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Sorting through the Ray Rice mess

10th September, 2014
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Ray Rice is one of several recent scandals in the NFL. With a dissatisfied public, the IRB should target the American market - now.
Roar Guru
10th September, 2014
5

There is no place for domestic violence, ever, in any situation. It is never okay for a man to hit their wife, girlfriend or any female for that matter.

Ray Rice clearly broke the law. He deserves to be punished. The NFL and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office have egg on their faces. Just about the only organisation to come out of this drama positively is TMZ. They have investigative skills that the NFL clearly lacks.

However, now it’s time to turn to the future. To determine what should happen next, to Rice, to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and to future cases of NFL players involved in domestic violence.

Let’s start with Goodell. He was rightfully criticised when he initially suspended Rice for just two weeks, received some brief praise when he announced new domestic violence penalties, before the numerous loopholes emerged, and now the calls for his head have grown even louder.

Goodell has copped significant amounts of criticism over the past four to five years for his desire to play the role of judge, jury and executioner. The players have lamented the lack of a clear and specific judiciary system to deal with on-field infractions, fans have been left wildly confused over his inconsistent implementation of the NFL’s Substance Abuse Policy and don’t even get me started on Bounty Gate.

The problem for Goodell now is that not only have his judgements come into question, but the manner in which he came to the conclusion. You would think that before making a decision on the playing future of a prominent player, Goodell and the NFL would carry out an investigation that uncovers all of the facts.

Let’s give Goodell the benefit of the doubt and believe his claims that the NFL had not seen the second video, the one taken inside the elevator. If this is the case, the NFL did not carry out a very thorough investigation.

They claim that they asked the police and prosecutor’s office for all footage, evidence, witness statements and other notable details. The Atlanta County Prosecutor’s Office has said that they saw the video before Rice was charged.

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TMZ claims that all they did was simply ask the casino for the footage. Let’s say that the police intentionally withheld this video from the NFL, surely somebody thought that maybe they should contact the Revel Casino, yet if someone did, their seniors shot them down.

There are claims that it would have been illegal, a breach of privacy, if the NFL had received this video, but even if the NFL did not see the video, surely a police officer or security guard at the casino could have explained to the league what happened in the video.

This is a significant mess that the NFL could easily have avoided if they had done a thorough investigation, this video was always going to come out, they should have everything they could to make sure that they saw this video before they made a decision on Rice’s playing future.

There are claims that this entire situation is proof that the NFL needs a high-ranking woman in the organisation. I don’t necessarily agree with that statement, I believe that the most appropriate, qualified worker should be employed to fill the role, if that’s a woman, that’s a woman, if it’s a man, it’s a man.

I do believe that there probably is a case of jobs for the boys going on inside the NFL, and most male sporting organisations for that matter, and the NFL’s new diversity policy is a step towards ensuring that the most appropriate worker is employed for the job.

Additionally, it should have occurred to Goodell that it would be a good idea to contact a female expert on domestic violence and ask her for some advice in dealing with the matter. If he did contact this expert, he clearly didn’t listen to their advice.

The NFL has come out of this situation looking incompetent at best, deliberately covering this up at worst. The player at the centre of the entire mess, Ray Rice, has also seen his image take a beating. He has lost a number of endorsement deals, lost his job and now, as a result of this video, received an indefinite suspension.

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How he should be dealt with in the coming weeks has polarised many members of society. On the one hand, if he is to be punished under the NFL’s new domestic violence policy, he should receive a ban of six weeks. On the other, this sort of behaviour is unacceptable and Rice should never be allowed to play in the league again.

This is a very tough decision for the league, whatever decision they make, they will be criticised. There are those that believe that everybody makes mistakes and everybody deserves a second chance. This argument is only understandable if, and only if, this is a one off attack.

If a trend occurs and it is revealed that this is not the first time that Rice has attacked his partner, Rice probably should not set foot on an NFL field again. If the NFL is to allow Rice back on the field he needs to demonstrate that he has completed a counselling program.

If he is to return to play, this should be his one and only chance.

If the NFL is serious about stamping out domestic violence, they will be consistent in implementing their new policy. Goodell will not apply his various loopholes that allow him to reduce the punishment and the first two players to be punished are Carolina’s Greg Hardy and San Francisco’s Ray McDonald.

Hardy was arrested, and later found guilty by a judge of assault on a woman and communicating threats, before filing his right for a jury trial. McDonald was arrested just over a week ago on suspicion of domestic abuse, after allegedly getting involved in an altercation with his 10 weeks pregnant fiancée.

Both men played last week, neither men have been disciplined by the league and both the NFL and their respective clubs claim that they are allowing legal proceedings to play out prior to disciplining them.

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This is another sore point, it is understandable that the league should allow the legal proceedings to run their course, we don’t want another Brett Stewart scenario, but it still seems as though the NFL is attempting to delay making the hard decision for as long as possible.

There is no place for domestic violence in society it is unacceptable and men need to learn that it is not okay to attack a woman. But one must ask if there is an underlying factor behind NFL players involved in domestic violence.

The players spend all week at training being told that they need to be aggressive as possible on Sunday afternoon. Maybe it’s not as simple as just flicking a switch; maybe some men have difficulties controlling this aggression.

I am not condoning this behaviour, but I am suggesting that maybe the NFL and the teams need to do more to manage their players’ psychological health. And maybe, we as fans need to accept that the sport we love is messing with the player’s brains; that the NFL is effectively a television show and the actors are physically and mentally harmed for our enjoyment.

Twitter: @fromthesheds

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