Rice relive the situation. It does nothing for either Ray or Janay Rice. Ray's already entered a rehabilitation program. Ray and Janay entered counseling pretty much immediately after the incident. That's significantly more than most couples would do, even with this media scrutiny (Yes, I am aware that Ray's rehabilitation program is part of the deal the prosecution gave him).

 

In a perfect world, those 6-7 minutes on camera would be all that matters to the people it actually affects, but I've tried to get friends out of fucked up relationships many times before (not violent to this extent, but things like cheating, manipulation, some level of physicality to ward one another, belittlement, etc) and have failed damn near every single time (only one success). People do not get it.

Edited September 10, 2014 by BwareDWare94

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

 

 

The Associated Press ‏@AP 8m

BREAKING: AP Source: Law enforcement official sent copy of Ray Rice tape to NFL executive in April

[blotsfan 2,112]

I've never been on the whole "Goodell is teh worst" bandwagon, but now I am. He should step down, but if not that, be fired.

[Dutch 874]

 

The Associated Press ‏@AP 8m

BREAKING: AP Source: Law enforcement official sent copy of Ray Rice tape to NFL executive in April

 

 

Haha. This is amazing.

[RazorStar 4,025]

So... who is lying and to what extent. If we needed impetus to get rid of goodell, it would start here if he's lying about seeing these tapes.

[butta54 371]

I have so many thoughts on this issue. But I will simply say that a majority of people are SO ignorant to the whole issue of domestic violence. Too many people are jumping on the "hot" topic. I don't care what anyone says in a few months it will be gone away. Everyone was against dog fighting, bullying, racial perceptions on TV, and the list goes on because it was a story in the league.

 

To have an outcry over that video of Ray Rice is ignorance. I knew what was on the tape when the story first broke. Ray Rice admitted and it was reported that he struck her with is hand and knocked her unconscious. What do people think that looked like? Everyone so up in arms and upset talk to me why T. Suggs on the Ravens is just fine when he dragged his wife out of a moving car? Greg Hardy was found GUILTY of choking his wife almost to death. Yet there was no uproar.

 

Everything from the Ravens and NFL was a PR move. Everything from the public is the mindless masses who have no idea what is really going on. Goodell might end up the scapegoat. But the real problem is Ray Rice was never charged and was only asked to enter a program. The AMERICAN LAW SYSTEM let it go and now everyone expected the NFL to be the law enforcement to punish him. 2...8....10 games? Who cares??? These are FOOTBALL GAMES a sport. What amount changes a person? Non..people are just looking to the NFL to be something it is not. They are not a social issue company or public justice system. It is a league for Football. They did Ray Rice wrong to look good in the public. And the mindless masses have labeled him "evil" for making a mistake that it takes time to find out if this defines him.

[BwareDWare94 723]

I have so many thoughts on this issue. But I will simply say that a majority of people are SO ignorant to the whole issue of domestic violence. Too many people are jumping on the "hot" topic. I don't care what anyone says in a few months it will be gone away. Everyone was against dog fighting, bullying, racial perceptions on TV, and the list goes on because it was a story in the league.

 

To have an outcry over that video of Ray Rice is ignorance. I knew what was on the tape when the story first broke. Ray Rice admitted and it was reported that he struck her with is hand and knocked her unconscious. What do people think that looked like? Everyone so up in arms and upset talk to me why T. Suggs on the Ravens is just fine when he dragged his wife out of a moving car? Greg Hardy was found GUILTY of choking his wife almost to death. Yet there was no uproar.

 

Everything from the Ravens and NFL was a PR move. Everything from the public is the mindless masses who have no idea what is really going on. Goodell might end up the scapegoat. But the real problem is Ray Rice was never charged and was only asked to enter a program. The AMERICAN LAW SYSTEM let it go and now everyone expected the NFL to be the law enforcement to punish him. 2...8....10 games? Who cares??? These are FOOTBALL GAMES a sport. What amount changes a person? Non..people are just looking to the NFL to be something it is not. They are not a social issue company or public justice system. It is a league for Football. They did Ray Rice wrong to look good in the public. And the mindless masses have labeled him "evil" for making a mistake that it takes time to find out if this defines him.

 

First of all, isn't the Greg Hardy situation extremely likely to be declared a mistrial? Wasn't it a female judge who ruled against him despite overwhelming evidence that supported his side of the story? I don't recall a lot of people, even at this board, who thought he was guilty. As for Terrell Suggs--were charges ever filed? Do we KNOW that those things happened? I mean, I get it, and I don't doubt that Suggs is that kind of monster--he's just one of those people where you can practically see it in his demeanor, but is there any evidence, whatsoever, that he actually did those things?

 

In order for there to be real, solid public uproar, there should be a smoking gun piece of evidence. There was with the Ray Rice scenario--I don't think there was for the other two. Great post, by the way. I do think that the Hardy and Suggs situations warranted more attention than they garnered, at the very least.

Edited September 11, 2014 by BwareDWare94

[butta54 371]

 

First of all, isn't the Greg Hardy situation extremely likely to be declared a mistrial? Wasn't it a female judge who ruled against him despite overwhelming evidence that supported his side of the story? I don't recall a lot of people, even at this board, who thought he was guilty. As for Terrell Suggs--were charges ever filed? Do we KNOW that those things happened? I mean, I get it, and I don't doubt that Suggs is that kind of monster--he's just one of those people where you can practically see it in his demeanor, but is there any evidence, whatsoever, that he actually did those things?

 

In order for there to be real, solid public uproar, there should be a smoking gun piece of evidence. There was with the Ray Rice scenario--I don't think there was for the other two. Great post, by the way. I do think that the Hardy and Suggs situations warranted more attention than they garnered, at the very least.

 

No charges were filed with Ray Rice....that means nothing. In my personal opinion if no charges are brought up then people should just let them handle it personally, but as far as this context goes Suggs and Rice not being charged means nothing.

 

As I said before anyone who believes you needed video evidence is blind. He admitted to what happened and confirmed the report. That is evidence enough.

 

The public does need quality evidence.....the public (mindless masses) just need enough people talking about it to feel they need to take a stand.

[Bucman 891]

Goodell is not going anywhere unless the players union fights hard for him to step down. He makes the owners a lot of money, they love him.

[oochymp 2,393]

where are you getting your information butta? Ray Rice was absolutely charged with assault, he was charged the night of the incident, charges were dropped against Janay, but Rice is still going through the legal system, if Rice hadn't been charged then he couldn't have been forced into the rehab program.

 

I absolutely hate that the prosecutors are getting raked over the coals, so let me explain why. Domestic violence is one of the hardest things for prosecutors because it's the area in which you're most likely to have uncooperative victims. There are a number of reasons that people stay in abusive relationships, some good some bad, but I'd rather not get into that. The result is that often when domestic violence cases make it to court the victim doesn't want to pursue charges. Regardless of what other evidence you have it's extremely difficult to do anything in court when your victim doesn't cooperate. In this case, Janay clearly was not cooperating with the prosecution, the reasons are irrelevant for the legal system, if you can't get the victim to cooperate then the prosecution will not be successful.

 

Now on to the diversionary program. This is not uncommon at all in the legal system for first time offenders and nobody has really explained how the process works, so let me fill you in. The idea behind this type of program is that when you have a first time offender he will be better off if you can get him into a rehabilitative program than if you throw him in jail. The way it works is the defendant will enter in a conditional guilty plea and the case will be continued for some set of time for the defendant to go through the diversionary program. The diversionary program gives the defendant a bunch of stuff to do and is generally supervised by the probation office. Once that pre-set time has passed the defendant will come back before the court to evaluate how he did in the program. If the defendant has successfully completed the program, doing everything he has been asked to do, then the charges are dropped. If the defendant fails to comply with any part of the program then when he comes back in front of the court the judge just accepts the guilty plea and sentences the defendant.

 

Again, this is a system that is used a lot for first time offenders, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Ray Rice is an NFL player. From where I sit I can't see anything the prosecutors or court did wrong.

[Maverick 791]

So the NFL lied about not seeing the video?

 

I didn't think it was possible but Roger Goodell and the NFL just keep looking shittier and shittier as we hear more about this whole thing.

[oochymp 2,393]

so apparently the NFLPA says (a) no comment on the newest video about Ray Rice, and (b) they haven't received the official letter explaining why Rice is now indefinitely suspended

 

My response: (a) fine for a public statement, they have to be really careful about not appearing to support Rice's actions while they fight for him, (b) what the fuck, NFL?

[butta54 371]

where are you getting your information butta? Ray Rice was absolutely charged with assault, he was charged the night of the incident, charges were dropped against Janay, but Rice is still going through the legal system, if Rice hadn't been charged then he couldn't have been forced into the rehab program.

 

 

I'm speaking to charges from the victim. Certain states are able to go after him in court without her pressing charges because of the video evidence. However, the amount of punitive damage they can do is significantly less than it would have been if she was pressing charges. That is why he is able to enter a program for first-time offenders instead of jail time. The legal system isn't able to bring the type of justice the public is crying for so they are expecting the NFL to do it.

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

Not sure if it's been hit on yet in this conversation as I haven't read the whole thing, but maybe a real discussion about this should take place about "why Ray Rice?" Not in the sense of why the outburst after Rice's actions, I get that, a video DOES sort of make the actions hit home when you see it actually take place.

 

Now to my question, why Ray Rice... Think about this, let's all assume that the reports about Goodell having the video before he actually placed the 2 game suspension ARE indeed true. For what reason did Goodell chose to cover for Ray Rice. I mean, what is so special about Ray Rice right now?

 

Goodell is the law and order commissioner, or at least that's the title he's always sort of been given. This guy has gone out of his way to lay the hammer in a lot of cases, more so earlier in his run than recently. So for what reason does he risk his job for a player of Ray Rice's stature? You can say it's because everyone believe(d)(s) Rice is a good guy, or he's a likeable personality, he gives back, etc. But that doesn't put enough on Goodells plate to where you have to cover for him by with-holding an extremely bad video like this from everyone. Much more so especially when you consider that once any set of eyes sees that video, eventually it's going to get back to the public and the media. You know 99.9% of the time that everything eventually gets back to the public when it comes to media usage such as cameras and recordings.

 

 

Now back to a more practical side of the conversation.

 

Ray Rices actions are inexcusable, I don't want to get that confused with what I'm about to say here. I don't stand for any sort of domestic violence, I hate it. It's something I feel pretty strongly about. The NFL completely flopped on their original 2 game sentence, they came out and admitted it. However, I feel what they are doing now is wrong. After they realized what the public thought about their goof up with Rices sentence in the league, they decided to go ahead and change the league guidelines on domestic violence. Again, everything is fine to this point, and I think it's great! What happens next though is where I take a strong side and believe the NFL is wrongfully pursuing this issue further than they need to at this point. (In terms of punishment standing and resources, not in terms of the impact of domestic violence). The Ray Rice video is released, and the NFL quick does a 360 and decides to indefinitely suspend Ray Rice.

 

Why is this wrong? A couple of reasons, and it also shows their new guidelines don't add up to the general publics standards, or even their own standards as the NFL.

 

1. They are now punishing Rice for the same offense twice. The original offense was deemed terrible, they gave him a 2 game suspension, which quickly caused a public out-cry among many circles.

 

2. The NFL suspends Ray Rice indefinitely, despite this being his first time offense. (See below). What does this mean? See reason 1. They are punishing rice as a two time offender despite this all being the same first offense?

 

 

 

Penalties against players will now be a six-game suspension for a first offense and a banishment of at least one year for a second offense — under league policy, the players don’t have to be convicted of a crime to be punished. Goodell’s letter also outlines plans for league personnel to "undergo comprehensive training to help them understand and identify risk factors associated with domestic violence and sexual assault."

 

 

This is all just a huge cluster-f*** at this point. The NFL is doing exactly the wrong thing in this case. They are caving to the pressure of public opinion and media outbursts that they have dealt with in the past many times. This is a much more touchy subject at this point, even still, the NFL needs to decipher the correct punishments among themselves and dole them out. This is Roger Goodells job, not the publics, to punish players. The NFL is quickly showing that they in fact are not leaders as a powerhouse like this should be, rather the same sheep that everyone else in the sports industry is quickly becoming.

 

There are so many roads Ray Rice could take at this point, and whats to say he and his group of people don't fight back? His lawyers could demand that he be considered an unrestricted free agent after week 2, and he would probably very well win that argument based on the fact that the NFL hasn't got the power to punish someone for the same offense twice, regardless of being a place of employment or not. They have about the same rights in terms of punishments as the US Justice system has. It's not something that's allowed. Now, let's say it goes this route, that's fine no one will sign him to a team, right? Right. Then his lawyers could very well try and and claim collusion among the 32 NFL owners. This entire situation could take a serious turn and begin spinning even more out of control than it already is if Ray Rice and his lawyers take serious steps toward trying to get his career back on track in a quick manor.

 

I don't call for Goodells head in this instance. I don't believe that he will lose his job either, the owners are wholeheartedly supporting Goodell, and they are after-all his bosses. It's not his job to right the wrongs of society, that's up to the police departments and just departments of the states offenses take place. Ray Rice shoudl be punished by the courts at this point, not at his job for what he does in the off-season. It's tiresome to watch people keep insisting that Goodell be the mule for the social justice people continuously demand he dole out. Goodells real job is to make the NFL more profitable.

 

So, while the courts did have their hands tied in this case, it's still up to them to punish Ray Rice to the nature that the public wants. It's not Goodells place or the owners' to keep Rice from playing in the league again.

[butta54 371]

Not sure if it's been hit on yet in this conversation as I haven't read the whole thing, but maybe a real discussion about this should take place about "why Ray Rice?" Not in the sense of why the outburst after Rice's actions, I get that, a video DOES sort of make the actions hit home when you see it actually take place.

 

Now to my question, why Ray Rice... Think about this, let's all assume that the reports about Goodell having the video before he actually placed the 2 game suspension ARE indeed true. For what reason did Goodell chose to cover for Ray Rice. I mean, what is so special about Ray Rice right now?

 

Goodell is the law and order commissioner, or at least that's the title he's always sort of been given. This guy has gone out of his way to lay the hammer in a lot of cases, more so earlier in his run than recently. So for what reason does he risk his job for a player of Ray Rice's stature? You can say it's because everyone believe(d)(s) Rice is a good guy, or he's a likeable personality, he gives back, etc. But that doesn't put enough on Goodells plate to where you have to cover for him by with-holding an extremely bad video like this from everyone. Much more so especially when you consider that once any set of eyes sees that video, eventually it's going to get back to the public and the media. You know 99.9% of the time that everything eventually gets back to the public when it comes to media usage such as cameras and recordings.

 

 

Now back to a more practical side of the conversation.

 

Ray Rices actions are inexcusable, I don't want to get that confused with what I'm about to say here. I don't stand for any sort of domestic violence, I hate it. It's something I feel pretty strongly about. The NFL completely flopped on their original 2 game sentence, they came out and admitted it. However, I feel what they are doing now is wrong. After they realized what the public thought about their goof up with Rices sentence in the league, they decided to go ahead and change the league guidelines on domestic violence. Again, everything is fine to this point, and I think it's great! What happens next though is where I take a strong side and believe the NFL is wrongfully pursuing this issue further than they need to at this point. (In terms of punishment standing and resources, not in terms of the impact of domestic violence). The Ray Rice video is released, and the NFL quick does a 360 and decides to indefinitely suspend Ray Rice.

 

Why is this wrong? A couple of reasons, and it also shows their new guidelines don't add up to the general publics standards, or even their own standards as the NFL.

 

1. They are now punishing Rice for the same offense twice. The original offense was deemed terrible, they gave him a 2 game suspension, which quickly caused a public out-cry among many circles.

 

2. The NFL suspends Ray Rice indefinitely, despite this being his first time offense. (See below). What does this mean? See reason 1. They are punishing rice as a two time offender despite this all being the same first offense?

 

 

 

This is all just a huge cluster-f*** at this point. The NFL is doing exactly the wrong thing in this case. They are caving to the pressure of public opinion and media outbursts that they have dealt with in the past many times. This is a much more touchy subject at this point, even still, the NFL needs to decipher the correct punishments among themselves and dole them out. This is Roger Goodells job, not the publics, to punish players. The NFL is quickly showing that they in fact are not leaders as a powerhouse like this should be, rather the same sheep that everyone else in the sports industry is quickly becoming.

 

There are so many roads Ray Rice could take at this point, and whats to say he and his group of people don't fight back? His lawyers could demand that he be considered an unrestricted free agent after week 2, and he would probably very well win that argument based on the fact that the NFL hasn't got the power to punish someone for the same offense twice, regardless of being a place of employment or not. They have about the same rights in terms of punishments as the US Justice system has. It's not something that's allowed. Now, let's say it goes this route, that's fine no one will sign him to a team, right? Right. Then his lawyers could very well try and and claim collusion among the 32 NFL owners. This entire situation could take a serious turn and begin spinning even more out of control than it already is if Ray Rice and his lawyers take serious steps toward trying to get his career back on track in a quick manor.

 

I don't call for Goodells head in this instance. I don't believe that he will lose his job either, the owners are wholeheartedly supporting Goodell, and they are after-all his bosses. It's not his job to right the wrongs of society, that's up to the police departments and just departments of the states offenses take place. Ray Rice shoudl be punished by the courts at this point, not at his job for what he does in the off-season. It's tiresome to watch people keep insisting that Goodell be the mule for the social justice people continuously demand he dole out. Goodells real job is to make the NFL more profitable.

 

So, while the courts did have their hands tied in this case, it's still up to them to punish Ray Rice to the nature that the public wants. It's not Goodells place or the owners' to keep Rice from playing in the league again.

 

 

Your last point hits the basis of my frustration with this whole thing and it is what I've been saying about fans bringing their anger to the NFL about something that is a matter of the legal system.

 

Also you hit the exact pulse of the whole story. The exact moment it became crazy is when Goodell went back and suspended Ray Rice a second time for the same offense. This is the point in which the league in essence said we are not strong in our convictions, we will throw a player under the bus to please the masses, AND most importantly it allows everyone to ask why didn't you feel this way at first? I've heard multiple shows interview NFL officials after the new rule change confirming that the new policy is retroactive to Ray Rice's suspension and his two games is final. Then you come out and do this. The new suspension opened up the floodgates.

[Thanatos 2,847]

I have so many thoughts on this issue. But I will simply say that a majority of people are SO ignorant to the whole issue of domestic violence. Too many people are jumping on the "hot" topic. I don't care what anyone says in a few months it will be gone away. Everyone was against dog fighting, bullying, racial perceptions on TV, and the list goes on because it was a story in the league.

 

To have an outcry over that video of Ray Rice is ignorance. I knew what was on the tape when the story first broke. Ray Rice admitted and it was reported that he struck her with is hand and knocked her unconscious. What do people think that looked like? Everyone so up in arms and upset talk to me why T. Suggs on the Ravens is just fine when he dragged his wife out of a moving car? Greg Hardy was found GUILTY of choking his wife almost to death. Yet there was no uproar.

 

Everything from the Ravens and NFL was a PR move. Everything from the public is the mindless masses who have no idea what is really going on. Goodell might end up the scapegoat. But the real problem is Ray Rice was never charged and was only asked to enter a program. The AMERICAN LAW SYSTEM let it go and now everyone expected the NFL to be the law enforcement to punish him. 2...8....10 games? Who cares??? These are FOOTBALL GAMES a sport. What amount changes a person? Non..people are just looking to the NFL to be something it is not. They are not a social issue company or public justice system. It is a league for Football. They did Ray Rice wrong to look good in the public. And the mindless masses have labeled him "evil" for making a mistake that it takes time to find out if this defines him.

 

Just one correction: The way the legal system works in NC is bunk. Hardy was indicted. Yes, technically a judge found him guilty, but that's how it works in NC. That means he is indicted and now is going to a jury trial.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Thanatos19

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

 

 

Your last point hits the basis of my frustration with this whole thing and it is what I've been saying about fans bringing their anger to the NFL about something that is a matter of the legal system.

 

Also you hit the exact pulse of the whole story. The exact moment it became crazy is when Goodell went back and suspended Ray Rice a second time for the same offense. This is the point in which the league in essence said we are not strong in our convictions, we will throw a player under the bus to please the masses, AND most importantly it allows everyone to ask why didn't you feel this way at first? I've heard multiple shows interview NFL officials after the new rule change confirming that the new policy is retroactive to Ray Rice's suspension and his two games is final. Then you come out and do this. The new suspension opened up the floodgates.

 

It's just silly to think that they can say the suspension is final, and then go ahead and punish him again. As a sanctioning body, you would think they would have integrity in their rulings and stand behind their rulings as any legal system would. They need to be the leaders of the sport, not be the people who stand behind the masses of media and public opinions. It's just ridiculous at this point.

 

I got absolutely destroyed by someone I was having a conversation with because they felt what I said about it not being right for the NFL to dole out a new indefinite suspension - was basically me not being sensitive enough to domestic violence. That's not the case for me. I can say without a doubt he SHOULD have been suspended for the year, it gets the point across that it's not ok to be involved in this sort of thing. But why should the NFL have the power to change their ruling as they feel? I mean, they changed direction on this with one foul swoop. It was the flip of the switch.

 

I have a hard time believing too that Goodell didn't ever see that video before the initial ruling on the suspension.