The Ray Rice Elevator Video

Didn't Rice get 25 mil up front on his last deal?

I get that right?

 

She made the decision to still marry him. His getting cut harms her, too.

But as an aside, I'm going guess she knows him a little bit better than a bunch of message-board jockeys out to express their moral superiority.

 

Not at all.

 

15 million signing bonus plus 3 million in salary the last 2 years

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/ray-rice/

 

I don't understand your issue here.

If this were a thread in which the "message-board jockeys" were taking a really tough stand against domestic violence, I'd understand why you'd feel that way.

But there are legitimate issues regarding Goodell, the Ravens', and the sports media's handling of this, from Point A to this morning, that merit serious, nuanced discussion. And that's what's going on here.

 

While the buzz focuses on the Rice situation...Christine Brennan shines a necessary light on other active players/alleged abusers who are still playing. Where's the firestorm over these cases? An excerpt from her solid USAT column:

...Ray Rice is gone from the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. That's a very good ending to an absolutely horrible situation.

But what of Ray McDonald, the San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman who is facing a felony domestic violence charge, yet still playing?

Or Greg Hardy, the Carolina Panthers defensive end who was found guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend and threatening to kill her, who also is still playing?

Why haven't the Panthers released Hardy, who's awaiting appeal on a guilty verdict, or even suspended him? Why haven't the 49ers benched McDonald, who was arrested this month but has not yet been charged? Where's NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on these two?

...Now that the Ravens and the NFL have finally come to the right decision on Rice, can Hardy and McDonald be far behind?

And if not, why not? Is it because we can't see it? That must be it, because if you read about what they did or allegedly did, it certainly sounds just as bad as what Rice did to his then-fiance Janay Palmer in that Atlantic City elevator.

So, as positive as the Rice banishment is, it begs a very big question: What did everyone think domestic violence looked like?

And, now that we know, how can anyone who is cheering the Rice news today, including all kinds of NFL players on social media, also not demand that McDonald and Hardy go too?

Or what about Rice's Baltimore teammate, Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs? Suggs' longtime girlfriend, Candace Williams, claimed in a protective order filed in 2012, obtained by the Baltimore Sun, that Suggs punched her in the neck and drove a car containing their two children at a "high rate of speed" while she was being dragged alongside.

Let's imagine that video for a moment.

Also, in a 2009 incident, Williams said Suggs, "held me down on the floor and poured bleach on me and our son, held me down on the floor and kicked my face and broke my nose. Throughout our relationship since early 2007, he has punched me in the face and stomach and threatened to take the children from me if I left him. He stole my ID so I could not leave."

This man played Sunday for the Ravens in their loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Why? Was it because there's no video? Of course it was. And he'll be playing this Thursday night on national television against the Pittsburgh Steelers, even though he shouldn't be, at least according to the NFL's new Rice standards, as of today...

 

Little more:

In hindsight, the Ravens arguably did the wrong thing by giving Rice a grossly front-loaded contract in July 2012.

In that month, the Ravens paid Rice $15 million to sign, along with a 2012 base salary of $2 million. He then received a $7 million option bonus last March, along with a $1 million 2013 base salary.

That’s a total of $25 million for only two years of football.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/08/front-loaded-rice-contract-blows-up-on-ravens/

Contract aside, there are some seriously stupid people in positions of power here.

 

McDonald's case hasn't gone through the courts yet, so it's a bit early to be complaining about the NFL's inaction.

I'm not as familiar with the accusations about Suggs. We have claims by the woman. Do we have evidence? That is a big part of the difference here. There is no doubt Rice is guilty. None. Can we really say the same about McDonald or Suggs?

There is a strong point to be made there, but Brennan isn't making it in that excerpt.

 

That's a little unfair. The Ravens gambled on the contract and got burned, to be sure. But nobody in 2012 could forecast that Rice was going to punch out his fiancée 18 months later. Rice to that point was a model citizen.

Now if Jerry Jones backs up the Brinks truck for Dez Bryant and Bryant does something horrific a year from now, then Jones deserves all the blame because Bryant has a track record.

 

I said "Contract aside"

Talking about the NFL Machine, including media.

 

My issue is that it's a matter for the criminal courts. But a bunch of message-board jockeys believe that Ray Rice -- who went through the criminal-court process in this case -- should never be able to earn a living for the rest of his life. And this will not only affect Rice, it will also greatly affect Mrs. Rice and however many little Rices they pop out. If they get divorced and it's a community property state, he has not made a dime since their wedding that she's entitled to. Every dime he's made in his career was made before they were married.

Meanwhile, these are the same people who bitch when we put multi-time armed robbers into a jail for three months.

 

They are?