While I do think the NFL has the responsibility to handle this situation properly, I also have to wonder why the legal system didn't step in to a greater extent and why a man with such power got off with a mere slap on the wrist?
Anyone who turns on the news will no doubt have seen - along with beheadings, ISIS and everything else that's going on the world - the story of NFL footballer Ray Rice that's been making the headlines. This time not for his prowess on the game field but for "domestic" violence.
Apparently Rice was at an Atlantic City casino with his then girlfriend (she has since married him for reasons I can't even begin to understand but nevertheless). The pair must have been bickering about something. Video footage shows them making their way to an elevator, Rice acting all cool... until the elevator door came to a close. Thank God for video surveillance.
No sooner did the doors meet when Rice punched his girlfriend square in the face. I'm not talking about a little slap or a shove, it was a full out punch that connected, knocking her to the ground and out cold. It looked to me like he got a few more jabs in there as well. What does he do next? He starts to drag her lifeless body out into the hallway where I'm pretty sure others were thankfully on the scene...
There are so many wrongs with this I don't even know where to begin.
First off, under NO circumstances is it acceptable to use force like that with another being, man or woman, unless you're in an ultimate fighting ring and all present agree to it.
Secondly, we're talking about a 200 plus pound, lean, mean fighting machine. Rice is trained to be rough and tough and if you ask me that makes his body a weapon. It's for this very reason I think the NFL should end his career. If he can't conduct himself in a humanly manner off the field then he doesn't deserve the right to play. There is more to the while NFL thing but I don't have the space to get into it...
Third, after viewing this video tape, why wasn't Rice put behind bars? The "councilling" he was supposedly ordered to take is all fine and dandy, but if this was an ordinary Joe and not a sports celebrity, do you think he would have gotten off so easily? I think not.
And then we have Rice's now wife... who married him after all this. I believe in second chances, but this was a bit much.
Abuse is NOT okay. Let's stand up to the bullies and send that message loud and clear so stories like this aren't so prevalent.
