Former Super Bowl winning running back Ray Rice will likely not play NFL football again this year, if ever.
If you haven’t heard about Ray Rice you either don’t watch, read or pay attention to the NFL at all or you are living in a cave, in which case, you’re probably not reading this column.
Ray Rice was the Baltimore Ravens running back. Was, until video of him assaulting his then fiancé in an Atlantic City hotel elevator was made public Monday morning by TMZ.
The incident at the hotel, which occured back in May, had already netted Rice a two-game suspension. The length of the suspension (or lack thereof) incited a large outcry from both the public and the media. After having viewed the elevator video Monday, the outcry reached a fever pitch.
Even a few NBA athletes chimed in on the matter.
Smh, for the sake of my freedom, I pray to God no man ever puts his hands on my daughter.
— Anthony Morrow (@MrAnthonyMorrow) September 8, 2014
I just hate the fact that the media will continue to play this video for the next few days.
— Anthony Morrow (@MrAnthonyMorrow) September 8, 2014
I wonder if the NFL commissioner saw the tape before the 2 game suspension. — Trevor Booker (@35_Fitz) September 8, 2014
After the Ravens elected to terminate Rice’s contract and the NFL retroactively upgraded his punishment to an indefinite ban, San Antonio Spurs forward Austin Daye spoke eloquently about the impact that Rice’s decision to strike his fiancé would have on him and his career.
1 bad choice might have ruined @RayRice27 career. All those long hours of work from childhood till now payed off to now just get ripped away
— Austin Daye (@Adaye5) September 8, 2014
There’s NO room in sports for domestic violence so I understand what the league did, but its sad for me to see the mans career end like this — Austin Daye (@Adaye5) September 8, 2014
Many in the media have questioned NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his decision making; ESPN’s Bill Simmons has been campaigning for a new NFL commissioner since 2012 and the gaff that has been his handling of Rice’s punishment — having given him a two-game ban, only to succumb to public pressure and change the league’s rules and punishment for domestic violence — has only served to further fuel the questions that surround Goodell’s decisions.
Goodell’s ability to keep screwing up signature decisions is unparalleled. I don’t trust him to organize a fast-food order at this point.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) September 8, 2014
Is it time to recall Roger Goodell? Should the NFL buckle under the pressure of the public microscope and fire their commissioner? Let us know by leaving your comments below.
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Michael Brumagin writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com. Follow @mbrumagin
Everyone seems to be missing the point on this, regarding Goodell’s handling of the situation. The video should have had no influence on his decision. Why? Because nobody had to actually see him hit her to know what happened in the elevator. We already knew he knocked her unconscious before we actually saw the blow that caused it. She didn’t just faint in the elevator. So why change the ruling now? Because of PR. Because people have seen the incident. It’s not going to just go away like the NFL and the Ravens hoped it would. Again, whether or not they had seen the tape doesn’t matter because you DIDN’T HAVE TO SEE THE TAPE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! Rice being cut by the Ravens and suspended by the NFL is a PR move, not a humanitarian one. Knowing all of this, Goodell absolutely has to go. Have to say, Olberman got this one right.
It is unfortunate that the events of his hitting his ‘to be wife’ has caused Goodell to change his mind. Rice should now sue the NFL for giving a punishment and then being influenced by evidence ‘that should have been available’ to cause an increase in the penality. The man was given a two game suspension based on evidence that was available to make a better judgement of the situation. Now Goodell clings to the ignorance of not knowing what transpired to increase his suspension of RICE. Imagine a man given the death sentence, executed, then only to be publicly revealed that he was innocent. There is no excuse for increasing RICE’s suspension. It is not that he Rice was appealing his sentence and then new evidence was found. He Goodlll should leave Rice’s penalty the way it is. We know that Rice wife does not want to have him lose his job, so why should Goodell, now all of a sudden change his mind and adjust his edit. The evedence was available at the time and should have been given out based on that said incomplete evidence. Mr. Goodell leave the two games suspension alone. The pressure of the public should not be viewd as the determining factor. RICE should sue the NFL. What this is saying is that as new evidence come to the forefront RICE would be sentenced anew by Goodell. No one can condone RICE’S action but to resentence a first time offender by banishing him is not in the best interest of the rules you GOODELL agreed to. Leave the man alone GOODELL. You have spoken before based on the evedence you you overlooked.