A lot has been said since Roger Goodell announced yesterday that Ravens running back Ray Rice will be suspended for the first two games of the season. The reaction has been overwhelmingly negative. While I don't want to jump on the commissioner-bashing bandwagon (I do that plenty for plenty of other reasons), I've gotta admit I agree with the critics. Goodell dropped the ball on this one. Two games was way too lenient.
To recap, Rice was arrested in February after a physical altercation with his fiancée at an Atlantic City casino. There's even video of the incident. He knocked her unconscious and dragged her out of an elevator!
This was clearly grounds for Rice to be suspended under Goodell's favorite thing in the world, the personal conduct policy. The personal conduct policy gives Goodell the power to suspend players even if they haven't been charged or convicted of a crime (keep in mind, Rice was charged here). And evidently domestic violence is only serious enough to warrant a two-game ban.
From the start, the arguments against the personal conduct policy have been Goodell's selective enforcement of it and the arbitrariness of the suspensions. Case in point, Ben Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault in the summer of 2010. Despite the fact that criminal charges were never pressed, Roethlisberger was suspended for six games, reduced to four on appeal. So, to recap, Ben Roethlisberger is accused of sexual assault and gets six games. Ray Rice is charged with domestic violence and only gets two games. In other words, the one who actually committed a crime was suspended for four fewer games. Something doesn't add up here.
Sure, Richie Incognito was suspended for the rest of the season when the stuff about him and Jonathan Martin came out last year, but it was the Dolphins that suspended Incognito, not Goodell. And have we heard a thing about possible discipline for Colts owner Jim Irsay? Irsay is facing charges for DUI, possession and a myriad of other things stemming from his arrest in March. He's facing four FELONY counts, yet the Commissioner hasn't said "Boo" about that situation. Why is this man technically around to be around the NFL right now?
Maybe Goodell is hesitant to drop the hammer after he went overboard on Bountygate, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Back when the personal conduct policy was first introduced, it seemed like Goodell was suspending guys for arbitrary amounts of time based on whim. That shouldn't have been the case then, and it shouldn't be the case now. Because it sends the wrong message. Especially when the NFL is making such an effort to appeal to women. (Even going beyond that, how many women work in the NFL or other NFL-related professions? What message are you sending them by handing out slap on the wrist punishments?)
Sadly, this suspension simply falls in line with the NFL's recent reaction (or lack thereof) to domestic violence issues across the league. Rice is the most high-profile player to be involved in one of these cases, the number of which is simply staggering. Yet the NFL does nothing about what is quickly becoming the league's most serious off-field issue. What's it going to take for Goodell to finally take a stand? Does it need to be somebody who isn't on Goodell's fantasy team?
The biggest joke of this entire situation is that the NFL acts like it does care about domestic violence issues. It's one of the topics discussed at the rookie symposium, where they go over the personal conduct policy. There are also plenty of former players who talk about their experiences on the subject, and there are education events and fundraisers at which players and coaches participate. Educate all you want. Does it actually make a difference when the league office is turning a collective blind eye when these issues happen in real life?
It's even gotten to the point where college teams are becoming stricter than the NFL. How many guys has the University of Texas kicked off the team since the new coach took over? Obviously there are individual team rules that come into play with college programs, but it still says something that college teams are becoming more no-nonsense than the NFL.
Perhaps there's an obvious solution here. When a player violates the NFL's substance abuse policy, he gets an automatic four-game suspension. No questions asked, no appeals. Everyone is fine with that. Maybe it should be the same for violating the personal conduct policy. Four games, with the option to make it more for more serious offenses. Don't leave it up to some vague interpretation of the rules determined only by Goodell. If the personal conduct policy was more clear cut and less arbitrary, there would be less wiggle-room for Goodell and there would be less argument from all sides when suspensions were announced.
Something needs to be done. Because the NFL has a problem on its hands with these domestic violence issues. A message needs to be sent that this type of behavior towards women is unacceptable. And, unfortunately, suspending Ray Rice for two games didn't send that message.
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