will the nfl ever get it right about violence?

[niyad]

Will the NFL Ever Get it Right About Violence?


Today, the Baltimore Ravens professional football team terminated the contract of running back Ray Rice. Soon after, he was suspended indefinitely by the National Football League (NFL).
We would be cheering heartily for these actions—because Rice punched out his soon-to-be-wife, and such off-the-field violence should have serious consequences. But we’re loathe to give the NFL too much credit yet, because the facts of the case are this:

1. The assault took place back in February. A very disturbing video was released that showed Rice dragging his unconscious fiancée, Janay Palmer, out of the elevator where he had reportedly punched her, and then getting on his cell phone. Even though Rice faced criminal charges, his team didn’t drop him then, nor did the NFL take any action. Football season was over by that time, so we don’t know if he would still have been allowed to play.

2. It wasn’t until July that the NFL announced that it would take action against Rice: a two-game suspension. As Mother Jones pointed out, the NFL has suspended at least six other players for four games up to an entire season for smoking marijuana—a victimless offense.

. . . .

Ultimately, the NFL and the Ravens have done the right thing, but it sure took a long time to get there. And what messages have been sent along the way? That it’s less serious to punch a domestic partner than to light up a joint? That it took two to tango, and Janay Palmer was somehow complicit in getting slugged by her football-player boyfriend? That if we didn’t see the actual punch being thrown, it might not have happened—despite all evidence to the contrary?

We certainly hope the NFL has seen the light, and that other professional sports have or will adopt equally rigorous policies to protect against domestic violence.
But meanwhile, another pro football player named Ray has made the news: San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald was arrested for violence against his pregnant fiancée just three days after Goodell announced the new NFL policy. He is due in court September 15. And yet the 49ers let him play in their opening game of the season yesterday.

. . . .

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/09/08/will-the-nfl-ever-get-it-right-about-violence/

[rug]

1. No.

[Generic Brad]

2. As long as Roger Goodall is commissioner - no

He clearly does not get it. Today's comment he made about Ray Rice eventually coming back into the league and that he has 'paid the price" confirms that Goodall is the wrong man to be commissioner. The man has no sense of what is right and wrong.

[NYC_SKP]

3. The fans feed the NFL, the high salaries, and the abuse.

Bread and circuses.

Our culture, which is sadly in decline, is not well. The success of pro sports and bad cable TV are indicators that we've lost our way.

Were we to mature as a society, the NFL would disappear, the overpaid players would be gone.

And everyone would be too busy helping others to abuse their spouses.

We're regressing.