There are all sorts of defining moments where the rules all change.  The press will never turn the other way after the Senator Hart and the Monkey Business.  Behavior between men and women in the work place will be forever changed after Anita Hill.  Lots of things changed post Watergate.  Sports figures will never get by with domestic violence after Ray Rice was banished from football after a video was released of him coldcocking his soon-to-be wife in a elevator, knocking her unconscious.

Many folks were already upset that the NFL had such lightweight sanctions on players who were involved in violent acts against others.  Penalties were longer for those who were arrested for drug use than for beating one’s wife to a bloody pulp.  All that is going to change now and it should.

Hopefully these kinds of sanctions will carry over to other sports and to other career fields.  Domestic violence has to have sanctions. Now, here is the question.  Would we feel differently if the roles were reversed?  What if the perpetrator was not a well-know athlete?  Would we have the same abhorrent reaction?  Is this about size difference?  Gender?  Would we be as upset if a wife or girl friend flew into a rage and pummeled an athlete?  No one seemed to care that Mrs. Woods broke up tiger’s golf clubs. Speak to the issue of domestic violence please and do we cut slack to women to beat on their husbands?

10 Thoughts to “After Ray Rice: What’s the new standard”

  1. Jackson Bills

    “Sports figures will never get by with domestic violence after Ray Rice was banished from football after a video was released of him coldcocking his soon-to-be wife in a elevator, knocking her unconscious.”

    Let me just correct one thing here… if you watch the video closely he actually punched her in the face twice. The first was a short left soon after the elevator doors closed, then she came towards him which is when he landed the final knockout left roundhouse blow which caused her to hit her head on the railing.

    If this asshole is going to do this to her in a public place like a casino…. what do you think he would do to her in the privacy of his own home?

    My biggest gripe isn’t with the NFL, it’s with the Atlantic City/NJ prosecutors office. How is this piece of shit not locked up? Screw his career (for now), how is this douchebag not in prison?

    Plus, she is the perfect example of the ‘battered wife syndrome’… now blaming the ‘media’ for everything. She needs help and I hope she gets it. As someone who has experienced this first hand I truly hope that the emphasis isn’t on his career, the NFL, his endorsement contracts. I hope the focus of this is placed squarely where it belongs:

    1.) The Atlantic City/NJ DA’s office.
    2.) Her and how she can get the help/counseling that she obviously needs.

    All the other stuff is just background noise in my humble opinion.

    1. I think you have addressed important issues. I wont detract from those. However, when we look at how much some of the athletes really get away with (carrying weapons, abuse of women, illegal activities) it sickens me to see many young people idolize some of these clowns. That is why I feel it is critical that some careers come to an abrupt, screeching halt. It sends a strong message to the fans, especially young fans that violence towards anyone is a deal breaker.

  2. Jackson Bills

    BYW… totally agree with “Many folks were already upset that the NFL had such lightweight sanctions on players who were involved in violent acts against others”.

    Look at Josh Gordon, WR – CLE. The BEST WR in all of the NFL last year. Suspended for a whole year for smoking weed. Knock your fiancé out, 2 games…

    I’ve heard of and seen guys/men on video die of less violent punches to the head. I think Rice got lucky, she could have very easily suffered brain swelling or much worse. At the very least she suffered a concussion. And two games? Wow. However, lets not make that the main focus, it should be on her and why/how he is not in prison.

  3. Rick Bentley

    This is the story it is because Rice’s original penalty was so absurd. The NFL really botched this from any angle.

    Now that he’s getting the full-on Michael Vick treatment, I kind of feel sorry for him, and for his wife. But a year off is about right. And that’s what this will probably play out as.

    1. I don’t feel sorry for him. I also think she is a fool. (albeit typical of battered wife syndrome)

      The NFL is still part of the good ole boy network.

  4. Cato the Elder

    Moon-howler :
    I don’t feel sorry for him. I also think she is a fool. (albeit typical of battered wife syndrome)
    The NFL is still part of the good ole boy network.

    She ain’t no fool. That contract was worth 35 million, and as long as that ring is on her finger half of that is hers.

    1. That’s a tough way to earn a living. I wonder if Nichole Brown Simpson would agree with that one?

  5. Cato the Elder

    Moon-howler :
    That’s a tough way to earn a living. I wonder if Nichole Brown Simpson would agree with that one?

    Aye, it’s a tough living, but it’s also a sh*tload of money

  6. Cargosquid

    Money talks.

    A black woman was pulled over in NJ for “improper lane change.” She from Pennsylvania.
    She mistakenly believed that she was within the law because she had a permit from Penn and had a pistol in the car.

    The DA just threw the book at her and she’s looking at years in jail.

    Rich black guy decks a woman on camera. Drags her body away.
    Response from the DA? “So….how was the game last night?”

    1. MOney always talks. Regardless of subject.

Comments are closed.