There is always a motive when someone does something. That was the case when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reached an epiphany to suspend a NFL player for six games if he committed domestic violence the first time and for life if he did it the second time.
There’s no question something was going to be up when Goodell made that decision, and we found out early Monday morning when TMZ aired the video footage of Ray Rice beating his then-fiancée Janay Palmer in the elevator at Atlantic City several months ago.
The Ravens and NFL took swift action with the disgraced Rice. The Ravens terminated his contract, and the NFL suspended him indefinitely.
This is too little too late. The damage is done. The Ravens and NFL failed women by not taking swift action on Rice when news came out he beat his then-fiancée. It shouldn’t have taken the TMZ video for Rice to be fired from his job. It shouldn’t have taken the video for the league to suspend him indefinitely. For the Ravens and NFL to make this decision two days ago, it’s disingenuous. This is about both parties insulating themselves from criticism.
The Ravens and NFL hoped Rice’s incident would go away just by suspending him for two games. That’s the problem. He should have been suspended for the season. If the NFL made that decision, we would not be talking about Rice now.
There should be no tolerance for anyone doing domestic violence in professional sports, let alone any workplace. If any of us committed domestic violence, we would be fired and be sent to jail. Rice should not be exempted because he is a productive running back for the Ravens. There should not be double standard for stars or productive players in the former Ravens running back’s case.
This is why the NFL and Ravens are getting much deserved criticism for their poor handling of Rice. There’s no question both knew what was going on. Why else would Goodell be quick to make new rules on any NFL player committing domestic violence?
No one looks good in this when it comes to Rice.
Rice will always be known as a wife-beater for the rest of his life. Yes, he will be back in the NFL, but it won’t be the same for him.
Rice’s wife will have to deal with the trauma of being beaten up by her husband for the rest of her life. Such beating like that is something a person will never forget. With YouTube streaming videos like TMZ, it’s hard to think this is going to be an isolated issue.
The NFL sent a message that it’s okay for an athlete to beat his wife or girlfriend by giving Rice a lenient suspension. It was even worse when they covered up for Rice. They clearly wanted this to be forgotten. It’s the type of decision that should get Goodell to resign. If he can’t handle a crisis like that, he has no business running a professional sports league. This is the same commissioner that has yet to suspend Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy for assaulting his girlfriend and threatening to kill her. This is the same commissioner that took forever to suspend Colts owner Jim Irsay after being arrested to DUI.
If Goodell is not decisive in handling incidents, it’s best that he is gone. Commissioners cannot be indecisive in handling situations like Rice, Irsay and Hardy.
Here’s another reason Goodell should go as commissioner: He knew the video TMZ sent out. He had to know. There’s no way he couldn’t. The NFL security always gets videos like Rice’s incident with his wife. For him to be soft on Rice despite the video does not reflect well on his leadership.
Like most teams in sports, the Ravens sent a message that it’s okay to commit a misdemeanor if that athlete is a great athlete. Hard to believe if it was a scrub player, he would be fired in no time after he did that. The Ravens thought it would be okay to keep Rice with the idea everyone would forget. They should have known better.
It’s also interesting Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome was not in the presser Monday evening to address Rice’s termination. They let Ravens coach John Harbaugh answer questions. Shame on them. They should have been addressing why they were soft on Rice. For them to not be there, it shows lack of accountability by them.
ESPN, NFL Network, Fox Sports and CBS do not look good in this, either. They clearly did not put much effort in covering Rice with the idea they are partners with the NFL. If they were the smoking gun concerning Rice, the league would not be happy with them and that would mean they would lose NFL TV rights.
This is a bad deal for everyone, and everyone has to pay the price for their actions. There are no winners in this.
It’s a sad story.
The NFL, Ravens, Rice and mainstream media can’t spin this.
This TMZ video does not lie.
Follow or Contact Leslie Monteiro: @LightRodWriter
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
