Ray Rice

[D.o.s.]

Magary for president:

Now, Roger Goodell is a big stupid meathead of a guy, but even he isn't stupid enough to say, "Hey, let's be shady and bury this thing forever just to protect Ray Rice MWAHAHAHAHAHA." No way, man. They saw the tape. Of course they saw the tape. They knew what was on there, and they heard Janay Rice state her case in person with her hubby and Goodell and four other high-ranking league and Ravens [jerks] right there, and they thought, sure, two games sounds all right. And that logic filtered through the league office, down to the Ravens, out to national media hand puppets like Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen, and it hardened into the conventional wisdom. Everything is easily explained if you accept that these are all a bunch of stupid men who think very much alike.

As of right now, the NFL is doing everything in its power to make you believe that it would never be so insensitive, but it's failing miserably. No lifetime suspension or display of league righteousness will make up for the glaring lack of anger over the past few months. There was no good reason not to watch that tape. They saw it, and they thought little of it, and now they're praying you don't notice.

http://deadspin.com/heres-why-the-nfl-is-full-of-Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.-1632370842

[fairweatherfan]

Ray Rice is a scumbag.  Now that that's out of the way, though, does anybody have an issue with the arbitrariness of the decision making process here?

* A final decision was handed down here.  Then, the decision is amended upward because of adverse public reaction, and because of a video that showed the assault (rather than just the knocked out victim);

* The punishment is disproportionate to any similar discipline handed down in the past for domestic violence, and players had no notice that they'd be looking at an indefinite ban

The fan, husband, and father in me has no problem with Rice being treated harshly.  The attorney who believes in concepts of due process, notice, etc., thinks that the procedure here was arbitrary and invalid.

I agree.  I think the ultimate outcome was appropriate, but the process was complete reactionary crap.

On a related note, has any NFL player ever been suspended or sanctioned by the league for domestic violence?  I'm sure some teams have done it, but I can't ever remember any league penalties in the past, and DV arrests aren't uncommon in the NFL.

[LooseCannon]

Ray Rice is a scumbag.  Now that that's out of the way, though, does anybody have an issue with the arbitrariness of the decision making process here?

* A final decision was handed down here.  Then, the decision is amended upward because of adverse public reaction, and because of a video that showed the assault (rather than just the knocked out victim);

* The punishment is disproportionate to any similar discipline handed down in the past for domestic violence, and players had no notice that they'd be looking at an indefinite ban

The fan, husband, and father in me has no problem with Rice being treated harshly.  The attorney who believes in concepts of due process, notice, etc., thinks that the procedure here was arbitrary and invalid.

And that's why the focus should shift towards pressuring Roger Goodell to resign.

[slamtheking]

Can rice sue the casino for releasing the tape?

Casino went out of business (believe it closed last week actually) so that would probably be a lost cause.

for the sake of argument, say the casino was still in business.

I'm curious why anyone would think Rice has any grounds for a lawsuit.  Rice was in a public place so no expectations of privacy are legitimate.  Rice acted of his own volition so it's not like the tape was editted to show him in an unfavorable light that contradicts what actually happened.

from my POV, it'd be no different from him trying to sue a witness that testified against him honestly that had supporting evidence to back the testimony.

Rice has no one but himself to blame. 

If anyone can offer any reason the casino would in any way be liable, I'd be curious about that reason.

[Donoghus]

Reader taking Peter King to the woodshed in his mailbag today.  A lot of the NFL media doesn't look good right now.  Whether its looking like shills like King or guys like Scheffter & Mort who look like they were lied to by the NFL.

LOSING A READER. I consider myself a devoted reader of The MMQB. I am a sports fanatic and I have used The MMQB to consume information related to the NFL. As of the writing of this email, I will do so no longer. Mr. Peter King has proven to be nothing but a corporate shill who prioritizes access and connections over accuracy and completeness. There is no excuse for Mr. King’s abject failure to do his job with respect to the Ray Rice arrest, investigation, suspension, and the controversy that followed.
 
Mr. King’s statement today concludes by saying the following: “I hope when this story is fully vetted, we all get the truth and nothing but the truth.” Do you know how Mr. King could ensure that the statement is fully vetted and that we get nothing but the truth? He could do his job. He could ask the tough questions. He could investigate the answers to ensure their accuracy. He could press for more direct answers rather than a recitation of talking points. He could be a journalist.
 
But nope, Mr. King has made no such promise to get to the bottom of it. He seems content merely other people will do it for him.
 
—Andrew S.

[Donoghus]

Can rice sue the casino for releasing the tape?

Casino went out of business (believe it closed last week actually) so that would probably be a lost cause.

for the sake of argument, say the casino was still in business.

I'm curious why anyone would think Rice has any grounds for a lawsuit.  Rice was in a public place so no expectations of privacy are legitimate.  Rice acted of his own volition so it's not like the tape was editted to show him in an unfavorable light that contradicts what actually happened.

from my POV, it'd be no different from him trying to sue a witness that testified against him honestly that had supporting evidence to back the testimony.

Rice has no one but himself to blame. 

If anyone can offer any reason the casino would in any way be liable, I'd be curious about that reason.

Oh, I have no idea.  I was more or less pointing out the irony of the casino shutting down last week. 

[D.o.s.]

It's a tricky spot, because if you're on the NFL gravy train (or working for ESPN, to-may-toe toh-mah-toe), you have to face serious financial (i.e. detrimental to your career) repercussions if you wind up reporting something that the league doesn't like. That's part of the reason so many of the goon squad that is the football media are looking like chumps, and why the ones that aren't are staying out of it -- no one wants to p--- off the NFL, even when the league is completely and utterly wrong.

That's part of the reason the guys like Scheffter have been so visibly p---ed: they essentially covered for the league and wound up looking like heels for doing so.

[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?

No, it's not.  There's nothing even remotely funny about any of this.  Period.

Sure there is. All other considerations aside, the way the NFL has "dealt" with this is quite hilarious.

[Celtics4ever]

The league mishandled this from the start.  Goodell originally issues a 2 games suspension.   Pressure on the league mounted and he was going to revisit the issue.   This video surfaces and he goes full nuclear on it.   I think it is wild a guy beats his wife would have got less than a dude that smoked pot.   Did it take something like this to show how out of the mainstream the league is folks.  The league blew this one.

The game is based on violence too.   At some level, the NFL is hypocritical on this matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjFx0JJPe04

[D.o.s.]

The game is based on violence too.   At some level, the NFL is hypocritical on this matter.

There is at least one interesting sociological question to be raised about the violence inherent in a game of football and the fans who decry the rise of the new "two-hand touch"version of the sport that's surfaced in the last few years, that's for sure.

[fairweatherfan]

NFL Announces New Zero Tolerance Policy on Videotaped Domestic Violence

"Goodell went on to clarify that in such cases, the NFL will cooperate fully with local authorities as soon as the league can no longer prevent incriminating evidence from being leaked to the media."

[Finkelskyhook]

I used to respect Goodell.  But the "indefinite suspension" is as chickenpoop as anything the equally sleazy Selig or Stern ever did during their most righteously indignant sleaziest times.

For Goodell to claim he didn't see the tape is sociopathic at best.  I have no problem with how the Ravens handled it except that it shows their hypocracy as well....There embracing of Ray Lewis....

It also gave ESPN the opportunity to drag their token illiterate racist commentator on all scandals social...jamele hill to bring her incoherent nothingness to the table.

[Moranis]

To be fair to the Ravens, there are numerous reports out there that Rice told his teammates that Janay was attacking him and he defended himself.  Couple that with Janay's statements about apologizing for her role, the really minimal punishment by the State of New Jersey, and the NFL's response, I don't think the Ravens were being unreasonable or mishandling things.  I mean are they supposed to do a third investigation after the government and NFL had already done one and handed out punishment.

The owner cut Rice after seeing the footage, at least according to Ray Lewis. Which means that the owner of the Ravens didn't see the footage until yesterday, which means that, in the most positive light, the ownership decided that they didn't need to/didn't want to investigate what happened inside the elevator, and took Rice at his word.

My suspicion, then, is that they decided Rice was too important to their team and their brand to cut before it was absolutely necessary, and, like the league, decided to perform their best ostrich impressions insofar as the situation was concerned. Therefore: Eff the Ravens.

But that is my point, did you want the Ravens to do an investigation after the police (and prosecutor) and after the NFL had already done investigations.  I mean clearly the police and prosecutor had seen the tape and they let Rice go to diversion.  The NFL suspended him 2 games.  Janay is out in public apologizing for her role.  Rice is telling people he was defending himself.  I mean what else did you want the Ravens to do.  Why would a third investigation be necessary?  Why shouldn't the Ravens believe Rice when his fiance is basically supporting his position and the prosecutor's let him go to diversion?

It seems silly to fault the Ravens on that one. 

[D.o.s.]

To be fair to the Ravens, there are numerous reports out there that Rice told his teammates that Janay was attacking him and he defended himself.  Couple that with Janay's statements about apologizing for her role, the really minimal punishment by the State of New Jersey, and the NFL's response, I don't think the Ravens were being unreasonable or mishandling things.  I mean are they supposed to do a third investigation after the government and NFL had already done one and handed out punishment.

The owner cut Rice after seeing the footage, at least according to Ray Lewis. Which means that the owner of the Ravens didn't see the footage until yesterday, which means that, in the most positive light, the ownership decided that they didn't need to/didn't want to investigate what happened inside the elevator, and took Rice at his word.

My suspicion, then, is that they decided Rice was too important to their team and their brand to cut before it was absolutely necessary, and, like the league, decided to perform their best ostrich impressions insofar as the situation was concerned. Therefore: Eff the Ravens.

But that is my point, did you want the Ravens to do an investigation after the police (and prosecutor) and after the NFL had already done investigations.  I mean clearly the police and prosecutor had seen the tape and they let Rice go to diversion.  The NFL suspended him 2 games.  Janay is out in public apologizing for her role.  Rice is telling people he was defending himself.  I mean what else did you want the Ravens to do.  Why would a third investigation be necessary?  Why shouldn't the Ravens believe Rice when his fiance is basically supporting his position and the prosecutor's let him go to diversion?

It seems silly to fault the Ravens on that one. 

I'm not saying that their actions don't make sense -- I'm saying that their reasons for doing so are ethically lacking. It's not rocket surgery.

[D.o.s.]

I used to respect Goodell.  But the "indefinite suspension" is as chickenpoop as anything the equally sleazy Selig or Stern ever did during their most righteously indignant sleaziest times.

For Goodell to claim he didn't see the tape is sociopathic at best.  I have no problem with how the Ravens handled it except that it shows their hypocracy as well....There embracing of Ray Lewis....

It also gave ESPN the opportunity to drag their token illiterate racist commentator on all scandals social...jamele hill to bring her incoherent nothingness to the table.

Does this mean you respected Goodell when he laid down the two game suspension?