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DonJudgeMe

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 21, 2014
123
2
Arizona

This is disgusting. Ray Rice beat his wife, drug her out of the elevator and then posted her up on the walls like she was passed out drunk. The video was posted all over the Internet and still all he got was an measly 2-game suspension. Roger Goodell, who is seeing the world thru a green lense, has been trying to increase NFL profits by appealing to women. Obviously, men are already hooked, myself included. This will no doubt prove a major setback for that goal, in my honest opinion. What do you think?
 

DonJudgeMe

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 21, 2014
123
2
Arizona
It's acts like this that is turning me off the NFL! :mad:

Agreed. It literally makes me want to vomit. I love the Packers, and luckily their organization is never in the headlines(for the wrong reasons), and I will always support them as a partial owner. But as an investor in the NFL, this simply pisses me off.:mad:
 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,835
847
Location Location Location
Damn.....2 games?

People have done a lot less, and got punished a lot harder.



He should also get jail time, but even if he doesn't (it's America, after all....), the NFL should just unleash a punishment that THEY believe fits the crime. The justice system may have failed, but that doesn't mean the NFL's has to as well.

He should get a season ban. He'd get far more than 2 games for a drug-related charge, and this is much more serious than smoking weed.
 

DonJudgeMe

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 21, 2014
123
2
Arizona
Damn.....2 games?

People have done a lot less, and got punished a lot harder.



He should also get jail time, but even if he doesn't (it's America, after all....), the NFL should just unleash a punishment that THEY believe fits the crime. The justice system may have failed, but that doesn't mean the NFL's has to as well.

He should get a season ban. He'd get far more than 2 games for a drug-related charge, and this is much more serious than smoking weed.

Right? With that video evidence how could he not get jail time? I love Rice, as a running back, but he should be banned permanently, IMHO.
 

phrehdd

macrumors 601
Oct 25, 2008
4,286
1,292
What he did was dead wrong. Then again, what Michael Vick did was as bad and in some sense worse yet he was allowed to return to the game. This shows that sports figures equal draw which equals money. Before anyone says Vick did his time, be aware he was only sentenced for obstruction of justice.

We seem to live in a time where we are not forgiving but look the other way if a buck can be made or to meet our lazy entertainment needs. - All rather sad.
 

DonJudgeMe

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 21, 2014
123
2
Arizona
What he did was dead wrong. Then again, what Michael Vick did was as bad and in some sense worse yet he was allowed to return to the game. This shows that sports fees equal draw which equals money. Before anyone says Vick did his time, be aware he was only sentenced for obstruction of justice.

We seem to live in a time where we are not forgiving but look the other way if a buck can be made or to meet our lazy entertainment needs. - All rather sad.

Vick was also dropped by the Falcons, and pretty much had to change his entire lifestyle to even be accepted by the NFL and the fans, as he should of. A lot of teams didn't even want him because of what he did to dogs. Ray Rice obviously beats his wife-on tape- and he gets a slap on the wrist? If I am the Ravens owner, his ass is sitting at least 8 games and I am considering dropping him from the team. This is inexcusable behavior for anyone, let alone a figure for a multi-billion dollar industry.
 

phrehdd

macrumors 601
Oct 25, 2008
4,286
1,292
Vick was also dropped by the Falcons, and pretty much had to change his entire lifestyle to even be accepted by the NFL and the fans, as he should of. A lot of teams didn't even want him because of what he did to dogs. Ray Rice obviously beats his wife-on tape- and he gets a slap on the wrist? If I am the Ravens owner, his ass is sitting at least 8 games and I am considering dropping him from the team. This is inexcusable behavior for anyone, let alone a figure for a multi-billion dollar industry.

We are in total agreement.
 

Moyank24

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2009
4,334
2,454
in a New York State of mind
I think a permanent ban is too harsh. That said, a 2 game suspension isn't nearly enough.

It's absolutely not enough. Made even worse by the way the NFL and the Ravens have handled the situation.

From the Ravens marching the victim out so she can apologize for her behavior to the NFL acting like they dropped the hammer on him. It's inexcusable. And it's sending the wrong message to other players (including guys in the NFL, college, and pee wee leagues) and the fans.

As a start, I don't think a full season suspension is unreasonable.
 

HarryPot

macrumors 65816
Sep 5, 2009
1,059
509
So if you smoke weed for a second time you get a full season suspension? But if you hit your wife/fiancee you get only two games!?

I don't get it, harsher suspensions are given from hitting fellow players in the field.

It seems the police is still building their case, so maybe this suspension might increase....
 

ugahairydawgs

macrumors 68030
Jun 10, 2010
2,956
2,454
The optics of this alone are terrible for Roger Goodell. The fact that there is widespread video to go along with the incident makes the two game suspension even more of a head scratcher.

Half of the season should have been the absolutely bare minimum. You just cannot have even the most remote semblance of acceptance for something like this.
 

Tomorrow

macrumors 604
Mar 2, 2008
7,160
1,364
Always a day away
So if you smoke weed for a second time you get a full season suspension? But if you hit your wife/fiancee you get only two games!?

It's written into the league's bylaws - and approved by the players union - that a second drug infraction results in a full season suspension. What does it say about domestic abuse? (I imagine a second incident of domestic abuse would be dealt with much more harshly than a 2-game suspension, so let us compare apples to apples, shall we?)

The guy will have to face the music in the criminal courts for this. Most guys who get popped and suspended for drug use do not. You might not think it does (or should) make a difference, but the powers that be (in this case, the league and the union) believe it does.
 

Moyank24

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2009
4,334
2,454
in a New York State of mind
It's written into the league's bylaws - and approved by the players union - that a second drug infraction results in a full season suspension. What does it say about domestic abuse? (I imagine a second incident of domestic abuse would be dealt with much more harshly than a 2-game suspension, so let us compare apples to apples, shall we?)

The guy will have to face the music in the criminal courts for this. Most guys who get popped and suspended for drug use do not. You might not think it does (or should) make a difference, but the powers that be (in this case, the league and the union) believe it does.

He was accepted into a pretrial intervention program. If he completes it, the charges will be dismissed. So, about the same type of punishment the guys will face for possession.

The bylaws obviously don't say anything about domestic abuse. I don't believe they said anything about bounties either, but Jonathan Vilma was given a full season suspension for participating and what he did wasn't criminal. Nor was it on camera.

When there are precedents set for suspensions (whether they are in the bylaws or not) they are going to be compared to something like this. He got off too lightly, in my opinion. And it's just another black mark for a league and a commissioner who value the "shield" above all else.
 

Tomorrow

macrumors 604
Mar 2, 2008
7,160
1,364
Always a day away
The bylaws obviously don't say anything about domestic abuse. I don't believe they said anything about bounties either, but Jonathan Vilma was given a full season suspension for participating and what he did wasn't criminal. Nor was it on camera.

The bounties directly affected the game. Perhaps they're not illegal outside the context of fair competition, but I can understand the league's prerogative to act judiciously without a written guide in a case like that.

I'm not going to give a guy a pass for beating up his wife/girlfriend, but in the end it doesn't affect competition in any way. So in my opinion, the league has a lot less leeway in how it decides to punish him; or, more accurately, I feel he would have more of a leg to stand on in an appeal of a harsh punishment, since (presumably) the league has never published a standard on how to deal with such conduct, and it doesn't affect gameplay at all.
 

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,917
17,396
I'm going to be blunt here.

That is about the most that the NFL can do. If he brought the game or the league into disrepute, then it would be another story. But as this was off-field, there is little the NFL (read: the LEAGUE) could do.

Now, the football club, is a different story. The league could suspend him; that is about as much as the league could do. Then the team could either fine or suspend him (preferably both), or worse: terminate his contract. Then after that, let the law deal with him.

Everyone is thinking that the league is be all/end all here, where this has much more of a cascading effect than people are thinking about. Let the league dole out its punishment. Then the team. Then the law. He'll get some recoil from this fair enough. But let it be a tiered approach instead of everyone being up in arms about what's happened so far.

BL.
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,520
It's been widely reported that Goodell was going to give him a 4 game suspension but Rice told him he would appeal so Goodell caved.
 

Moyank24

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2009
4,334
2,454
in a New York State of mind
The bounties directly affected the game. Perhaps they're not illegal outside the context of fair competition, but I can understand the league's prerogative to act judiciously without a written guide in a case like that.

I'm not going to give a guy a pass for beating up his wife/girlfriend, but in the end it doesn't affect competition in any way. So in my opinion, the league has a lot less leeway in how it decides to punish him; or, more accurately, I feel he would have more of a leg to stand on in an appeal of a harsh punishment, since (presumably) the league has never published a standard on how to deal with such conduct, and it doesn't affect gameplay at all.

The NFL can set the standard here. The "personal conduct" policy leaves way for subjectivity, so they certainly had plenty of room to maneuver. More so than they have with substance abuse and PED's. Roethlisberger was suspended 6 games, cut to 4 after an appeal, for something that he wasn't charged with.

I'm going to be blunt here.

That is about the most that the NFL can do. If he brought the game or the league into disrepute, then it would be another story. But as this was off-field, there is little the NFL (read: the LEAGUE) could do.

Now, the football club, is a different story. The league could suspend him; that is about as much as the league could do. Then the team could either fine or suspend him (preferably both), or worse: terminate his contract. Then after that, let the law deal with him.

Everyone is thinking that the league is be all/end all here, where this has much more of a cascading effect than people are thinking about. Let the league dole out its punishment. Then the team. Then the law. He'll get some recoil from this fair enough. But let it be a tiered approach instead of everyone being up in arms about what's happened so far.

BL.

One of my frustrations is how the Ravens have handled this also. They marched the VICTIM on the stage of a press conference and had her apologize for her behavior. It was disgusting and pathetic.

Both the league and the Ravens had an opportunity to address this in a better way and they chose not to. Why not set a standard and let everyone know that this type of violence won't be tolerated?
 

MacLC

macrumors 6502
Oct 18, 2013
414
272

This is disgusting. Ray Rice beat his wife, drug her out of the elevator and then posted her up on the walls like she was passed out drunk. The video was posted all over the Internet and still all he got was an measly 2-game suspension. Roger Goodell, who is seeing the world thru a green lense, has been trying to increase NFL profits by appealing to women. Obviously, men are already hooked, myself included. This will no doubt prove a major setback for that goal, in my honest opinion. What do you think?

That's nothing to complain about! He beat his wife and got 2 games?
Dr. Dre advocates substance abuse, rape, and murder and all he got was $1billion.
 

ucfgrad93

macrumors Core
Aug 17, 2007
19,522
10,810
Colorado
The NFL can set the standard here. The "personal conduct" policy leaves way for subjectivity, so they certainly had plenty of room to maneuver. More so than they have with substance abuse and PED's. Roethlisberger was suspended 6 games, cut to 4 after an appeal, for something that he wasn't charged with.

Agreed. I forgot about Ben's issues and it makes Rice's punishment seem even more insignificant.
 

DonJudgeMe

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 21, 2014
123
2
Arizona
It's written into the league's bylaws - and approved by the players union - that a second drug infraction results in a full season suspension. What does it say about domestic abuse? (I imagine a second incident of domestic abuse would be dealt with much more harshly than a 2-game suspension, so let us compare apples to apples, shall we?)

The guy will have to face the music in the criminal courts for this. Most guys who get popped and suspended for drug use do not. You might not think it does (or should) make a difference, but the powers that be (in this case, the league and the union) believe it does.

Let us get as close to"apples-to-apples" as we can. Suh was suspended for stomping on a Packer player. He received two games. Now, he wasn't knocked unconcious, nor did he press charges. Is this just as bad as beating your wife?

I am also curious as to how this incident does not relate to the game? Rice is basically a representative of the NFL. Everything that these players do has a direct effect on the game. Why do you think they get suspended and fined for DUI'S and such?
 
Last edited:

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,917
17,396
Let us get as close to"apples-to-apples" as we can. Suh was suspended for stomping on a Packer player. He received two games. Now, he wasn't knocked unconcious, nor did he press charges. Is this just as bad as beating your wife?

I am also curious as to how this incident does not relate to the game? Rice is basically a sponsor of the NFL. Everything that these players do has a direct effect on the game. Why do you think they get suspended and fined for DUI'S and such?

I think the word you are looking for is 'representative', not 'sponsor'.

However, you are looking at this from the mindset of the sport, and not the mindset of a business. The sport hasn't been really called into disrepute, so try to separate the sport, because the league has.

Just like the NBA, McDonalds, Burger King, and Subway, the NFL teams are franchises: businesses of their own. Rice works for the owner of the franchise, and that is who he needs to answer to as far as his job and reputation as a footballer for that team goes. To be honest, his punishment/repercussions should be tons worse from his teammates, franchise, and franchise owner than what it has been, as well as what it has been from the league.

Now, if he had done something like what Greg Williams did in the AFL a few years ago while arguing with his opponent and shoved and pushed an umpire/referee down, that's a different story, as that calls his conduct in the sport into disrepute (subsequently, Williams was suspended for 9 matches). Or like the biter guy in the World Cup. That's where the league and officials come in.

For this, the worst should come from the law (the woman and the VAWA will deal with him financially), followed by the owner of the franchise for whom he works (who should take his job, to be honest). If he's lucky, he'll work his way back in from the CFL or Japan, after a few rounds of rehab and counseling.

BL.
 
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