The Ray Rice Debacle

[dcmissle]

I spoke to a long time Manhattan DA about this and his response is that the video shows a textbook example of misdemeanor assault and the offender-particularly one without a record-would virtually never go to prison. Maybe if a freakish injury occurred you might go to prison but barring something line that misdemeanor assault gets you some sort of non prison result.

He thinks on this case ray rice got treated by the da just about the same result an average Joe would get. I find it appalling-you can punch somebody out and not go to jail?-but that's the world we live in.

Thanks so much for this.

The gallows have been under construction here for 2 days, but I have withheld comment on the plea deal because I do not practice in this area. I did suspect the above is accurate.

The mob mentality and feeding frenzy that develop whenever one of these things happens is really disturbing. I don't want Ray Rice treated any better by the criminal justice system because he is Ray Rice, but I also don't want him treated any worse

If people have a problem with the disposition, they should take it to their representative or Governor and get the laws changed

 

[soxfan121]

So I have a fun game for you guys.  This is a response from a Ravins fan that i have on FB.  I don't like this person to begin with and I haven't deleted her in a kind of fun to watch the crazy thing.  I repeat  THIS IS NOT MY OPINION.  
 
I want to come up with a good answer....
 
Okay, I'm sick and tired of all of the Ray Rice bashing. So here is what I have to say in the subject:

1. I support Ray Rice. Did he make a mistake? Yes, he did. But it was almost SEVEN MONTHS ago. He went to court for it, and he and his wife are in counseling right now. That was the punishment that the judge decided on. Because it was his first offense.
The NFL reviewed the tapes back in February, and they decided on the 2 game suspension. Now that the tapes have been released to the public, there was an outrage and a demand for action. The NFL followed suit and did what the fans were demanding. Nothing more. 
If you think for a second they did not see the tapes back then, you're an idiot. Of course they saw them. The only reason the elevator tape wax released yesterday was because some asshole who used to work at the now shut-down casino wanted a payday.

2. All you people burning / throwing out your jerseys and memorabilia. REALLY?! When y'all found out about this case MONTHS ago, no one batted an eyelash. Why is everyone up in arms all the sudden?? You band wagoning assholes make me sick.

3. Everyone who is saying "a man should never hit a woman!" is correct. What is also correct, is that a woman should never hit a man. But NO ONE is saying that! Respect goes both ways! Ray's fiancé was ATTACKING him, and he resisted over and over again, and finally he snapped. And you know what?? I DON'T BLAME HIM FOR THAT! If the situation were reversed, everyone would be PRAISING the woman for "defending herself" and "standing up for herself", "YOU GO GIRL!" NO. Fuck that! If a woman is rude enough to go after anyone (man or woman, husband or stranger), that person has EVERY RIGHT to defend themselves as necessary.

4. The next person who says some ignorant ass bullshit like "if you had ever been assaulted, you wouldn't be defending him!" Guess what, motherfucker, I actually have, so pull your head out of your ass, and stop pretending like you know everything!! I have been physically, verbally, and emotionally assaulted and abused in the past. Did I deserve it? NO. Did I do anything to provoke it? NO. But THAT is the difference here! I didn't charge at, spit on, and smack, slap, and hit, and then wonder why the fuck I got knocked out.

5. IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! It is THEIR personal lives. Not your. Stay the fuck out. No one comes in and studies YOUR life and airs all your dirty laundry!! Have some damn respect!

That is the end. I will not argue with anyone on this subject. So keep your opinions and your comments to yourselves.

 
TNG...just walk away. Just walk away. There is no winning an argument with stupid.

 

[dcmissle]

Maybe the lawyery types on this board can chime in on this but would Rice have a collusion case against the NFL if nobody signs him after the "indefinite" part of the suspension is removed?

Addressed this briefly yesterday. In theory, yes -- but only if he can demonstrate that the teams acted collusively, blackballed him for want of a better word, as opposed to individually in its own perceived best interest. Proof would be a problem for Ray given the miles on him, his recent decline in performance, the fungibility of running backs, and the image problem he would present, which is a legitimate reason not to sign him. It's a tough case.

That said, I would have advised Bob Kraft NOT to say this morning, as he did, that he would be shocked if Ray played again.

 

[glennhoffmania]

 
It's a minimum of six games. Basically the Sheriff can do whatever he wants. 

 
Here's the relevant part of the letter Goodell sent to the owners.  I'm curious which exception he's using to justify the indefinite suspension here:
 

 
Effective immediately, violations of the Personal Conduct Policy regarding assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault that involve physical force will be subject to a suspension without pay of six games for a first offense, with consideration given to mitigating factors, as well as a longer suspension when circumstances warrant. Among the circumstances that would merit a more severe penalty would be a prior incident before joining the NFL, or violence involving a weapon, choking, repeated striking, or when the act is committed against a pregnant woman or in the presence of a child.
 

 

[PedroKsBambino]

I spoke to a long time Manhattan DA about this and his response is that the video shows a textbook example of misdemeanor assault and the offender-particularly one without a record-would virtually never go to prison. Maybe if a freakish injury occurred you might go to prison but barring something line that misdemeanor assault gets you some sort of non prison result.

He thinks on this case ray rice got treated by the da just about the same result an average Joe would get. I find it appalling-you can punch somebody out and not go to jail?-but that's the world we live in.

 
I spoke to a longtime NYC public defender last night and got pretty much the same assessment---virtually no chance the defender goes to prison, likely a diversion program.  He did say that the video was bad enough that it creates a small risk of a tough DA and a tough judge resulting in prison, but highly unlikely.

 

[Turrable]

A few years ago for Christmas I got my brother a pretty nice fake Ray Rice jersey from China. I'll be really happy with that purchase if he can put one over on the NFL and the Ravens by swapping it out for an authentic one.

 

[dcmissle]

 
Here's the relevant part of the letter Goodell sent to the owners.  I'm curious which exception he's using to justify the indefinite suspension here:
 

Please don't waste your fine mind analyzing the letter, because it's bullshit.

The policy's language is broad enough, I suppose, to support a longer sanction on the theory that the tape revealed the attack's brutality in a manner that words cannot convey.

But if Roger Cossack was right yesterday (I have not researched it) a double jeopardy provision prevents a player from being punished twice for the same offense. Ray was punished -- 2 games -- after a full hearing, and a goddamned videotape cannot turn one attack into two.

Goodell is now doing what he wants, for PR reasons, and challenging Ray to challenge the indefinite suspension. Ray won't challenge it because no team would take him on that this point, and Goodell knows that too.

You are seeing the NFL's mendacity in full flower.

EDIT --

Another example of the League's disinformation campaign, that letter it got from the NJ AG that it would have been illegal to turn over the tape to the NFL. That is bullshit too. I handle grand jury subpoenas regularly. The government cannot force a private party to avoid sharing what it provides to the grand jury -- it can only ask. It's your property. So grand jury secrecy, at most, prevented the NFL from getting the tape FROM THE GRAND JURY. Goodell could have gotten the tape from any other source. Indeed, the hotel yesterday said all the NFL had to do was ask.

 

[candylandriots]

The issue is that the criminal justice system has a different standard of proof than the NFL taking action. And every dollar and hour spent trying to prosecute and deal with the motion practice on a crime that carries a max of six months in jail (and would likely lead to a suspended sentence or probation for a first time offender) is a dollar and hour that can't be spent on a murder with a cooperating witnesses.

 

 
I'm sure that you're right on the above in most places/cases, but it doesn't seem to me like this prosecutor had his priorities all straight. He's aggressively pursuing charges against a Pennsylvania mother that carried her licensed concealed firearm into New Jersey and voluntarily revealed this to NJ police during a routine traffic stop. The prosecutor would not allow pretrial diversion for her, and she faces up to three years in prison.

 

[glennhoffmania]

Please don't waste your fine mind analyzing the letter, because it's bullshit.

The policy's language is broad enough, I suppose, to support a longer sanction on the theory that the tape revealed the attack's brutality in a manner that words cannot convey.

But if Roger Cossack was right yesterday (I have not researched it) a double jeopardy provision prevents a player from being punished twice for the same offense. Ray was punished -- 2 games -- after a full hearing, and a goddamned videotape cannot turn one attack into two.

Goodell is now doing what he wants, for PR reasons, and challenging Ray to challenge the indefinite suspension. Ray won't challenge it because no team would take him on that this point, and Goodell knows that too.

You are seeing the NFL's mendacity in full flower.

 
I totally agree.  I'm simply using the new suspension as another example of how badly Goodell fucked this whole thing up and why he should be relieved of his duties, despite the fact that the end result in terms of the suspension is actually appropriate.  It's the process and the new policy that are ridiculous.

 

[Fred in Lynn]

 
They (the prosecutors) don't have the ability to order the video to be suppressed.  A little thing called the first amendment prevents that.
 
This doesn't mean that they can't or won't agree to not to disseminate the information.  That's perfectly legitimate.  But they have no control over anyone else.

I didn't write "suppress." They most certainly have the right to withhold information prior to completion of a case. A FOIA request need only be answered with evidence part of an administrative record or equivalent.

Also, I think I was fair albeit a little carried away when I responded with the '230 years of whatever' comment. It's too bad Rice wasn't prosecuted fully when he was charged, but a guilty plea with a cleared record upon the completion of some rehab program is not an indication of a justice system gone astray let alone a call for sweeping changes. You and CS won't find me protesting in the streets at the outcome of the legal side of this case. As for the NFL side of it, that a different matter.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

He starts out that way, but veers into complaints over the "justice system."

I know you're aware the video of him striking her was released only yesterday.

The police and prosecutors had it months ago.

 

[Norm Siebern]

 
The [Ravens] source said that Rice admitted to the Ravens from the start that he was guilty of striking Janay and, for the most part, accurately described what they eventually saw on the video. But the brutality of the assault when seen on the security video made a different impression.
 
"His description was not too much different -- except it looks more violent when you see it," a team source said. "He's a likable guy, and he's done so many things the right way in his career, but he's paying for what he did and the fact there was a video. You can't erase the video."
 
 
ESPN

 
The Ravens knew, everyone already knew that. But they still would have played him a week from Sunday after his suspension. Until the tape was made public and they were hurt in the public eye. And oh, Rice's guaranteed contarct would have kicked in this Friday. So they cut him yesterday, and now do not have to pay him. They take the cap hit, but they do not have to pay him. Only after the tape of the events, which they already knew about, went public. I cannot say enough bad things about that despicable organization.

 

[Harry Hooper]

You are seeing the NFL's mendacity in full flower.

 

 
 
Sometimes one word really does say it all.

 

[86spike]

I saw a story linked in P&G's fantasy football names thread about the top most-popular team names this year.  #1 was "Beats by Ray".

 

[JohntheBaptist]

<snip>

 
Sub "Joe Paterno" for "Ray Rice" and we're in basically the same place. Hooray football!

 

[Average Reds]

I didn't write "suppress." They most certainly have the right to withhold information prior to completion of a case. A FOIA request need only be answered with evidence part of an administrative record or equivalent.

Also, I think I was fair albeit a little carried away when I responded with the '230 years of whatever' comment. It's too bad Rice wasn't prosecuted fully when he was charged, but a guilty plea with a cleared record upon the completion of some rehab program is not an indication of a justice system gone astray let alone a call for sweeping changes. You and CS won't find me protesting in the streets at the outcome of the legal side of this case. As for the NFL side of it, that a different matter.

 
A fair response and I should have dialed back my rhetoric in the other post that you mention.

 

[CSteinhardt]

I didn't write "suppress." They most certainly have the right to withhold information prior to completion of a case. A FOIA request need only be answered with evidence part of an administrative record or equivalent.

Also, I think I was fair albeit a little carried away when I responded with the '230 years of whatever' comment. It's too bad Rice wasn't prosecuted fully when he was charged, but a guilty plea with a cleared record upon the completion of some rehab program is not an indication of a justice system gone astray let alone a call for sweeping changes. You and CS won't find me protesting in the streets at the outcome of the legal side of this case. As for the NFL side of it, that a different matter.

 
Which is why I didn't come back and jump on you for your reply.  My feeling is that if you're going to be in the public eye, and if part of your job involves you being held up as a role model, then if you commit an act like this on tape, the book should get thrown at you pour encourager les autres.  I don't want the next potential offender thinking that they can punch their girlfriend out in front of a bunch of witnesses and that as long as they can coerce her into not pressing charges, nothing will happen to them.  And, I don't think it's the NFL's job to be a replacement justice system if they disagree with the proper legal system's verdict.  I'm very strongly against tack-on punishments -- I believe that Ray Rice should have had a much stronger criminal penalty, but I also believe that once he served his time, he should have been immediately allowed to pursue a living as a football player.  Just as, for that matter, I believe that other offenders should, once their terms are completed, be considered full members of society.  
 
I believe that the Ravens releasing Rice had a lot to do with his cap number and an ineffective 2013, not just with domestic violence.  Good excuse, though, with Goodell happy to both give them cover and use them for some of his own, as no fanbase will be up in arms about this.  Honestly, the videotape didn't surprise me.  Given the description of the incident, and the video from outside of the elevator, I'm not sure what else anybody expected to see on that tape.  And it's worth keeping in mind that this is what domestic violence looks like next time you read about an incident occurring.  
 
Anyway, we can disagree on this one, and your opinion is certainly reasonable (and, seems to be the consensus among prosecutors).  Where I think we disagree is that if the criminal system feels this is a minor incident, I don't think it's the job of the NFL to throw the book at him, especially when the NFL reaction is going to be much more influenced by public perception than by a calm, rational examination of the facts.  There's a good reason that we opt for trial by our peers rather than trial by our boss.

 

[uncannymanny]

I am assuming the "new" suspension is not actually new, rather a lengthening of the original suspension due to "new info" (lol). I'd love to see Ray challenge though if he has something that can nail the NFL or Ravens.

 

[uncannymanny]

Jeez, the NFL is not acting as a surrogate for the legal system. I have no idea why folks are trying to frame it in that context. If I was arrested for DV, I would fully expect my employer to either suspend or fire me posthaste. The NFL isn't trying to send Ray Rice to jail.

 

[dcmissle]

Has Goodell said anything publically yet? I haven't seen anything online. They must be drafting the mother of all speeches right now.

No, and neither have Bisciotti, Ozzie or Dick Cass. They have to get their stories together. Harbaugh was sent to the firing squad alone.

 

[Tartan]

TNG...just walk away. Just walk away. There is no winning an argument with stupid.

Yep. If someone is that committed to rationalizing and justifying domestic abuse, they're not going to be argued out of it by someone else.

 

[Myt1]

Jeez, the NFL is not acting as a surrogate for the legal system. I have no idea why folks are trying to frame it in that context. If I was arrested for DV, I would fully expect my employer to either suspend or fire me posthaste. The NFL isn't trying to send Ray Rice to jail.

The notion that a private organization should refrain from acting unless a court of law applying the highest standard of proof in and all the evidentiary and other process protections of our legal system is beyond ridiculous.

He's flipped basic common sense on its head: the criminal justice system shouldn't be a proxy for private consequences of ones actions. It's not meant to do that and it's a poorly crafted tool for the task, the general avoidance of blood feuds notwithstanding.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

Has Goodell said anything publically yet? I haven't seen anything online. They must be drafting the mother of all speeches right now.

Says he assumed there was a video from inside the elevator, but never saw it. More to come tomorrow from CBS apparently.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/09/goodell-i-assumed-there-was-another-video-but-didnt-see-it/

 

[Harry Hooper]

Has Goodell said anything publically yet? I haven't seen anything online. They must be drafting the mother of all speeches right now.

 
According to Beetle, he will be on the CBS Evening News. The snippet from the Commish teased by CBS said something like, "We assumed there was a video, but we couldn't get it."
 
 
So Kraft is already off the mark.

 

[Myt1]

Three dollars?!? What do you need two dollars for?!?

 

[86spike]

Keep on fucking that chicken, Rog.

 

[86spike]

Double

 

[SumnerH]

It's a minimum of six games. Basically the Sheriff can do whatever he wants.

Also the 6 game thing should be irrelevant to Rice's case since it's ex post facto, right? It comes down to good of the game/discretionary power for an infraction that predates that change.

 

[Harry Hooper]

In case this was missed yesterday, Jason La Canfora had a pair of tweets:
 

Ravens officials had not seen this Rice video prior to today but he had described actions in detail. Didn't "sugarcoat" it source said...
So while the actual footage today was new to the Ravens visually, the description Rice gave them was in line with what the video displayed
 

 

[Harry Hooper]

The Commish on CBS, "No one in the NFL had seen that video before yesterday."     Note not just in the league offices but in the NFL!
 
 
His blink rate (indicator of lying) was off the charts in the brief interview.
 
 
 
Addendum: I didn't hear any disclaimer from CBS News that CBS is a major business partner of the NFL.
 
Addendum2: CBSNews teaser clip

 

[soxfan121]

A few years ago for Christmas I got my brother a pretty nice fake Ray Rice jersey from China. I'll be really happy with that purchase if he can put one over on the NFL and the Ravens by swapping it out for an authentic one.

 
See? Something good might happen because of this mess. 

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Says he assumed there was a video from inside the elevator, but never saw it. More to come tomorrow from CBS apparently.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/09/goodell-i-assumed-there-was-another-video-but-didnt-see-it/

 
It seems to me that we are getting closer to the truth here.  And the funny part is that the truth might actually, if presented in an honest manner, be something that people could accept or at least could be part of the dialogue that starts to put things straight.
 
Here's a guess as to what the truth might actually be.  They knew there was a tape.  But they didn't think they needed to see it, because basically the story that Rice was telling seemed like exactly what probably did happen based on the video that was widely released at the time.  He and she both said to the NFL, to the Ravens, and to the police:  We were sniping at each other, and I cold cocked her, and knocked her out, as you can see in the video.  I shouldn't have done it.  I have no excuse for doing it.  I'll get counseling.  Goodell was impressed by his forthcoming nature.  He suspended him for 2 games.  He later realized that was crazy, especially after guys who smoked marijuana were getting full year bans, and he revised the policy.
 
Let's say he came out and said exactly that.  We just didn't feel like we needed the video.  A guy told me that he punched a woman and knocked her out, which was pretty clear from the other video anyway.  And I screwed up.  I don't know how we got to a place where that was only a two game suspension, but I learned from the incident and tried to go forward.  And we'll keep going forward.  (Say some specific things the league will do on the domestic violence front.)  And I made a second error.  I assumed that I didn't need to see the video.  That was a mistake.  Because it's one thing to have a guy say something to you in the abstract, but it's completely different to see it.  Once I saw it, like the rest of the word, it really hit home in a way that just hearing about it from Ray and his wife would not.  When I saw the tape, it drove home not just that she was a victim, but that I was putting too much stock in her having said she wanted to move and that she had forgiven Rice.  It made me understand a little deeper -- and I truly hope to keep learning -- that being a victim doesn't end when the bruises heal.  That it's my job to protect her and all the other potential victims out there.  I regret deeply that I did not understand this at the time when the concept of the video seemed like an abstract idea that wouldn't change anything.  I will do better.  This video tape has shocked me, just as I hope it has the rest of the world, into a better understanding of domestic violence, and I hope to keep learning.  I hope we all do.  And I do wish I had seen it earlier.
 
I don't actually know that this is the truth.  I think it might be, or something close.  To put it more simply, he didn't think he needed to look at the video, but now that he's seen it he realizes that was a screw up.  Instead, he's trying to suggest he wanted to see it, but was stonewalled by the police.  The NFL knows so much more about crisis management than I ever will, but that really seems like an error in judgment.  I don't believe this was some kind of whitewash or willful blindness consciously done to try to push domestic violence under the rug or protect Rice.  I think there are impulses in that direction that made some of these decisions easier, but I just don't think that's what really happened here.
 
Edit:

 

In case this was missed yesterday, Jason La Canfora had a pair of tweets:
 

 
Yeah, that's kind of what I was trying to say in many more words.  We already thought we knew what was on the tape.  But, holy shit, seeing it is different from thinking we knew what it showed.  That was our error.

 

[Fred in Lynn]

The police and prosecutors had it months ago.

Okay, fair enough. They wouldn't have needed her cooperation to attempt a prosecution with all the video. To your sarcastic "oh, I don't know, maybe the video of him punching her in the face," insult accepted on grounds of temporary stupidity.

 

[Harry Hooper]

The Commish said the NFL could not get the video from law enforcement, and Nora O'Donnell in the above teaser clip says tomorrow morning's clip will include the Commish saying it would be illegal for the NFL to get the video from the casino.
 
Addendum: We'll see, but I doubt she asked him why didn't the NFL get the video from the Rice camp? 

 

[Jnai]

The weird thing about the video is that it doesn't really even matter if Goodell saw it. Everyone thought the 2 game suspension was crazy when it first came out after they saw the FIRST video, only mitigated by the fact that maybe Goodell had possibly seen something on the in-elevator cam that gave away that it really was more accidental than it appeared and somehow Rice wasn't 100% awful.
 
We know *that* tape doesn't exist.
 
So, the punishment was always crazy, video or not.

 

[gammoseditor]

The Commish said the NFL could not get the video from law enforcement, and Nora O'Donnell in the above teaser clip says tomorrow morning's clip will include the Commish saying it would be illegal for the NFL to get the video from the casino.

 
Someone needs to ask the commish and the Ravens why they think this is relevant if Rice already told them exactly what was on the video.  Everyone is arguing this is a crappy excuse because they should have done everything they could to get the tape.  The tape doesn't matter.  Everyone knew what Rice did.  How does a tape showing what they already knew go from a 2 game suspension to an indefinite suspension, or from the Ravens side no action to cutting him.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

 
Someone needs to ask the commish and the Ravens why they think this is relevant if Rice already told them exactly what was on the video.  Everyone is arguing this is a crappy excuse because they should have done everything they could to get the tape.  The tape doesn't matter.  Everyone knew what Rice did.  How does a tape showing what they already knew go from a 2 game suspension to an indefinite suspension, or from the Ravens side no action to cutting him.

 
Well, we've all already known all that for weeks, and the public outcry was minimal, except from certain prescient quarters, until the new tape came out.  I mean, we saw him dragging her nearly unconscious.  I don't know about everyone else, but when I saw that, my response was not, "boy some stuff may have happened in that elevator that would make me not think Ray Rice is a scumbag."  I knew what he'd done.  Just like the league did.  I just didn't know how violent or crazy it would look.  
 
Yet he was selected in 100 percent of ESPN's fantasy football leagues, presumably by folks ready to play him in week 3.  His jerseys were presumably still on the shelves.  I heard the story, saw the original video, and was repulsed at the league's disparity in treatment but forgot it reasonably quickly, didn't cancel my Sunday Ticket, and was partly mollified by the league increasing the suspension to 6 weeks.  The league got it wrong, but seemed to understand that albeit after the fact, and I think many of us were somewhat complicit in the whole thing.
 
The video matters.  Not just for the league but for all us.  I think many of us can understand the obsession over the tape, because even though I imagined what must have been on the tape, seeing it was different.  It was horrifying and made me feel different about the whole thing, even if it only confirmed visually what I already knew.  That's why people are focused on whether or not the league saw the tape or did what it could to try to see it.  Because most people know that their own indignation about the event increased when they saw the tape, so at least on some level they are less critical of the NFL if it didn't see the tape.

 

[PaulinMyrBch]

I agree. The video wasn't any worse than I imagined. If anything, I thought the punch he threw that knocked her out was less violent than I thought. We were all equipped with the knowledge that she had been knocked out at his hand. We all saw him drag her off the elevator, so we knew her condition at that point. I was expecting to see a more violent confrontation than I saw.
 
If Rice was truthful about what happened when he explained it to the NFL, they have made a huge reactionary leap from 2 games to indefinite. Unless there are plans to reinstate him after 8 games or something, I think the NFL has screwed this up pretty good. They should stand up, admit they didn't need the video because Rice was candid, explain there are conditions to his suspension being lifted, and if he meets those he's welcome back in the NFL. I don't agree with what he did, but I don't agree with him being punished worse than pretty much everyone else in society in a similar situation. Yes, I understand you don't have a right to play in the NFL, but we're talking about the NFL, they don't have a history of requiring a squeaky clean record in order to get on a roster. 

 

[gammoseditor]

 
Well, we've all already known all that for weeks, and the public outcry was minimal, except from certain prescient quarters, until the new tape came out.  I mean, we saw him dragging her nearly unconscious.  I don't know about everyone else, but when I saw that, my response was not, "boy some stuff may have happened in that elevator that would make me not think Ray Rice is a scumbag."  I knew what he'd done.  Just like the league did.  I just didn't know how violent or crazy it would look.  
 
Yet he was selected in 100 percent of ESPN's fantasy football leagues, presumably by folks ready to play him in week 3.  His jerseys were presumably still on the shelves.  I heard the story, saw the original video, and was repulsed at the league's disparity in treatment but forgot it reasonably quickly, didn't cancel my Sunday Ticket, and was partly mollified by the league increasing the suspension to 6 weeks.  The league got it wrong, but seemed to understand that albeit after the fact, and I think many of us were somewhat complicit in the whole thing.
 
The video matters.  Not just for the league but for all us.  I think many of us can understand the obsession over the tape, because even though I imagined what must have been on the tape, seeing it was different.  It was horrifying and made me feel different about the whole thing, even if it only confirmed visually what I already knew.  That's why people are focused on whether or not the league saw the tape or did what it could to try to see it.  Because most people know that their own indignation about the event increased when they saw the tape, so at least on some level they are less critical of the NFL if it didn't see the tape.

 
To me the public reaction conversation is a different subject.  I disagree that the video should matter but it clearly does.  To the person deciding his punishment the video shouldn't matter at all if he described what happened.  What do you think it looks like when a world class athlete knocks out a 120 pound woman? 

 

[CantKeepmedown]

Bisciotti responds. Says "we did not do all we should have done and no amount of explanation can remedy that."

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/9/9/6122673/steve-bisciotti-statement-ravens-ray-rice-assault-release

 

[Tim Naehrings Girl]

 
TNG...just walk away. Just walk away. There is no winning an argument with stupid.

 
I think you are totally right!!

 

[Harry Hooper]

Bisciotti responds. Says "we did not do all we should have done and no amount of explanation can remedy that."

 

 
 
In some ways, if the Ravens had done less it would have been better.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

Okay, fair enough. They wouldn't have needed her cooperation to attempt a prosecution with all the video. To your sarcastic "oh, I don't know, maybe the video of him punching her in the face," insult accepted on grounds of temporary stupidity.

Sorry about the sarcasm. Could have made the point without it.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

The Commish said the NFL could not get the video from law enforcement, and Nora O'Donnell in the above teaser clip says tomorrow morning's clip will include the Commish saying it would be illegal for the NFL to get the video from the casino.
 
Addendum: We'll see, but I doubt she asked him why didn't the NFL get the video from the Rice camp? 

 
Why on earth would be it be 'illegal' for the NFL to get the video from the casino?   Very curious at what the explanation of that would be.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

If you want to vomit, read this Baltimore Sun article from back in February, when the first video surfaced. The things that Newsome and Harbaugh said back then are truly disgusting.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-02-22/sports/bal-ozzie-newsome-on-ray-rice-video-it-doesnt-look-good-will-reserve-judgment-20140222_1_ray-rice-ozzie-newsome-harbaugh

 

[Reverend]

 
I'm not really sure about this line of thought. Describing the video and seeing it are two completely different things. Obviously, 2 games was far too light for the description, but what were we all hoping for when we heard Mort describe it? 6-8 games? Then we saw the video and now he's gone for the year and we're proclaiming his career over.

 
See, now this is a problem. And yeah, it's what happened--or what they're claiming happened.
 
NFL Guy: Ray Rice apparently punched his fiancée the fuck out.
Goodell: That's awful--two game suspension.
NFL Guy: Here's video of the incident.
Goodell: Holy shit did you fucking see that he fucking hit her???
 
Does this make any fucking sense? What is it about domestic violence that people can't get their heads around?
 
 

The only difference between Ray Rice being an employee of the Ravens on Sunday and not on Tuesday is the video. It is not because he knocked out his fiance with one punch. It is not because he engaged in crimnal behabvor. It is because the Ravens look bad. He should have been cut last March. He should have been suspended last March. But he wasnt. As a matter of fact, he was lauded, he was supported, he was "a man of character" that Harbaugh wouldnt mind "dating his daughters." The owner publicly lauded Rice. So what happened to change that? It took a video to show the Ravens what domestic abuse is? Bullshit. It took a video to hurt them financially. What the Ravens have done here is reprehensible.That is disgusting, and the Ravens will probably walk away from this with no real (as in people fired) or reputational harm done to their odious franchise.

 
But note that if it took the video to hurt them financially, then it took the video to show America what domestic abuse is. America basically responded in the same manner as my hypothetical Goodell above.
 
 

I believe that the Ravens releasing Rice had a lot to do with his cap number and an ineffective 2013, not just with domestic violence.  Good excuse, though, with Goodell happy to both give them cover and use them for some of his own, as no fanbase will be up in arms about this.  Honestly, the videotape didn't surprise me.  Given the description of the incident, and the video from outside of the elevator, I'm not sure what else anybody expected to see on that tape.  And it's worth keeping in mind that this is what domestic violence looks like next time you read about an incident occurring.

 
Bingo.
 
 

Yeah, that's kind of what I was trying to say in many more words.  We already thought we knew what was on the tape.  But, holy shit, seeing it is different from thinking we knew what it showed.  That was our error.

 
Time for 'merica to get her learn on.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

 
See, now this is a problem. And yeah, it's what happened--or what they're claiming happened.
 
NFL Guy: Ray Rice apparently punched his fiancée the fuck out.
Goodell: That's awful--two game suspension.
NFL Guy: Here's video of the incident.
Goodell: Holy shit did you fucking see that he fucking hit her???
 
Does this make any fucking sense? What is it about domestic violence that people can't get their heads around?

 
When you put it like that, and in retrospect, no.  But, here's a first person account that even those of us who think we are sensitive to these issues can still learn something.
 

 
But note that if it took the video to hurt them financially, then it took the video to show America what domestic abuse is. America basically responded in the same manner as my hypothetical Goodell above.

 
Clearly you and the Olbermans of the world saw the video as a strawman, but as I think you're pointing out the value proposition here is understanding that many or probably most don't see it that way.  I had Ray Rice on my fantasy football team, which I'm doing with my son.  True story.  Barely gave it any thought.  It wasn't until yesterday morning when I saw the video (before Rice was cut, for what it's worth) that I explained to my son that dad had seriously screwed up.  I knew what had happened in the elevator, I just hadn't seen it.  Fantasy football is frivolous, but in its own little way, this story is a mirror reflection of the NFL's response here.  I'm not proud of it. And in retrospect, I sound like a shithead.  But, I don't think I am.  I care about these issues.  I think about them a lot.  I genuinely try to do the right thing.   But I missed this one.  
 
My wish is that we spend a little more time asking the question why instead of playing the blame game.  Let's take a moment to assume good people sometimes have blind spots.  That somehow, at least for some of us, our brains are wired such that knowing something doesn't push the needle on the moral compass the same as seeing it, for whatever reason.  Instead of hoping all over Goodell and the league, it's a hell of a lot more personally profitable for many of us (including myself here obviously) to spend a little more time unflexing our judgmental muscles and asking the harder question:  Let's imagine for a second that Roger Goodell (or Robert Kraft, or the Ravens) are not evil, selfish pricks who hate women and only care about the dollar.  But instead let's assume that they are good people who want to do the right thing, but who went astray.  
 
Because I don't want the game here to be making ourselves feel good that we're morally superior to the NFL and its views of domestic violence.  I want more people to spend time asking the questions I'm asking myself today.  Just like I knew what happened in that elevator, I know what's happening in Darfur.  But what if I were made to go there and watch it?  I know that my country is profiting off the incarceration/storage of people of African and Latino descent.  What if I could live inside that elevator for a day?  I know that what we do to chickens and other creatures is repulsive, but damn are they yummy.  What if I could spend a day watching it?  The endless blaming and ease with which people move into moral superiority mode is just too counterproductive for my taste.

 

[Van Everyman]

Not sure where this goes but Katie Nolan killed it in a piece on all this today:

http://deadspin.com/katie-nolan-nfl-wont-respect-women-until-sports-media-1632700186

 

[Fred in Lynn]

Sorry about the sarcasm. Could have made the point without it.

No, that's all right. I appreciate smart-ass responses when warranted, and the video was a pretty obvious bit of evidence even without her testimony.

 

[Fred in Lynn]

Someday, someone will write an editorial after a story of interest that doesn't paint with a brush any broader than necessary, casts aspersions only at those who specifically failed, within a specified context, and without consideration for race, sexual orientation, age, or gender. You know, judgment based on the merit of their character and nothing more.