Let's talk about Ray Rice.
Ray Rice beat the actual shit (don't take that too literally, please; I don't really know if the girl shit herself while she was being beaten) out of his girlfriend-turned-fiance-turned-wife in an elevator. There's no denying or disputing it. It was caught on video. It happened. The girl was unconscious & dragged out of the elevator by her attacker. I doubt we'll ever know why it happened, or that we'll ever know the circumstances leading up to it. I do know the National Football League does not care, & neither does the Atlantic City Police Department. OK. So, because of this incident, which actually happened & was caught on video (I really can't stress that enough), the NFL gave Ray Rice a suspension of two regular-season games. He'll lose his paychecks for those two games, which should end up costing him about half a million dollars, give or take. Still with me?
Yes. The punishment is total bullshit. Word around the league is that had Rice been playing for the 49ers, he would have been immediately cut. Seems Jim Harbaugh is not a fan of women being beaten. Anywho, the punishment doesn't even scratch the surface of fitting the crime. The woman could have died. Ray Rice is a professional athlete with a seriously enhanced capability to do physical damage to another person, let alone a woman. Did she instigate it? Don't care. Did she hit him first? Don't care. His actions were precisely 0% justifiable. A season-long ban would not have been out of place here, even if you buy the NFL office's explanation of "well, golly, this is the first time Rice has come under the Personal Conduct policy, gee whiz." It's just not acceptable. Ever.
Here's where most of you are going wrong.
Leave Josh Gordon, Justin Blackmon, Tanard Jackson, et al, out of the equation. These three are victims (for the second time, I'm asking the reader not to take me too literally here) of the league's Substance Abuse policy. One is almost assuredly going to be suspended for the entirety of 2014, the other two are suspended indefinitely. However you feel about the legal status of marijuana (Gordon & Jackson) or alcohol (Blackmon), no matter what you think of the harshness of the SA policy, you cannot deny this: these three players are morons. Gordon, especially. He may be the most physically gifted wide receiver I've seen in my many years of watching football. He's Calvin Johnson without the benefit of being 6'5". The guy is unbelievable. He's also a moron. Marijuana use is a violation of the NFL's Substance Abuse policy, & he either knew that or should have known it, ESPECIALLY since he served a suspension in 2013 for the same thing, ESPECIALLY since weed was the reason he wasn't taken in the 2012 draft. As for Blackmon, alcohol is a tricky beast. If you ask me, the guy is probably finished in the league, & while he isn't even on the same planet as Gordon ability-wise, he's certainly no slouch himself. Tanard Jackson isn't really good enough or famous enough to be mentioned alongside the other two, & to be frank, the only reason I did it is because A.) I wanted three examples, & 2.) he played for my favorite team, the Washington R-words. So fuck him.
With the general attitude regarding marijuana in America is becoming more relaxed & accepting than in years past, the fact remains that in most lines of work, you will be denied employment if you have it in your system. The NFL is no different in that regard, nor should it be required to be. The owners have the money, so the owners call the shots. It's never been any different in any field. The truth of the matter may be that these guys just don't want to play football. It's a highly-regimented & -disciplined life to lead, & that's not for everyone. Glenn Coffee? Ricky Williams? Those names ring a bell?
Here's the main point: what Ray Rice did to Janay Palmer was awful. On its face, under the surface, regardless of circumstances. It was awful. There's nothing anyone can say to dispute it. This argument stands on its own. It does not need to be compared to lesser offenses. Beating your girlfriend unconscious will always be a shitty thing to do. Aside from murder** or rape, this is probably the worst thing a man can do. Examples of other people doing less-shitty things are unnecessary. These examples really only water down the argument, quite honestly. So when you're firing off that hate-filled email to Roger Goodell, stick to the point. Leave the potheads & drunks out of it. Present the argument in its proper context. Maybe the league won't extend Ray Rice's suspension, but maybe in the future, if someone else does what he did, he won't be allowed to play football anymore. And that's the point.
** did you guys know that Aaron Hernandez, under indictment for three murders, is not under any league-imposed punishment? Weird, huh?
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