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No Ray Rice, no revenue: It's simple for the NFL

The NFL's reaction to Ray Rice attacking his fiancee has been slammed in an independent report. (Keith Allison / Flickr)
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11th September, 2014
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As all four corners of the sporting world dissect and speculate the Ray Rice situation, one must criticise who is really to blame here – the NFL.

The full video which saw Rice clobbering his fiancé was released by TMZ and met with unprecedented hate.

I say unprecedented because since 2002 there have been 15 different cases of domestic violence involving an NFL player and Rice has so far been given the worst penalty. In fact the average suspension handed down by the NFL is just 1.5 games, significantly lower than the average suspension for substance abuse.

Rice was initially handed a two-game ban by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in June, which was the protocol for any domestic violence-related issue. The ban was accepted by Rice (in good faith) along with the Ravens and everything was forgotten.

A slap on the wrist for an action that is truly despicable, the Ravens were happy and Rice continued on with pre-season. To be clear I obviously do not condone drug usage by any athlete, but the notion that it is better to physically abuse a woman than to smoke marijuana is beyond me.

There is a reason why the NFL is the biggest sport in the United States, it is because of the superstars that play the game and entertain crowds which Rice was a part of. The two-game suspension was simply down to the numbers.

Roger Goodell knew that leaving Rice on the sidelines for a lengthy duration would affect revenues. After all the commissioner is there to please the owners who want money. Put simply the two-game ban was an insult to abused women worldwide.

Then TMZ entered the fray and played executioner, the full video was released and all hell breaks loose. First was his indefinite suspension from the NFL, then the Ravens terminated his contract followed by his alma-mater (Rutgers) disowning him publicly.

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The upheaval shown just hours after the video’s release portrays how people truly feel about domestic violence. It’s a shame that an organisation such as TMZ were the ones that put the stop to this. The NFL could have made a very public stand against this issue and here was their chance to make a difference, but instead all that happened were a series of amateur mistakes.

The release of this video gave them no option; it forced them to do something as opposed to making a statement for the good of the situation. So what does the NFL do next?

Goodell released a statement saying “At times … we fall short of our goals”.

“We clearly did so in response to a recent incident of domestic violence (the Rice case).

“My disciplinary decision led the public to question our sincerity, our commitment, and whether we understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families. I didn’t get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will.”

This apology is very uncharacteristic by the NFL and shows their complete and utter incompetence in responding to this situation.

The alleged attack was confirmed by Rice himself, the witnesses and his partner. Did the NFL not know what a running back knocking his fiancee unconscious looked like? That should have been enough for the NFL to hand Rice his eventual penalty. The fact that it took a viral video released by a low-level tabloid website for the NFL to finally make a stand on domestic violence is a joke.

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Prior to the video, Rice was celebrated by his fans and his coaches while the Ravens organisation was behind him all the way. Was it because he was one of their best players or was it genuine compassion? Sure his partner’s support certainly helps but it is appalling that the reason why Rice is in the position he is in now is due to PR.

So what’s next for Ray Rice? Well, it’s true, people do make mistakes and they also need to be forgiven. His partner has come out publicly to exonerate him while his actions since the attack have been somewhat respectful.

Rice has shown full remorse and has been forgiven by his partner, it ends there, the public and media need to respect that this is first and foremost a domestic issue. The way he handles his ban, and the way he carries himself from now will be the catalyst for his next phase.

It was well put by former Raven great Ray Lewis, “a man should never, ever put his hands on a woman. Bottom line.”

A sentiment shared by many I’m sure. Though sadly I don’t think the Baltimore Ravens or the NFL share the same view as their priority is down to one thing… money. The powers that be did not want this video to come out because no Ray Rice equals less revenue.

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