 |
| Ray Rice seen above, was seen striking his future wife in an elevator |
Whatever is going on in the commissioner's office is anything but consistent. Not all of the players mentioned earlier received a six game suspension, in fact, none of them did. After Ravens running back Ray Rice was seen in the first video dragging his then fiancé out of an elevator unconscious he received a two game suspension. Since then TMZ released a video of what happened in the elevator and Ray Rice was now seen striking her in the face twice. Shortly after Goodell suspended Rice indefinitely and the Ravens released him. Goodell also claimed that he hadn't seen the video until TMZ released and didn't know exactly what had happened in the elevator. However, a law enforcement office said they sent video to the NFL. Also Ray Rice said he told Goodell what happened in the elevator. Not only has Goodell's handling of the issue been inconsistent, so has his story. Shortly after suspending Rice indefinitely Goodell said a first time offender for domestic violence will receive a six game suspension. Now I'm sitting here wondering where Rice's six game suspension is. In no way do I condone what Ray Rice did, but if the league is going to make a rule such as this they need to enforce it fairly and properly. As I said earlier, I believe a six game suspension is fair. It gives a player a chance to think about what he's done and change. Then they can rejoin the NFL once again. If later on the player shows he hasn't changed and offends again that's when the book gets thrown at them with a season or more suspension. Ray Rice clearly isn't getting equal opportunity as a first time offender should by the rule.
Shortly after stating that a first time offence would be a six game suspension the NFL was confronted with two more domestic abuse cases. Two months ago Greg Hardy was convicted of domestic abuse against his girlfriend. For some reason he still played in the pre-season and week one. He wasn't sat down until week two, and has not been suspended by the NFL. Even after the NFL said there would be a six game suspension after the first incident he didn't get suspended. If the NFL speaks on this issue they might claim there has not been a suspension because Hardy's conviction has been appealed and there's a chance he will be not guilty. However, even after he was found guilty the first time the NFL did nothing. Hardy isn't the only one either. More recently Adrian Peterson was indited for hitting his son with a switch to the extent his son was bleeding. However, despite this he could have been elligible to play on Sunday and will likely play next week. This begs the question of the NFL. Where on earth is the consistency in these three different cases? And where is the consistency in each case in aaccordance with the domestic violence rule? It just isn't there.
If the NFL is going to take as hard of a stance against domestic abuse as they like to make it seem, they're going to need to be consistent. They can't suspend one player indefinitely and have others convicted of similar criminal charges and potentially playing just a few days after the incident. It's not only the players that need to clean up their act, but the NFL as well. If they don't, people are always going to look on the NFL and see that it cares more about making money than whatever legal trouble it's players get in. Until the NFL gets serious about domestic violence and other harmful crimes, people will always see it caring more about money than its players and society.
-Darren
-What are your thoughts on the NFL's policy on domestic violence and the way it has been handled? Either comment below this post or find me on twitter @thewildman111
No comments:
Post a Comment