When the coach of the Baltimore Ravens mentions four times in three minutes that Monday was the first time anyone had seen the video (via TMZ) of Ray Rice punching his wife – and then the announcing and studio crews on two Monday Night Football games repeat the talking point a few dozen times for emphasis – it sounds defensive and strongly implies that they're trying to establish a narrative of new information to conceal the fact that they likely saw the video months ago.
Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported months ago that the elevator camera footage was in the league's possession before backpedaling on that Monday in what appears to be a bizarre attempt to throw himself on a grenade and assist the league with damage control. This whole situation smacks of exactly what it is: a group of people attempting to create the impression of swift, decisive action when in reality they were aware of this months ago but were content to hush it up. Until they couldn't. When the police reports reveal that the hotel turned over all surveillance footage including this "new" video months ago, the flimsy story will collapse.
The more I thought about this on Monday, the less sense it makes that the video would somehow have changed the way the league and team viewed the situation. It was already common knowledge that Rice punched the woman, basically knocked her out, and dragged her out of the elevator by her hair. Were they somehow shocked to learn what "punching" is? Had they never seen punching before they allegedly discovered this clip on Monday?
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I realize that there is a difference in the way we process a video and a written description of an event, but in this instance a supposedly thorough investigation was done to establish what happened. Both parties and the investigators agreed on certain aspects of the story, including that Rice knocked her out with a punch. Irrespective of the video, this is not new information.
Maybe, if we try to assume the best intentions on the part of the decision-makers, the full weight of what he did only registered upon seeing the video.
That's not a particularly good explanation for inaction, but it is an explanation. Instead the powers that be (the police will end up taking heat on this as well when the NFL throws them under the bus) are playing dumb about what has been standard operating procedure: do nothing or close to it until the negative attention reaches a critical mass, then play Knight in Shining Armor by creating the appearance of a swift, stern response that easily could have – and should have – been handed down months ago.
That's weak, guys. Weak.
bill says:
With each new season/rule/addition of advertising, it's getting harder to watch these games as it is.
If the Commish is forced to step down, that would at least give an excuse (though a pathetic one) to continue watching the rest of this season. It's likely to be the last one for me either way.
eau says:
I think you may have missed the point, bill.
Joseph Nobles says:
They had the video for months. This is the first they looked at it, though.
'sall I got.
Major Kong says:
If you've ever been up close to one of these guys, I'm actually surprised that the punch didn't kill her and just knocked her out.
NFL players are so big they're like genetic freaks of nature.
c u n d gulag says:
Total BS, that the NFL didn't see this video before.
TMZ showing it – not that I did, or ever will, watch it – gave the NFL a 2nd chance to do what it should have done in the first place: suspend Rice for more than 2 weeks.
That was the worst decision by any commissioner in a long time – if not ever.
Jesus, smoke a joint, and you get 4-8 games the first time. "Smoke" your fiancée in a casino elevator, and you get 2 games.
Misogyny, anyone?
Once the video was out in public, the NFL realized that it had a huge PR problem. And so, it finally acted.
I don't give two shit's about Ray Rice and his future – I'm worried about his wife, now that he's suspended indefinitely.
Who's looking out for her now, that Rice realizes that his NFL career is probably over?
Vick, with dog-fighting was horrible and cruel enough.
But cold-cocking your fiancée in an elevator with a left-hook that Joe Frazier would envy, and then, showing no remorse while dragging her out of it like a sack of potato's, pretty much ends his career, I would think.
What team wants to pick-up a guy like that?
And if/when he become eligible to return, if my Giants or Dolphins pick him up, I will never watch another second of their games.
I'm all for 2nd chances.
But that 2nd chance doesn't mean that you get to return to a once lucrative career.
Oh, and by the way, if the police saw that video, why wasn't Rice charged with assault?
Is it because his fiancée refused to press charges?
Does anyone out here know, since I don't know the law well enough?
Hazy Davy says:
I've stayed blissfully ignorant of most of this story.
But *did* they know he punched her, before? Or merely that he was dragging her, unconscious (by her hair? really?) out of the elevator? I mean, because drunkenness, a fall, or a medical condition like an allergy could be the cause of her loss of consciousness.
Did "I was 30 lbs. lighter at Rutgers" Rice claim some other narrative, and they blindly accepted it?
Slim Shady says:
Was Goodell really handcuffed when it came to dishing out that first punishment? Seems to me when owners and coaches are involved – Belichick – he just made up his own punishment. So this "the by-laws only allowed for a maximum of 2 games' story sounds a little suspect. I thought this guy was smarter than this, but maybe he was preoccupied trying to extract dollars from the SB Halftime Show and took his eye off the ball here.
bjk says:
Ray Rice should've just killed a guy, then he could get a job at ESPN. Punching a woman is way worse than killing a guy, especially if it's on tape. Heck, they will erect a statue to the killer as long as he testifies against the co-conspirators (and don't tell me Ray Lewis didn't kill anybody, you don't want to get into the details of what Lewis did, your argument only gets worse from there). Also, from the perspective of the NFL, homophobic remarks are way worse than either killing a guy or punching a woman. Thought crimes are grounds for indefinite suspension.
So there you go, homophobia is worse than punching a woman which is worse than killing a guy. All of this makes sense from the perspective of the maximization of moral preening (preening about homophobia has more value than preening over the killing of a black man by a black man, which has zero moral posturing value).
cat says:
I believe the story before the video was released was she attacked him and he was just defending himself and hit her once.
The video does show she slapped him in the lobby, but he didn't defend himself until they were alone in the elevator and the argument escalated again and she slapped him as he invaded her space during the argument and he slapped her back.
Rice's punch as she was moving out of the corner after rice left her space. I don't think its unreasonable to think Rice was about to get slapped again, but it doesn't excuse the level of force he uses to defend himself given he's trained athlete in a violent sport.
I also think the callousness he shows her is due to the fact she slaps him again after reviving after falling.
She is just as comfortable using violence against her partner as Rice is, the only problem is the lack of knowledge about the different dynamics of domestic abuse means all people are going to see if Pro Athlete punching wife rather then violent and abusive partner escalating argument with their violence and abusive partner.
Skipper says:
His wife finally made a statement. If anyone out there is writing a textbook on spousal abuse, you need to include this:
"To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass of for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific.
“THIS IS OUR LIFE! What don’t you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you’ve succeeded on so many levels. Just know we will continue to grow & show the world what real love is! Ravensnation we love you!”"
Classic. What part of him do you love? The part where he knocks you unconscious or the part where he drags you by the hair?
Sarah says:
Dude, before you get all Judgy McJudgerson at somebody you should know that this (and the time that she actually leaves him, should she ever make the move to do so) is actually the most dangerous time, statistically, for a woman in her situation. You know that he's blaming her for what happened, right? A public statement like that is intended to mitigate his becoming even more violent and possibly killing her.
c u n d gulag says:
Sarah,
Spot-on!
Brian M says:
bjk: Your single minded focus on how oppressed you are because of the Gay Agenda is unbecoming. Just saying.
Skipper says:
@Sarah. I worked in family law and dealt with a lot of spousal abuse. What she is doing is classic. She needs to get out and get protection — not enable and make excuses for his behavior. She's putting herself in more danger by doing that. And a public statement like that is simply reinforcing his claim that she forced him into it.
bill says:
No, I read it correctly, eau. Same thing many other bloggers were saying yesterday. Nothing to add to Ed's point, really.
Now that we know they are blatantly doing a hush-job, do we continue to support? Walk away? Hope for a resolution?
Elle says:
@Skipper
Anyone who thinks you can force someone into punching you in the face is an idiot. And I would imagine the person who is an expert at keeping Jenay Rice safe is, in fact, Jenay Rice.
J.D. says:
Ray Rice named his kid Rayven Rice. I assume he'll be changing the name?
Jon says:
Are we really advocating employer punishment?
I don't think my employer has any responsibility meting out additional punishment for which the state has already dealt with when I've done something criminal outside of the work environment.
Robert says:
One thing I've learned from the little I've read about this online: people who refer to women as 'females' tend to have a low opinion of women.
Sarah says:
As it was pointed out to me when the Brendan Eich thing was going down, we have a situation in many states with right-to-work and at-will employment laws, that anybody can be fired for any reason. It seems as though the only time any noise is made by anyone about the injustice of this is when a dude (straight, white, or both) loses his job for specious reasons. Golly, it's almost as if the Powers that Be intended for the main targets of capricious firings to be women, LGBT people, and non-white people.
Also, football. Goddess forbid that the precious football should ever be toppled. Fast food workers and teachers are lazy entitled fuckers who deserve to work themselves to death and die early of preventable diseases, but if the football players and referees have any complaints, they are professionals who deserve to have their expertise respected.
Jon says:
You're sort of making my point; fast food worker gets a DUI and McDonalds, protecting their corporate image, fires her. Is that what we want?
Zeb says:
I think the most troubling aspect of this is that anything was left to the NFL in the first place. Ray Rice should be in jail.
That said, Goodell deserves to be fired.
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