Ravens should be ashamed of decision to honor Ray Rice
Two games. That was deemed an acceptable punishment by the NFL after Ray Rice was caught on video punching his fiancée while in an elevator in 2014. While NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell later said that he "didn't get it right" in deciding Rice's punishment, it seems nothing has really changed. There have been other situations where players are […]
Two games.
That was deemed an acceptable punishment by the NFL after Ray Rice was caught on video punching his fiancée while in an elevator in 2014.
While NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell later said that he "didn't get it right" in deciding Rice's punishment, it seems nothing has really changed.
There have been other situations where players are arrested for domestic violence, yet the league takes no action.
And this latest move by the Baltimore Ravens almost condones what he did.
The team announced that they will recognize Ray Rice as the Legend of the Game during their matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
And when referring to his assault, that was caught on camera, they merely called it an "incident."
This decision just doesn't make sense.
The Ravens did the right thing back in 2014, releasing Rice when the video was first released by TMZ. And the video also caused the NFL to suspend him indefinitely.
He then appealed the suspension, saying that getting suspended twice for the same offense was against league rules. And he won, being reinstated by the NFL. Rice also sued the Ravens for the money he would have earned after the two game suspension, and the team ultimately settled.
While he said that he would donate his season's salary to domestic violence charities if he were signed by a team, no one picked him up. And thus his NFL career ended.
However, now the Ravens have decided to recognize him "for the player he was, and for the redemption he has worked towards."
"Out of the public eye, Rice has been working on himself, his relationship, and within the community," the Ravens wrote in their recent statement. "Baltimore's embrace of him went beyond that. He was gregarious, with a smile that could light the Inner Harbor."
They then went on to highlight his efforts on the field, but that doesn't erase what he did off the field.
This is not the example the team should be setting.
If the video wasn't enough proof for the Ravens to realize that honoring someone like this is unacceptable, I don't know what is.
