As most have heard by now, the Ray Rice situation has stepped up another level recently. On Sunday, TMZ released a video of Rice physically attacking his then fiancee Janay Palmer. This was the first time the public had a chance to see what happened inside the elevator on that fateful night in Atlantic City, NJ.
The fallout? Well, today the Baltimore Ravens terminated Rice’s contract and the league suspended him indefinitely. Rice was already serving a two-game suspension for this incident which became public back in February.
When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell first suspended Rice for those two games, it was apparent he screwed up royally. He quickly apologized to all 32 NFL owners and allowed the public to also know his regrets. On top of that, he quickly worked on stiffening the penalties for domestic abuse incidents, which he did accomplish only a short couple weeks ago.
Considering the fact that drug offenders were being suspended for entire seasons (see Josh Gordon) and abuse offenders were only being tagged for two games, to say Goodell was feeling the pressure is the understatement of the decade. The public was irate that Rice only received a slap on the wrist.
Now, after the release of the new Ray Rice video, and NFL’s statement today, Goodell might be wishing he could go back to that pressure of the initial video and suspension.
League spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN that it did not have access to 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," McCarthy said.
Is the National Football League actually serious with this stuff?
The NFL is a powerhouse entity in this country. They are such a powerful force that they could move mountains if they wished to. Okay, maybe not literally, but I'm sure they'd come close.
Some of the guys that work security and do the digging for the NFL are some of the best men that have run this country in the past. Their former jobs range from working in the US Department of Homeland Security to the FBI.
One of these guys is Jeff Miller, who was the head-man for the Super Bowl last year as the chief security officer for the league. In the past, Miller has worked as the Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police and was highly recognized for his outstanding job in the handling of the infamous Amish school shooting in Nickel Mines, PA.
To say the NFL is “buttoned up” with guys that can do just about anything and get away with it is a pretty accurate statement. So, to hear today that the league is announcing to all of us that yesterday was the first time anybody in the league office saw the new Ray Rice video is an absolute slap in the face to any sensible person.
It is insulting to our intelligence and the league laughs at the public knowing they can get away with saying it.
It’s a beautiful thing for Goodell. He knows he messed up with the initial two-game suspension, and can now right a wrong. Maybe the face to face meeting with a teary eyed Rice and Palmer got to him? Maybe at that moment in time he did actually feel Rice was contrite, and truly sorry for his actions. Whatever the reason was, he messed up with such a light penalty.
It's beautiful though, because now this new video allows him a “do-over.” Goodell and the league can claim they never saw this new video until now. With it, the harsh hand of the NFL comes down on Rice and everybody is happy.
While it works out for the league and nobody can prove they hadn't seen the video before yesterday, I urge everybody to not buy it for one minute. Do not allow the league to pull the wool over your eyes and chuckle as they look down on us.
One warning needs to be yielded, however. Throughout American history, whenever a major controversy strikes, the “cover-up” is always worse than the action. So, while the new TMZ video might seem like it saves the league a little face at the moment, do not be surprised if somebody comes out after doing a little digging to reveal that Goodell did see this video before the two-game penalty was dished out.
On that day, Goodell will not be able to send one of his “minions” out to the podium to release a presser. Instead, Goodell will suddenly feel his own hair (and pants) on fire.
One last sad note too: the one person who should have cut Rice from the beginning was Janay Palmer. Not only has she not cut him, but she resigned him to a mega contract as they got married about a month and a half after the incident took place.