Today, the world was able to see just how violent Ray Rice truly became with his wife, Janay Rice, in the incident which got him arrestes on February 15th. A video had circulated shortly after the incident, which portrayed Rice carrying his unconscious wife out of the elevator. Today, TMZ obtained and released a video of what happened in the elevator before that point.
(Update: according to the Baltimore Ravens Twitter account, Ray Rice has seen his contract with the team terminated. And the NFL has suspended Ray Rice indefinitely)
(Editor’s notice: this piece was written by newly minted Sports Bank contributor by Ryan Pavlicek)
It was gruesome, and worse than you probably thought. Warning, this is not for the faint of heart:
The release of the video comes at a timely manner, because NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, handed Ray Rice down a weak two game suspension two weeks ago. More recently, Goodell decided the NFL would impose a code of conduct for abuse, and decided a first offense would become a six game suspension, while a second offense would become a lifetime ban. That didn’t make the current decision on Rice look any better, considering that Cleveland Browns receiver, Josh Gordon, was just suspended for the entire season for failing a drug test. Goodell made a good decision imposing the “ Ray Rice Rule,” but he should’ve worked harder to extend his first suspension under the new rule on the man himself.
Now he may have no choice.
Sometimes Illini G Rayvonte Rice has his name referred/abbreviated to Ray Rice. Let’s not do that anymore.
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) September 8, 2014
The NFL has already said they didn’t see the video before their decision, even though they had requested to. Some will find that hard to believe, because in an office with unlimited funds and people paid to find information like this before handing down punishments, how could they not?
More importantly, how could TMZ? Seriously.
For the time being, the Ravens have the unenviable position of being the biggest PR black eye in the NFL. They are the most prominent symbol of the league’s criminal element. And in this video, a couple of ex-teammates make a plea to Ray Rice, via Fox Sports:
Deion Sanders: “in light of what we saw, this had to be done, but I’m more interested in the root than in the fruit. I’m more interested in what drives a person to that point, I’m just a prayerful guy and I wish to God that we would reach out to him and he can seek help and just get healing for what he’s dealing with inside from his childhood or whatever that anger is that gets him to that point. That’s what I’m more concerned about, the root of it. Not the fruit of it, the root of it. It was so alarming, because like Coach Cowher, I have two daughters, I have four girls that live in my home with me, so I understand the dynamics of that.”
From the Baltimore Ravens press conference, in which the team placed Janay Rice on the podium where she actually apologized for her role in the incident to the two game suspension that should’ve been greater from the start, the release of this video will only make everything more un-ethical than it already is.
This is a man who should be in prison, football star or not. This is a man who shouldn’t be representing the NFL on Sunday for a lot longer than just two weeks. If a possible new NFL drug policy could re-examine the suspensions of Gordon and Wes Welker, possibly reinstating them, then how is the suspension of Ray Rice not also on the table to be discussed?
Goodell has made 70 plus million dollars over the last two years alone. Many criticize how safe he wants to make the game, and how much emphasis he puts on the image of the NFL shield. In the most relevant real-world situation that has never arose in the NFL, the Ray Rice situation, he failed to respond appropriately. This video should be his chance make a stand for his league, and more importantly, for women.