Ray Rice, a true gentleman..

[stinkfoot]

and the NFL sends a message to the world..

that beating a woman unconscious isn't as bad as say smoking weed or selling an autograph while still in college..

Column: NFL sends awful message with Rice suspension

Ray Rice was suspended two games by the NFL for knocking out his fiancee. The incident was caught on tape. Rice entered a pre-trial diversion program.

A violation of the league's substance abuse policy, including using marijuana, draws a four-game suspension. A violent tackle, done in the course of a game, will draw a single game suspension. Selling your autograph while still in college? That will get you five games off.

But in the NFL's court, hitting a woman so hard that she becomes unconscious and has to be dragged out of an elevator only gets you a two-game suspension.

NFL, if you're going to care about women, keeping the ones closest to your players safe is your first stop.

Don't tell me you care about women's health come October. Don't pinkwash the whole league and pay lip service to how much you care about women. Don't trot out breast cancer survivors as symbols of the NFL's close relationship with women and then give a man who threatened a woman's health — ON TAPE — a two-game suspension.

The NFL had an opportunity to send a clear and direct message about the consequences of domestic abuse. They could have looked past the PR campaign Rice and the Ravens are now putting on. They could have seen the press conference Rice and his now-wife participated in as the sham it was.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in four women will be abused in their lifetime. This year, 1.3 million women will be assaulted by their partner. The NFL could have said to the women who silently suffer through domestic violence that the biggest, richest league in the country has their backs.

Instead, they're telling players that smoking a joint — which is legal in two states — is much worse than knocking out a woman.

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I don't know any more.. I want off this planet.

 

[acstorfer]

<--- Agrees 100%!

 

[hrfdez]

$$$$$$$$ That's all they care for, and that is why they don't get mine. Between this and the NBA......I'll keep my opinion

 

[Dun Ringill]

I have serious issues with Roger Goodell as it is. This makes him look even more the genius I had suspected he was...

 

[acstorfer]

It saddens me that she married him after that. I sincerely hope they don't bear children.

 

[questionman]

He should be out of the league for good. I would be willing to bet if Hernandez wasnt in prison he would be back playing right now despite what he did. Roger needs to get his priorities straight here. Between all this off the field antics going on and all these new rules "protecting" the players ON the field, I have lost interest in the NFL. At least College doesnt have these problems to the same extent, and when they do arise they know how to deal with them.

 

[acstorfer]

It's easy enough to lay it all on RG, but let's not forget the NFLPA. If the league gave Rice what he deserved, a buh bye, the players union would rally behind him like he's a war martyr.

 

[SLewis]

It's the NFL, what did you expect?

.

 

[fett]

I have a question? Why does what a person does that has nothing to do with his job has a body that can impose penalties? That's not right. Mr. Rice may be a jerk. He copped a plea in court. End of story. If he had done something really bad on the field, I could understand the Powers suspending him. I just don't get it.

 

[Fiftywattmafia]

I have a question? Why does what a person does that has nothing to do with his job has a body that can impose penalties? That's not right. Mr. Rice may be a jerk. He copped a plea in court. End of story. If he had done something really bad on the field, I could understand the Powers suspending him. I just don't get it.

I have an employer, who if they found out I punched a woman in the face....would fire my ass immediately. I am not an NFL player, just a working man. I suspect many other employers in many fields of work would do the same thing.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

er....I thought you went to jail for beating up a woman?

..I mean f**k a game suspension, I thought you were arrested for such things.

 

[Blues4U]

I have two words----


RAY LEWIS----

 

[fett]

These guys are not Heroes. They are not role models. They just know how to play whatever sport. What a world.

 

[Blues4U]

These guys are not Heroes. They are not role models. They just know how to play whatever sport. What a world.

by all accounts, Ray Lewis was involved in a murder--When he retired he was hailed as the second coming--

 

[acstorfer]

I have a question? Why does what a person does that has nothing to do with his job has a body that can impose penalties? That's not right. Mr. Rice may be a jerk. He copped a plea in court. End of story. If he had done something really bad on the field, I could understand the Powers suspending him. I just don't get it.

When you sell shirts to kids with a person's name, number and/or face on it, it's very important to uphold a positive image.

 

[Roberteaux]

I suppose that they do suspensions for certain types of behavior mainly to make the association look good and to curtail some of the excesses that took place in the recent past.

But, let's look at the biggest smack they hand out: a five-game suspension for selling an autograph...

Tells me that it's really all about $$$.

Why am I not surprised? Probably because I notice that all kinds of stuff boils down to the same ol' thing.

--R

 

[NRBQ]

I'd like to see that tape from inside that elevator, as far as I can tell that footage hasn't been made public. What if she attacked and punched him? Does he have the right to hit back? I have a friend who's thinks if you swing at someone regardless of gender you get hit back, period. I don't think I could to that but I wonder if he has a point not directly related to this case. There are some women that will punch a man thinking that she has that right because he can't or won't hit back. I'm not condoning this matter or hitting a woman, but I am wondering if that line goes both ways, and when it's crossed what can or should be done about it. It's a sticky topic to say the least. And for the record I've never hit a woman in my life, don't expect to either.

 

[tazzboy]

Yeah there has to be more to this story. Cause she got arrested as well.

 

[50WPLEXI]

by all accounts, Ray Lewis was involved in a murder--When he retired he was hailed as the second coming--

I hear you loud and clear, what a f**king joke. The dude walks around with this religious shit spewing from his mouth. But yet he has all these kids, with women he never married. And he's an asshole to boot.

 

[acstorfer]

I'd like to see that tape from inside that elevator, as far as I can tell that footage hasn't been made public. What if she attacked and punched him? Does he have the right to hit back? I have a friend who's thinks if you swing at someone regardless of gender you get hit back, period. I don't think I could to that but I wonder if he has a point not directly related to this case. There are some women that will punch a man thinking that she has that right because he can't or won't hit back. I'm not condoning this matter or hitting a woman, but I am wondering if that line goes both ways, and when it's crossed what can or should be done about it. It's a sticky topic to say the least. And for the record I've never hit a woman in my life, don't expect to either.

I understand your point, but if he can't withstand taking a hit from his fiancé how is he playing running back in the NFL? Dude gets hit for a living by very big bad men. I don't know the woman's background but I am certain he could have constrained her without knocking her unconscious.

If a normal dude gets hit by a woman, sure he may lose it. Most people don't get hit in their lifetime so "fight or flight" can take over. Ray Rice is conditioned to take hits. He gets hit hard all the time. Part of what makes these athletes top of the heap is how they are supposed to be rational and intelligent about what happens next. If this was in public, I'm assuming it was in an elevator, would he have decked her? He knocked her out in private because that's what wife beaters do.