Is winning a game more important than taking a stand on domestic violence?
It shouldn’t be, but that doesn’t seem to be what the NFL believed.
For those of you who do not know what is going on with the Ray Rice scandal, here are the basics. Ray Rice is a 27-year-old star running back for the Baltimore Ravens, who just had his contract terminated and is indefinitely suspended from the NFL because of domestic violence controversy. However, there is a lot more to the story. The unraveling of the scandal is revealing a serious indifference toward domestic violence on behalf of the NFL.
The story begins last February when TMZ posted this video on their website of Rice dragging his unconscious then-fiancé Janay Palmer from a hotel elevator. The events that preceded him dragging her were unclear. As a result, both Rice and Palmer were arrested and charged with assault for their altercation in the elevator.
In March, Rice was indicted on third-degree aggravated assault. These criminal charges were later dropped in exchange for his agreement to undergo court-supervised counseling. The NFL’s official response to Rice’s indictment, as decided by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, was to suspend Rice from the Ravens’ first two games of the 2014 season and fine him an additional game’s pay.
Side note: on March 28, Rice and Palmer were married.
Fast forward to September 8th when TMZ posted this video of Rice. The video is a little fuzzy, but it depicts Rice striking his wife, her retaliating, and him knocking her out cold with a punch followed by her hitting her head on the elevator rail. This is followed by the original video of Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer outside and her regaining consciousness. Now, the night’s events were fully clear. The response to this footage was instant and furious, and immediately resulted in the termination of Rice’s contract with the Ravens and his indefinite suspension with the NFL.
This is a horrific event in and of itself. But right now the scandal involves what information the NFL and the Raven’s managers knew from the very beginning and how they handled the entire situation; specifically how they handled his punishment. It was reported last spring and again this September that the NFL had the footage from inside the elevator, the one of him punching his fiancé out cold, when they decided upon Rice’s punishment.
According to an ESPN article published on September 21, “[we] interviewed more than 20 sources over the past 11 days — team officials, current and former league officials, NFL Players Association representatives and associates, advisers and friends of Rice — and found a pattern of misinformation and misdirection employed by the Ravens and the NFL since that February night.”
The article further claims that Ravens executives, including owner Steve Bisciotti, president Dick Cass, and general manager Ozzie Newsome, immediately began campaigns pushing for leniency for Rice, despite their knowledge of the happenings inside the elevator.
This not only indicates a cover up of the situation, but a complete disregard for the seriousness of domestic violence on behalf of the NFL. Goodell’s reprehension of Rice was not even severe enough when it was believed that all the NFL had seen of the assault was the footage of Palmer being dragged unconscious into the hall. The release of this video reveals a lot about the priorities of certain high level officials in the NFL. Is winning a game more important than making a stand against domestic violence?
As of now Goodell is not stepping down. At a Friday news conference in New York, Goodell again acknowledged he had made mistakes in the handling of Rice’s case and apologized: “We will get our house in order first. … The same mistakes can never be repeated.”
However, this is not the end, and we will see what happens inside the organization as more criticism and light is brought to the scandal.
This is a terrible situation; yet, some good can come out of it if the NFL recognizes its error and corrects it in any future cases that may occur. Domestic violence should never be tolerated, and the NFL needs to make it irrevocably clear that they feel the same way. No game, player, or franchise is more important than a woman’s right to always be respected and safe under any circumstance.
A separate point I would like to bring up is Palmer’s reaction to the situation. Not only did she marry Rice after the elevator incident, but also is currently defending him. Her actions seem to be getting lost amidst all the NFL controversy.
She lashes out at the public for judging the couple, and blames the public and media like TMZ for her husband’s Ravens contract being terminated. On twitter she gave a message that included the statements “To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his [butt] off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific.” She claims she and Rice will, “continue to grow and show the world what real love is!”
Although this seems like an absurd reaction from an outsider, many women involved in domestic violence cases react in a similar manner. Any kind of domestic violence, physical, emotional, or otherwise is not acceptable under any condition, and all women need to know this.
If you are experiencing any kind of physical or mental abuse by your partner, please call one of the following:
- To speak with the Respect Program, which serves any student affected by rape, relationship violence or stalking, call (404) 727-1514
- For immediate assistance after hours or on weekends, call the Day League (DeKalb Crisis Center) at (404) 377-1428
- To reach the Emory University HelpLine, call (404) 727-4357 seven days a week between 8:30 pm – 1 am
- To schedule a free counseling appointment with a psychiatrist at Student Health Services, call (404) 727-7450 during regular business hours
- To reach the Emory psychiatrist-on-call during after hours or weekends, call (404) 778-5000
- For assistance from trained staff at Emory, call the Emory Police at (404) 727-6111, and they will notify the Campus Life Professional on-call – they can assist you with temporary housing, medical attention, and legal resources
- To contact Emory’s on-call physician, call (404) 727-7551 and press “0”
If you are not at Emory University, call 911 for emergencies or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233