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![Ray Rice]()
Ray Rice released by the Baltimore Ravens amid new viral evidence of domestic violence
Ray Rice, on a grand scale, has been outed as a domestic abuser.
The NFL, on a grander scale, has been outed as an enabler.
In mid-February, footage surfaced of Rice dragging his then fiancée, Janay Palmer, out of an Atlantic City hotel casino elevator, her limp body dangling like a rag doll, while he looked around to see who was near (or perhaps watching).
In March, both Rice and Janay were handed assault charges, they apologized in a press conference (why she had to apologize is beyond me), he had intervention treatment — then they were married.
In July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell levied a two-game suspension on Rice. One that would allow him to return in Week 3 to help his Ravens teammates face their rivals, the Cleveland Browns.
In another presser after the suspension was announced, Rice had these things to say….
“My actions that night were totally inexcusable.”
“That night, I just replay over and over in my head. That’s not me. My actions were inexcusable, and that’s something I have to live with the rest of my life.”
“I just don’t want to keep reliving the incident.”
“I’m trying to move forward, and every time I have to keep reliving it, it doesn’t bring any good to me. I take full responsibility for what happened.”
“My wife can do no wrong. What happened that night was something that should’ve never happened.”
Clearly.
There was backlash from the paltry suspension, especially from domestic violence victims and proponents alike who felt the punishment was too light.
That spawned the strengthening of and already questionable NFL domestic violence policy that suspends a player 6 games for a first time offense, and requires a lifetime ban for a second.
Today, TMZ released full video of the elevator incident. Watch it below and let’s continue to talk…
First of all, Rice appears to have spat upon Janay. In turn, she, his then fiancé, shoved him off and that’s when he punched her, which caused her to hit her head on the elevator’s hand rail. She was knocked out like a prized fighter’s opponent hitting the floor of a boxing ring.
In light of this revelation, guess what? The NFL and the Ravens decided that it was time to take real action, and Monday, Ray Rice was released from the team and suspended from the league, indefinitely.
Too little, too late, but Goodell and Company had no choice.
A league that purports to be female fan friendly and sells millions of dollars of merchandise to women, didn’t see fit to truly admonish Rice for his abusive actions against a woman he loved — a woman who who would be his wife and who bore him a child.
![Janay Rice]()
Yet, A VIDEO surfaces, showing the world an NFL player’s dastardly actions, and suddenly, it’s time to make a move.
It’s all,”bye-bye, Ray Rice.”
Its highly unlikely that another team will ever pick him up.
The league and the Ravens will try to get past this, swiftly. Coach John Harbaugh expressed that he hopes The Rices “can work it out,” as if a woman who gets spat upon and knocked out like a man should have the pleasure of making a go of it with her abuser, once agin.
For the sake of the players who worked so hard in the off-season, and toiled through training camp, they league and the Ravens will get past this. There is football to played, you know?
I am a football fan, and yes, I want to watch the games, but damn I just don’t want to see this scenario played out again.
For Janay Rice, and other NFL wives/girlfriends who are or have been victims of domestic violence, this policy that was written must be revisited.
As a matter of fact, it should have been written long ago, when OJ was wearin’ on Nicole, or before Jovan Belcher killed Kasandra Perkins.
The policy was in place before Ray McDonald allegedly assaulted his pregnant fiancée, but that case is slow motion, too.
McDonald is actively playing football, pending investigation while his fiancée is likely relegated to the shadows, surely fearful for herself and her unborn child, and perhaps complicit in order to keep the peace and to help him save face for the sake NFL glory and paychecks.
The good in this, and I use that term with caution, is that it sheds light on domestic violence, which occurs every single day, in every walk go life, to women and men. It’s a subject that bears more discussion and deserves more attention. ALS deserved more, too, and then came the ice bucket challenge, and it worked wonders in raising money and awareness.
What can we do to raise awareness of DV? What type of challenge can/will be created, and will the NFL be at the helm?
History says otherwise, but this subject isn’t going away easily.
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