The NFL Finally Acts on Ray Rice Incident

 

“I didn’t get it right.” Those five words are what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated today in regards to his job of disciplining players for domestic violence.

I think those five words are the biggest understatement I’ve ever heard.

Goodell announced drastic new punishments today for all NFL personnel – not just players – who commit domestic violence offenses. Offenders will be suspended six games on their first offense and an indefinite ban with a minimum of one year for a second offense.

These rules fall under the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy, which means the league can implement the rules without input from the player's union or having to put it into the CBA. 

In the memo Goodell sent out to NFL owners, he specifically mentioned the league’s failure to correctly respond to the Ray Rice incident.

If you remember, Rice was only suspended for two games after he knocked his then fiancée unconscious and was caught on camera dragging her body out of an elevator.

This is the same Ray Rice who was once the face of the NFL’s anti-bullying campaign. The same man who preached to countless little kids about not bullying each other and using peace instead of violence. Pretty ironic, huh?

If you haven’t watched the video, it is one of the most disgusting and shocking pieces of tape you will ever see. Here is the link to the video, so that you can see what you can get away with as a football player and only get a two-game suspension (http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_c5nk3w3n/).

If that was my sister or mother in the video being dragged by her ankles, I couldn’t imagine how I would feel or what I would want to do towards Ray Rice. Honestly, I can tell you one thing. I’d want revenge. Or at least I’d want to see him behind bars for a good portion of his life.

The NFL justified the two-game suspension because the police had dropped the case due to a lack of evidence and because Rice’s wife was unwilling to cooperate with authorities.

Then on May 23, 2014, Ray Rice and his now wife Janay Palmer held a press conference after their meeting with Roger Goodell that resulted in his two-game suspension. Janay Palmer was one of the only females in the room. She was silent until the last 30 seconds and her body language reflected that of a person who had something to say, but was too afraid to say it.

In the press conference, Rice said over and over that he was still the “Same ol’ Ray” and that he hadn’t changed at all. Umm… excuse me? Did I hear that right? You are obviously not the same leader and humanitarian we thought Ray.

Bottom line… the entire sports world was shocked at how easy the NFL took it on Rice. However, sports fans and the media weren’t going to let the NFL off the hook. The story quickly became the biggest news in the country and everyone had their opinion on the case.  

The backlash towards the NFL was so bad after the Rice suspension, that I don’t believe Goodell or the league had a choice but to make the penalties for domestic violence more severe. Yes, it was the right move by the NFL to make this change. But the obvious question is, “Why did it take this long to change something that is so obvious in the first place?”

The NFL couldn’t have been more hypocritical on their stance of domestic violence. The league stated there was no tolerance for domestic violence offenders, yet players who failed drug tests or got caught smoking marijuana were given heavier punishments than those who beat their girlfriends. Just ask Josh Gordon about the hypocrisy.

So go ahead and applaud the NFL if you feel the need to, but please realize something before you do. Realize that the NFL, along with nearly every other sports league and corporation in America, only makes social changes when it stands to lose money.

Sadly, this happens in sports far too often.

The NBA didn’t have a problem letting Donald Sterling be the racist, bigoted owner of the Clippers until TMZ got a sound bite and the entire league was on the verge of boycotting.  

And just like the NBA, the NFL wasn’t going to change anything about their domestic violence policy until the media and critics exposed their hypocrisy and threatened the health of their business.

So don’t walk away from this story and believe that the NFL and Goodell are doing this because they were suddenly “enlightened” and found it in their hearts to make the right decision. Walk away, knowing that the NFL did this to save face and potentially millions of dollars.

Money does make the world go round… and is the underlying cause for social change in this country.