By
Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)
Well,
you knew that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to come out of hiding and
comment on the inexplicably (still) lenient two-game suspension to Ray Rice
for, apparently, knocking out his then-fiancee (now wife) Janay Palmer in an
Atlantic City casino elevator back in February.
Goodell
had to show up to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony and, of course, was
inundated with questions in Canton, Ohio.
As you would expect, in the land of the powerful (the NFL), Goodell
didn’t back down an inch. He maintained,
over and over, about how “we have a very firm policy that domestic violence is
not acceptable” and “we have to remain consistent,” presumably in the
punishment of first-time offenders.
He
repeatedly said, especially when he was obviously not happy with some of the
reporters, some variation of “you have to respond to facts, here.”
Well,
here are some facts:
FACT
ONE: BEN ROETHLISBERGER IN 2010
In
March of 2010, a 20-year-old college student accused Steelers quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger of a sexual assault in a Georgia nightclub. On or about April 14, 2010, local prosecutors
decided not to charge Roethlisberger with any crime.
One
week later, on April 21, 2010, the NFL announced that Roethlisberger would be
suspended for six games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy,
Quotes
from Goodell’s letter to Roethlisberger: “The Personal Conduct Policy makes
clear that I may impose discipline ‘even when the conduct does not result in
conviction of a crime’ as, for example, where the conduct ‘imposes inherent
danger to the safety and well being of another person.’ “
After
discussing that Roethlisberger had contributed to the excessive consumption of
alcohol by underage college students, Goodell concluded that, “There is no
question that the excessive consumption of alcohol that evening put the students
and yourself at risk.”
Goodell
also wrote that, “The Personal Conduct Policy also states that discipline is
appropriate for conduct that ‘undermines or puts at risk the integrity and
reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs, or NFL players.’ By any measure, your conduct satisfies that
standard.”
Goodell
suspended Roethlisberger for SIX games.
Eventually, the suspension was reduced to four games. Note, also, that while he was accused of a
sexual assault, the suspension was for aiding underage students in the
excessive consumption of alcohol.
Indeed, Roethlisberger had been accused of a different sexual assault
from 2008, but the NFL apparently took no action with respect to that
accusation (which led to a civil suit that was settled out of court). It would seem that Roethlisberger was a
first-time offender and it wasn’t even for sexual assault. Just bizarre.
As
you know, Ray Rice got two games, presumably for domestic abuse.
Any
questions so far?
FACT
TWO: RAY RICE (ALLEGEDLY) KNOCKED HIS
NOW-WIFE UNCONSCIOUS THAT NIGHT
Although
the public hasn’t seen it (we’ve only seen Rice drag his now-wife’s unconscious
body out of the elevator), there is footage of what happened inside the
elevator (which somehow, someday, somebody will leak to the media). According to published sources, the two had a
physical altercation in the elevator that ended with Ms. Palmer being knocked
out and, as we all have seen, being dragged unconscious out of the elevator.
According
to Karen Jarmoc of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, part of
the recovery for abusers is to fully acknowledge what the abuser did to the
abused. In his second press conference
last Thursday, Rice didn’t quite get there.
He
gave a “Jason Giambi” apology that is, as Giambi did with respect to
performance enhancing drugs, saying, in essence, I apologize and I apologize
profusely, I’m just not going to say what I am apologizing for. Rice was asked point blank at least twice as
to exactly what happened and he refused both times to answer the question.
While
certainly seeming sincere, Rice never explained what actually happened. But he, nevertheless, tried to send a message
to kids: “I still got kids out there
wearing 27 [his Ravens number, of course] jerseys and I just wanna tell them
that, you know, please don’t make the mistake I did.”
You
will have to excuse a young kid who still doesn’t quite know exactly what Ray
Rice did to his now wife.
Full
acknowledgement? Not exactly.
Ms.
Jarmoc of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence also didn’t buy
that this was a one-time incident.
Talking about abuse as a “pattern of behavior” and “a learned behavior,”
she said: “most cases don’t happen overnight” and “that this is probably
something that has been occurring for a very long time.”
While
press conference number two was much better than press conference number one
(where somebody without a brain let Ms. Palmer up on the dais to say “I want to
apologize for my role in this incident” (seriously)), Ms. Jarmoc categorized press
conference two as “three steps forward and possibly 10 steps back.”
But
you can’t blame Ray Rice for the lenient length of his two-game suspension.
All
the credit for that goes to the Commissioner.
THE
COMMISSIONER’S INCONSISTENCIES
Aside
from the general stupidity of the lenient sentence (domestic abuse as a first-
time offense should really be considered more seriously than virtually any
other first-time offense), it’s hard to believe that seemingly intelligent
people got into a room and signed off on this punishment. Were there any women in the room? Did anybody discuss the video that was
already out to the public (it’s still sickening to see)? Did anybody in the room mention the name Ben
Roethlisberger? If the NFL wants to be
transparent, shouldn’t there be more transparency as to the process?
Nobody
at the NFL understood the power of video where everybody can see the proof (as
opposed to cases where there is no proof).
In cases like the Ray Rice case, where the world sees what happens, one
would expect more intelligence from the powers-that-be. If prior cases did result in lesser
suspensions, that was probably due to the lack of video evidence and/or the he
said/she said nature of such cases.
In
2010, the Commissioner cited the Personal Conduct Policy as allowing him to
impose discipline (in that case, six games), even if no crime was charged, if
the conduct imposed an inherent danger to the well being of another
person. In 2014 in Canton, he cited the
fact that the authorities decided to impose no discipline as a seeming reason
to defend a lower two-game suspension.
Backwards logic, no?
In
2010 he held that there was “no question” that contributing to underage college
students drinking alcohol put the students and Roethlisberger “at risk”,
resulting in a six-game suspension. In
2014, it would seem clear that an NFL player knocking his fiancee unconscious
in an elevator might have put his fiancee “at risk.” But only to the tune of two games?
In
2010, “by any measure,” Roethlisberger’s conduct (with respect to underage
drinking) undermined or put at risk “the integrity and reputation of the NFL,
NFL clubs, or NFL players,” resulting in a six-game suspension. In 2014, one would think that “the integrity
and reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs, or NFL players” was put even more “at
risk” when an NFL player knocks out his fiancée. So, two-game suspension. Really?
Many
have talked about how “tone deaf” the NFL is on this issue. But, of course, it’s much worse than
that. The NFL has no understanding that
it is unwise to involve the abused person in the process. There are many levels to that, but most
experts will tell you it’s a mistake to involve her at all. She’s in a very tough spot. And while a number of sports males are
talking about the fact that this is between a man and a woman who are now
married, that thinking is becoming pre-historic. One of the reasons that domestic abuse is so
prevalent today is exactly that: many have been conditioned to “look the other
way” when it comes to a couple and their relationship.
It’s
a very slippery slope to support that notion today, both in and out of sports.
SO,
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Well,
apparently nothing. This suspension
won’t be changed (maybe the next one will be harsher?). The gross misjudgment by the Commissioner and
his advisers has cast a pall over the NFL.
Of course, that won’t stop them from making billions of dollars this
year and beyond.
But
the foot-dragging on the concussion issue (the NFL wasn’t just late to the
party; it had to be dragged to the party kicking and screaming) and now the
seeming inability to have any understanding about domestic violence (and the
reaction of women and many right-minded men to that lack of understanding) will
have many people looking sideways at the NFL for years to come. Talk about a blow to the “integrity and
reputation of the NFL, NFL teams, or NFL players.”
A
national disgrace?
Absolutely.
@
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY STEVE KALLAS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No comments:
Post a Comment