Do you think it's hypocritical of the NFL to allow Ray Rice to play football again, when he is seen on video violating their own policy?

It’s BEYOND hypocritical. If I ever needed another reason for not giving a fig about football it’s this pathetic display dollars trumping ethical decency.

Don’t jump to conclusions here. NFL may have been stupid enough to allow him to play, but I have the feeling that none of the owners wants to take the heat and actually give him a contract. So I can’t imagine that Rice is going to be in uniform any time soon, because the teams won’t want to bring in that negative publicity.

Also, look at the Michael Vick story. He was raising fighting dogs, was arrested, sent a couple of years in jail, and then came back to play for Philadelphia. Not to excuse what Rice did, but what Vick did was pretty heinous as well. And the NFL welcomed Vick back.

The bottom line is that the NFL – like any organization – has no innate morality. It reflects its owners and managers. And their concern is cash and control. Not good behavior. Anything for profit.

It’s not hypocritical. It’s just plain evidence of the NFL not caring about it other than the negative publicity.

The court ordered his suspension lifted because the NFL only extended the punishment when the video came out to the public. Before that, the NFL knew but didn’t care.

Roger Goodell needs to be fired.

Based on the brief details I read here, the whole thing stinks of ignorant macho bullshit.

It’s his problem that she has a glass jaw? She needs to buck up.~

The NFL gave him a lifetime ban, but the courts overturned it on Rice’s appeal so the NFL is not allowing him to do anything. It is probable that no team will pick him up this season.

She subsequently married him.

It’s a brutal sport.

Maybe they should just get some dogs.

@ibstubro Yeah, plus in a few weeks Michael Vick will be free to dog sit.

I would imagine that most corporations have some employees that behave like Rice and Vick did, and worse. How do those corporations handle similar situations? Does anybody really care?

The NFL has a higher public profile than most, and has an interest in maintaining a squeaky clean, family-friendly appearance. Trying to maintain a wholesome image while at the same time maximizing profits is Goodell’s job, and it’s a difficult one. He didn’t do so well in the Rice situation, but he’ll learn and do better in the future. He still has the full support of his bosses (the owners of the 32 teams) because he’s making them a boatload of money.

Addressing the morality of the situation is just a pretext to support the true purpose: profit. It’s business as usual for a corporation. What’s hypocritical are the people who jumped on the ‘bash Goodell bandwagon’, while totally ignoring the domestic violence that surrounds them in their local community.

I think the silver linings to all this are the relationships that the NFL has developed with established organizations who already are addressing domestic violence issues. The NFL may become a platform for their message, and will help them bring the pervasiveness of domestic violence out of the closet.

Why not? Maybe he learned his lesson. “Fool me once, ...”

Did this dude get arrested for this?

The NFL needs to throw a big chunk of money to groups that help victims of domestic violence and help to stop the abuse. Even then, they are culpable in forgiving domestic violence and guilty of putting profit over the welfare of women. And dogs. At least women have a voice if they care to use it.

A similar story broke over here recently when a footballer was released from prison after serving time for rape. He thought he could walk straight back into playing, but no club/sponsor will touch him with a ten foot barge pole.
You blew your career away ya fucking sick coward.

@Symbeline He went through the criminal process. He was charged with aggravated assault which carries a possible sentence of five years. He went through a pre-trial intervention program for first offenders which requires that he complete 12 months of counseling without any further incidents. If he does, then the charge will be expunged from his record. His then-fiancee, now wife, tried not to press charges, but the state went ahead with the case anyway.

Now wait just one freaking minute here… This is the video.

He DID NOT assault her. She assaulted him. THREE times.

At time code 0:09, she punches him in face before they ever got onto elevator. He did not defend himself. He follows her calmly into the elevator.

At time code 0:24, she elbows him in the face. He swings back in defense, misses, and then steps away from her.

At time code 0:25, she charges him in aggression, to where he punched her one time knocking her out. He never hit her again, yet I hear these reports of how he kicked the shit out of her. He did not.

This is self defense. She attacked him repeatedly. How many times must a man be attacked before he defends himself? And before anyone start the BS about him being a big tough athlete who should control himself, you better ask the same about his STUPID girlfriend. So what if he’s a big strong athlete… That’s what happens when you attack people like him. He’s TRAINED to be strong and aggressive. In that light, I’d say Ray held composure quite well considering the circumstance. Unless you’re one of those folks who thinks that women should be allowed to smack away at a man with no consequence, and then always be viewed as the poor helpless victim.

@Symbeline “Did this dude get arrested for this?”

For what? Defending himself against an attack?

@marinelife “He went through the criminal process. He was charged with aggravated assault which carries a possible sentence of five years.”

I just don’t understand why he was charged with assault, instead of her. She attacked him three times. One comment on youtube claims she also spat upon him.

He knocks her out with one punch and then drags her out of the elevator.

“Defending himself against an attack” would have meant blocking her and maybe wrapping his arms around her. Even so, I’m sure a big strong guy like that could have easily pushed her away without a punch to the face. Then he could have gotten off at the next floor (assuming he feared for his life) and ran away. I’m sure that if the prosecuting attorneys who reviewed the case really felt he was in the right, or that his conduct could have been defended, they would have left him alone.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies At the 9 second mark it looks like a tap that she may or may not have actually touched him. Before the 24 second mark he is so close to her that she can barely move and who knows what he is even saying to her.

How many punches should it take to knock out a girl @jca? Two… three… would that make it alright? I don’t see how “one punch” means anything, except that it was the result of someone charging at him. The “big strong guy” argument doesn’t hold any weight in a court of law either. You have the right to defend yourself against any aggression, regardless of their body mass strength relationship to your own. That’s why cops get away with shooting kids pointing toy guns at them. The law is the law. Also, why are you concentrating so much on what he did, rather than what she did? How much attack is a man allowed to take before defending himself?

@chyna, the 0:09 “tap” made his head cock back. And just as you claim “we don’t know” what he might have been saying to her, we also don’t know if she had a big fat diamond ring on the hand she slapped him with. We cannot impose justice on the basis of supposing what someone might have said. Still the attention on him though, rather than the actions recorded of her. Men stand close to their girlfriends, some especially so when trying to make up.

She is the violent one here. The video proves it. Sorry for those who accuse him and defend her. How far would this need to go in order to admit reality we’ve seen?

The real story is that there wouldn’t be ANY story if news agencies reported the truth of her attacking him, rather than the other way around. Sensationalism sells.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies: Did he have to punch her out and drag her out of the elevator? Could he not have done something less violent? Maybe push her against the elevator and then leave on the next floor, like I suggested, if he was in fear for his life? Or put an elbow up to block her? Then run out? (Heeellpp, my girlfriend is beating me up!”)

Why the attention on him still? Did she have to attack him three times? If her actions can be IGNORED, then why hold him to a particular action of defense that suits you? No, he didn’t have to punch her and drag her out. He could have kicked her and left her there, unconscious. He could have punched her multiple times. He could have done the stooges and poked her eyes out. He could have jumped real high and climbed out the elevator rooftop, swung from the cables to the next car, crashed into a crowd of anemic children on their way to the circus.

Please, you can’t use the “big strong guy” argument alongside the “man flees woman” argument. They don’t mix. From early childhood, guys like that are not taught to run away from angry aggressive people. I don’t know any guy who is taught to run away from anything.

As far as pushing… my buddy was attacked by his wife, and pushed her against the wall to prevent her from hurting him. Cops arrested him and put him in jail for a year. He lost his kids for four years until the truth finally came out that mom was psychopath… Now he has the kids and she’s in jail for other things.

There is NO win for a man trying to defend himself against aggressively violent woman. Men are screwed either way.

@jca “Heeellpp, my girlfriend is beating me up!”

Hahahahaha… Yes, that’s exactly what he should have done. The news would have LOVED that story. And Ray’s team mates would have NEVER let him hear the end of it. Yes… let’s all just run away. LOL.

If Ray Rice really had to defend himself from the mean, drunk girlfriend, then he would have been better off running away. If he got called names by teammates or the media, then so be it. Why the attention on him still? Could he not have taken a less violent path? Could he not have blocked her? Could he not have just gotten off at the next floor and taken a walk? Tell the bitch off and keep on going?

As stated before, he could have done any number of different things. What he chose to do is not against any law that I know of. We don’t know if his girlfriend was drunk. We don’t even know if she was mean. But what we do know, and what you’ve refused to acknowledge on any level, is that she was violent and aggressive. Why not draw more attention to that reality rather than pursue fantasizing about what Ray might have done to please you?

Remember Beyonce’s husband being attacked by her sister in an elevator? He just held her back, he didn’t punch her. Ray Rice could’ve done the same thing.

Sure he could have. But what he did isn’t the problem. What she did is.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies: “What Ray might have done to please you?” meaning me? No, it was not to please me. It jeopardized a whole lot more in his life than displeasing @jca

Look at Jay Z, a good example of what could have gone down, and look at Jay Z’s salvaged reputation now.

Apparently Ray Rice’s butchering in public and on social media is more than a problem then his girlfriend’s actions.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies: And as for your friend getting jailed for one year for defending himself – you are only hearing one side of the story. His side. I’m willing to bet there’s more to your friend’s story and extenuating circumstances if he got jailed for a year just for that. He either did it before or he did more than he is admitting. Of course, he’s not likely to tell you the whole thing, he’d look like a heel. Only if you read court transcripts might you get a better idea of what happened with your friend.

Come on, I can block shots with my forearms all day and she’s never going to land a shot. Throwing a straight right to the head, insane.

Since you claimed he “violently assaulted” his girlfriend, I presumed the alternative actions you provided were to please you.

As far as my friend is concerned, I assure you I’ve heard both sides from each person, with their knowledge, and without their knowledge.

@Adirondackwannabe “insane”?

I’m always astonished how the victim is considered insane these days… Yet the crazy person doing the attacking is considered the poor sympathy worthy victim. Fact is, none of us know how we would react in that exact situation without us being in their shoes, with their history.

Yes, insane. Come on, you can’t be serious. He’s a professional athlete, in excellent condition and extremely strong. She can throw shots at me all day, and it’s not going to do damage. I unload one shot she gets a concussion. It’s my capacity versus her capacity, who can do more damage?

Heh, if I attacked a “professional athlete, in excellent condition and extremely strong”, you’d be calling me insane.

As to damage, I’ll never underestimate the damage a small woman can do ever again.

Shakes head, walks away.

Let’s say you block her off, as stated…
How long do you allow that to happen before punching back? Do you just let it go on and on until they tire out? What if it was a man, same size? Would you react the same?

I let her punch for a bit, blocking them, then I hug her and hold her arms. She can spit, try to bite, but I’m just holding her. She might get furious, but neither of us gets hurt.

The elevator has to stop somewhere. Then Rice could walk where ever he wants…...Then if she keeps it up, security or the cops would be there, since it was a hotel.

I’m giving this one up – it seems we’re far from agreement. (shakes head, walks away).

Yes he could have done many different things, no doubt. Does anyone here believe they were raised with the same cultural upbringing as Ray? Some neighborhoods teach kids from early age to punch first and ask questions later, when being attacked by anyone. Not doing so might get you shot. I didn’t grow up like that, so I don’t have that natural reaction, and I’d most definitely attempt @Adirondackwannabe or @jca suggestions. But others may have been brought up differently from me, so I can’t say how they would naturally react to such things.

But I don’t think Ray broke any laws. Looks to me like his girlfriend did though. I wish more attention were put towards that, rather than crucifying Ray.

Or maybe he just needs anger management classes.

He didn’t look angry to me, at any point in that video. She did though. Again, we make the victim into the problem.

Good, we got to a reasonable place with each other. But if anyone tries the hugging thing, she’s going ballistic for a bit. and your balls are at risk, but it works really well cause there’s no bloodshed

Well, to answer the original thread…

No, I don’t think it hypocritical of the NFL to allow Ray to play because I don’t think he violated their policy of non violence.

The girl was violent. Ray was defensive. Had he beaten her repeatedly, left her for dead, run away after the hit, then he would have been violent. I certainly wouldn’t attack someone, get myself knocked out, and then claim the other person was violent for defending themselves.

Maybe another question on this site could be “do you think Ray Rice was defending himself or do you think he did more than that? What were some alternative behaviors that Ray Rice could have done, if any?”

I’m posing it that way because I am open to the idea that maybe I am wrong, but I am also open to the idea that @RealEyesRealizeRealLies is wrong.

Another question would be why people seem to concentrate more on what Ray did, but ignore what she did. Literally ignore her. And ignore her more even after her actions are pointed out.

That astonishes me to no end.

@jca I can throw a vicious straight right. But there are times when hugs are better than punches. I’m an adult, we can work this crap out. I’m not concussing someone else.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies They were both arrested and charged. And today in her interview with ESPN she said she had started an they were both drunk.

But back to the original question, is the NFL hypocritical? Yes, they are, all the details of this were known months ago, and the NFL gave a two game suspension and that was it. Then the video went public and the NFL came down hard because of the bad publicity

@Adirondackwannabe: I agree with you. I don’t see the logic of a big bad athlete knocking out the little woman. I still go back, as an example, to Jay Z in the elevator.

@jca Hell yes. I know how to use me legs to get leverage. But why punch someone if I can hug them.

@all: New question posted by me:

http://www.fluther.com/177298/a-man-and-his-girlfriend-are-in-the-elevator-and-the/

Yep

Uh huh

Sure

Hearing this quote “This is exactly what happened when Ray Rice was caught on video brutally beating his then-fiancé, Janay, knocking her unconscious and dragging her from an elevator.” made me immediately think Ray was an asshole, and Janay was a poor victim.

Then after seeing the video, I wondered how one punch in self defense turned into “brutally beating”.

The line “dragging her from an elevator” makes it all sound bad to worse. But what was he supposed to do… Leave her in there? Then the line would have said “and he left her for dead in an elevator”.

It’s just ad-hoc inflammatory news specifically designed to stir up public judgement… read “bull shit”.

Yesterday on the Today Show, they interviewed Janay. Today they’re interviewing Ray Rice. They did an online poll as of yesterday and 61% of people don’t think Ray Rice should get a second chance in the NFL. They’re going to re-poll later, after showing the Ray Rice interview, to see if opinions change after people hear what he has to say.

Is there someone that doubts that American football is a violent sport?

This isn’t about the hypocrisy of Ray Rice. This isn’t about the hypocrisy of the NFL. This IS about the hypocrisy of the American people decrying violence while celebrating it as a test of Manhood.
See also: Boxing