Ray Rice and the NFL

Even if you don’t follow sports, you probably know about the video that shows Ray Rice hitting his then fiancée and knocking her unconscious.  Lots of people have offered their opinion, including Keith Olbermann, John Stewart, and Peter King.

What is messed up is the idea that the NFL, which is one of the most powerful corporate entities in the world, somehow didn’t get a copy of the video first.  I don’t even understand how that is possible.  Admitting such a thing means they are either lying or they didn’t really give a shit about what was on the video.

If they gave a shit about what happened to Janay Rice, they wouldn’t have interviewed her about the incident while she was sitting next to the man who had hit her.

If they understood anything about the mental state of an abuse victim, they would have recognized the behavior of someone who has probably been struck more than once.  They would have interviewed her on her own, hopefully with a counselor present.  Not only didn’t they understand, they didn’t care.

Just forget about it and watch football, folks! Nothing to see here!

That’s the crux of all of this.  They don’t give a shit about the abuse.  They give a shit about their image.  So long as we didn’t have video showing the actual punch that knocked Janay Rice out, the NFL thought they could get away with a two game penalty because the public would be too focused on the game to think about domestic violence

The failure here was caused by a bunch of people who cared more about their business than anything else.  Keep that in mind as this situation continues to unfold.  Any decision they make will not be governed by what is best for Janay Rice.  Or even Ray Rice.

It will be governed by what is best for the NFL.

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