Ray Rice

[fairweatherfan]

I'll go out on a limb and say that most if not all the teams in the NFL have had a player on their roster with a recent domestic violence issue in the past decade.

Related to this, here's USAToday's database of NFL arrests since 2000: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/arrests/

Looking back just a few years I see domestic violence arrests for players on Carolina, Baltimore, Minnesota, Arizona, Detroit, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, NY Jets, Miami, Dallas, Green Bay, Denver, New Orleans, Tampa Bay.  With a few repeats in there. 

This is just since 2010 and doesn't seem to include the 49er who's in trouble now.  That's fully half the league if you include SF, and doesn't account for players who were signed by a new club shortly after their arrests.  Or, to be fair, guys who were promptly cut by their teams after being arrested.

[D.o.s.]

Do you believe the Patriots would have tried to protect the value of Aaron Hernandez as a player if he had merely been accused of domestic violence?  If they thought there was a decent chance that they could let him ride out a suspension and be back on the field making a positive contribution, would they have pursued that option?  Would they have engaged in a PR campaign full of lies to justify that action?

No idea. 

I know they cut bait with Christian Peter way back in the day.  Of course, he was a nobody.  No idea how they would handle a situation involving a "name" player.   So, in regards to DV, they may have just cut bait based on that precedent but no way to be sure.

Edelman and Dennard are still on the team.

Precedent what?

Wasn't the Edelman thing proven to be bogus or non-criminal at the very least?

Prosecutors yesterday also released surveillance video from Storyville of the night of the incident. According to a release by Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, evidence gathered by analyzing the surveillance tape and conducting interviews with the accuser and witnesses indicates the physical contact between Edelman and the woman was fleeting, and did not meet the elements of any crime.

Dennard wasn't a case of domestic violence.  Doesn't excuse what he did but doesn't fall under the same category of the Christian Peter case which was a precedent.

Correct: neither of those are domestic violence. Both of those are situations similar to the Hernandez and Peter cases. NFL teams don't give up on players unless they don't think they're going to be able to stay in the league.

[D.o.s.]

The NFL also made his wife out to be equally culpable -- that was obvious when they made her apologize at their presser. That's deplorable.

Wow, I hadn't heard about that.  That's messed up.

The reason I couldn't find what I was looking for earlier is because they deleted the tweet:


Courtesy of Deadspin:
http://deadspin.com/the-ravens-just-deleted-that-terrible-janay-rice-tweet-1632105673

[kozlodoev]

I'm at a loss about why the release of the full video is such a big deal. I mean, really, what EXACTLY did everyone think happened in that elevator?! 

[Birdman]

Wow!!! Just saw the video..she is lucky she wasn't killed when she hit her head on the rail!! Makes me sick and angry when I saw this..hope he doesn't play again in NFL. Cant believe she married him after that..

[Birdman]

And why was it release now not earlier when the other video came out

[D.o.s.]

I'm at a loss about why the release of the full video is such a big deal. I mean, really, what EXACTLY did everyone think happened in that elevator?! 

It's a big deal because the NFL's initial position was heavily leaning on the wink-wink inference that she'd provoked him. Plausible denial and all that.

[kozlodoev]

I'm at a loss about why the release of the full video is such a big deal. I mean, really, what EXACTLY did everyone think happened in that elevator?! 

It's a big deal because the NFL's initial position was heavily leaning on the wink-wink inference that she'd provoked him.

I was likewise at a loss back when they floated that line of reasoning. If you knock out someone who's taunting you, it's still assault, last time I checked.

[D.o.s.]

I'm at a loss about why the release of the full video is such a big deal. I mean, really, what EXACTLY did everyone think happened in that elevator?! 

It's a big deal because the NFL's initial position was heavily leaning on the wink-wink inference that she'd provoked him.

I was likewise at a loss back when they floated that line of reasoning. If you knock out someone who's taunting you, it's still assault, last time I checked.

It's because the NFL works on the assumption that the fans are morons. Seriously.

[Fafnir]

I'm at a loss about why the release of the full video is such a big deal. I mean, really, what EXACTLY did everyone think happened in that elevator?! 

It's a big deal because the NFL's initial position was heavily leaning on the wink-wink inference that she'd provoked him.

I was likewise at a loss back when they floated that line of reasoning. If you knock out someone who's taunting you, it's still assault, last time I checked.

It's because the NFL works on the assumption that the fans are morons. Seriously.

Or that they'd believe some sort of final destination style improbable rube goldberg sequence of events knocked her out.

Which is the same as what you said above in the end.

[JHTruth]

The arc of the NFL moral universe is long, but it bends towards optics...

The NFL is pretty much morally bankrupt at this point. Maybe it's appropriate that it's wildy popular in our culture. The way we feed off this league like its a religion. Maybe we are in decline..

[kozlodoev]

It's a bizarre and hilarious turn of events.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the NJ procedures are for pressing domestic violence charges? Can the DA office file them, or is a complaint from the victim required?

[Moranis]

I'm at a loss about why the release of the full video is such a big deal. I mean, really, what EXACTLY did everyone think happened in that elevator?! 

It's a big deal because the NFL's initial position was heavily leaning on the wink-wink inference that she'd provoked him.

I was likewise at a loss back when they floated that line of reasoning. If you knock out someone who's taunting you, it's still assault, last time I checked.

what I heard as a common theme was that Ms. Parker was hitting Mr. Rice and that he hit her back i.e. more or less self defense, but because of his size he did more damage.  That is clearly not what happened obviously.

[fairweatherfan]

It looks like she did slap him first, just not in any way that could remotely justify the haymaker he put on her.

[Donoghus]

Ummm....you may just wanna shut up, Ray Lewis

In 2000, when Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was charged with murder and later agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice and testify against his co-defendants, the Ravens stood by him. Today, the Ravens decided to stop standing by running back Ray Rice. In the opinion of Lewis, that’s because his own case is a lot different from Rice’s.
 
Lewis, now an ESPN analyst, addressed the situation on the air today.
 
“There’s no comparison,” Lewis said. “There is no comparison between me and Ray Rice. It’s night and day.”