Thoughts on Ray Rice getting (only) a 2 game suspension

[Slice of Life]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/tmz-releases-footage-of-ray-rice-punching-wife-124132772.html

There. Now defend him.

This turd should be in prison. Period.

2 games...wow.

[dsc123]

Unbelievable.

[David in FL]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/tmz-releases-footage-of-ray-rice-punching-wife-124132772.html

There. Now defend him.

This turd should be in prison. Period.

2 games...wow.

You're 2 hours and 5 posts late.  But 100% right!

[RJH999]

Admittedly, I wasn't a Goodell fan before today but after seeing the entire video he had the benefit of watching before deciding on Rice's suspension, I have to say this guy needs to retire and go fishing.  In the video, it shows Rice spitting on his fiancée then hitting her twice, once so hard she's knocked down and hits her head on the elevator railing.   Goodell created the domestic violence policy because he knew once this footage got out, he'd look like an idiot.  I don't see how he or the NFL could have come up with only 2 games after seeing this footage, she could have been seriously injured or even died from head trauma. [URL=http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/08/ray-rice-elevator-knockout-fiancee-takes-crushing-punch-video/]http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/08/ray-rice-elevator-knockout-fiancee-takes-crushing-punch-video/[/URL]

[quote name="MS256" url="/t/76121/thoughts-on-ray-rice-getting-only-a-2-game-suspension/120_40#post_1052251"] I guess I'm a little more hard-nosed. If somebody punches or kicks a pregnant woman in the abdomen he would [SIZE=14px] never, [SIZE=18px]ever [/SIZE] [/SIZE]play in my league again (and I would hope they locked him away and lost the key forever). I have absolutely no sympathy for somebody that would do that. [/quote][quote name="David in FL" url="/t/76121/thoughts-on-ray-rice-getting-only-a-2-game-suspension/120_40#post_1052256"] Exactly right! [/quote] [quote name="newtogolf" url="/t/76121/thoughts-on-ray-rice-getting-only-a-2-game-suspension/120_40#post_1052259"] I don't disagree, I'm just not sure the league has the ability to ban someone for their first offense [/quote][quote name="Slice of Life" url="/t/76121/thoughts-on-ray-rice-getting-only-a-2-game-suspension/120_40#post_1052270"][URL=http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/tmz-releases-footage-of-ray-rice-punching-wife-124132772.html]http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/tmz-releases-footage-of-ray-rice-punching-wife-124132772.html[/URL] There. Now defend him. This turd should be in prison. Period. 2 games...wow. [/quote] Yup. Wow.

[RonTheSavage]

Yikes :bugout: That was hard to watch, I cant believe the NFL had access to this footage and STILL only gave the guy 2 games. And she married the guy?

[rehmwa]

To have a debate about whether the NFL can discipline a player for off field matters would take way more delving into the by-laws, contracts, and case law than I intend to do.

Scanning the thread and this is what's throwing me for a loop.

Main point - the NFL and the players can have whatever private contract both parties agree to.  So they do or don't do is defined by the contract.  so:

1 - I don't consider the opinions of a bunch of bystanders to matter at all except for how they react to the league and bring in business or not.  The whole thread premise is interesting, but 'shoulda' and 'woulda' discussions are pointless and subjective.

2 - This is a matter of LAW, not some stupid sports league policy.  Arguing over whether somebody should be suspended for a year, for life, or for one game or whatever for acts of physical violence completely misses the boat.  He should go to COURT, and if found guiltly then JAIL.   Talking about suspensions from playing games?  I don't get it.  Comments like "I'd have fired his ass if he worked for me" is missing the point. You don't 'fire him' you turn him in to the authorities and make sure he is prosecuted under the law.

If the NFL wants a policy on contract, this is the one - "You break a law by being violent to another person off the field, we'll do everything with the legal authorities to get you thrown in jail for the maximum possible terms under law"

I'd even extend this to professionals in certain sports for conduct during play.  Swing a hockey stick in anger at the back of someone's head during a game?  that's not hockey, that's attempted murder - go to jail - don't have nice little discussions about suspensions and interview the paralyzed victim and see if he's ok with it.  seriously.

sport organizations are businesses, not law enforcement or individual countries where members are not subject to the law of the land.  private contracts are not interchangable with requirements to follow the law

[Slice of Life]

You're 2 hours and 5 posts late.  But 100% right!

Ha. I even looked at the last page and missed that one post haha.

[rehmwa]

Also, there are almost no scenarios where it's okay to hit a woman, even when provoked. Obviously if she's trying to kill you then you have to defend yourself, but if she's hitting you repeatedly with her hands (similar to what Solange did) then I just take the beating like a man and try to calm things down with words or I get out of there until she cools off.

We do not hit.  A woman hitting a man is just as bad as the reverse.  There is no need to make it gender biased.

As for "provoked" that just an indication of lack of control on both parties.  everyone loses.  the ONLY reason to respond is defense of self or others.  For anyone over 6 years old.

If one person is hitting another and the person getting hit is bigger and stronger, then the right action, regardless if the first person is male or female, is to use the least amount of return violence to stop it.

escape/deescalate before holding, hold before hurt, hurt before injure, injure before main, main before kill - that's the heirarchy.  I don't see gender mattering other than a stronger person can 'hold' to stop the attack as a more frequent option and no need to escalate beyond that

any response needs to be in fair proportion to the level of danger of attack -

[MS256]

Scanning the thread and this is what's throwing me for a loop.

Main point - the NFL and the players can have whatever private contract both parties agree to.  So they do or don't do is defined by the contract.  so:

1 - I don't consider the opinions of a bunch of bystanders to matter at all except for how they react to the league and bring in business or not.  The whole thread premise is interesting, but 'shoulda' and 'woulda' discussions are pointless and subjective.

2 - This is a matter of LAW, not some stupid sports league policy.  Arguing over whether somebody should be suspended for a year, for life, or for one game or whatever for acts of physical violence completely misses the boat.  He should go to COURT, and if found guiltly then JAIL.   Talking about suspensions from playing games?  I don't get it.  Comments like "I'd have fired his ass if he worked for me" is missing the point.  You don't 'fire him' you turn him in to the authorities and make sure he is prosecuted under the law.

I'd even extend this to professionals in certain sports for conduct during play.  Swing a hockey stick in anger at the back of someone's head during a game?  that's not hockey, that's attempted murder - go to jail - don't have nice little discussions about suspensions and interview the paralyzed victim and see if he's ok with it.  seriously.

sport organizations are businesses, not law enforcement or individual countries where members are not subject to the law of the land.  private contracts are not interchangable with requirements to follow the law

The thing is if I'm commissioner and I think he should be gone that's what I'm ruling. If an entity wants to fight my decision they might win but at least my conscience is clear and I did what I thought was right.

There is no doubt that some offenses are so bad that a ban for life would be a given and wouldn't be opposed by anybody. We just don't know which rise to that level until they happen. This one may not, but maybe should, rise to that level...and with the light suspension we didn't get to find out.

[dsc123]

Scanning the thread and this is what's throwing me for a loop.

1 - I don't consider the opinions of a bunch of bystanders to matter at all except for how they react to the league and bring in business or not.  The whole thread premise is interesting, but 'shoulda' and 'woulda' discussions are pointless and subjective.

Shoulda and woulda are not pointless, it is "how they react to the league and bring in business or not."

If people view the players as a bunch of lowlifes, that will hurt the NFL's brand.

[Golfingdad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Admittedly, I wasn't a Goodell fan before today but after seeing the entire video he had the benefit of watching before deciding on Rice's suspension , I have to say this guy needs to retire and go fishing.  In the video, it shows Rice spitting on his fiancée then hitting her twice, once so hard she's knocked down and hits her head on the elevator railing.   Goodell created the domestic violence policy because he knew once this footage got out, he'd look like an idiot.  I don't see how he or the NFL could have come up with only 2 games after seeing this footage, she could have been seriously injured or even died from head trauma.

http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/08/ray-rice-elevator-knockout-fiancee-takes-crushing-punch-video/

If what I heard on the radio this morning is true, then you are way off base here ... They said that the NFL had not seen this video until this morning.

Yeah, same report as on espn.com ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11486837/new-video-released-baltimore-ravens-ray-rice-hitting-fiancee

Quote:

Said league spokesman Brian McCarthy regarding the video: "We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today."

[RonTheSavage]

If what I heard on the radio this morning is true, then you are way off base here ... They said that the NFL had not seen this video until this morning.

I heard the opposite early this morning, but now Im hearing what you heard. Who knows what the real deal is?

[dsc123]

If what I heard on the radio this morning is true, then you are way off base here ... They said that the NFL had not seen this video until this morning.

I find that very hard to believe.

[Golfingdad]

I find that very hard to believe.

Harder or easier to believe than somebody who watched it thinking that a 2-game suspension was a good idea??

I have no opinion one way or the other on the NFL in general, and I don't have that strong of an opinion of Goodell.  (It's a negative opinion, but not that strong of one)  Therefore I really have no basis for not believing that statement.

---

Another guy on the radio said that Rice should voluntarily sit out another 4 games, and I think that would probably be wise.

[dsc123]

Harder or easier to believe than somebody who watched it thinking that a 2-game suspension was a good idea??

That's a good point.

[newtogolf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

If what I heard on the radio this morning is true, then you are way off base here ... They said that the NFL had not seen this video until this morning.

Yeah, same report as on espn.com ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11486837/new-video-released-baltimore-ravens-ray-rice-hitting-fiancee

I'd heard on the report from CBS NY that the NFL did have access to this video when they levied the punishment, but it's certainly possible the reporter was wrong.

Quote:

Back in July, Peter King confirmed the existence of this video and that the NFL and Ravens honchos had seen it during their meeting with Rice and his wife , but he couldn't speculate on the details of the tape because he hadn't seen it. That was after a full summer of positive spin from the NFL media, hinting that Janay Rice had some involvement in provoking the incident.

[Slice of Life]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/broncos-dl-terrance-knighton-says-ray-rice-should-be-thrown-out-of-nfl-155106245.html

[RJH999]

[URL=http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/broncos-dl-terrance-knighton-says-ray-rice-should-be-thrown-out-of-nfl-155106245.html]http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/broncos-dl-terrance-knighton-says-ray-rice-should-be-thrown-out-of-nfl-155106245.html[/URL]

POT ROAST!