Ray Rice, an ex-Baltimore Raven football player has recently been in the news because of disturbing video that came out where he assaults his then girlfriend in a casino elevator. At first, the NFL took a relatively light-handed approach by suspending him for 2 games, but as a second video surfaced and media scrutiny heightened, the NFL had a change of heart and suspended him indefinitely. Janay Rice, the woman who was seen in the video being hit and now his wife, stands by her husband and blames the media for essentially ruining their lives. So the question remains, did the NFL have ground in suspending Ray Rice because of an incident that was not work related?
Yes, the league has in their policy that "NFL and club personnel must do more than simply avoid criminal behavior. We must conduct ourselves in a way that 'is responsible, that promotes the values upon which the league is based, and is lawful" (La Canfora). Rice was caught on videotape committing domestic abuse in a public arena. This can be detrimental to the integrity of the league and effect sponsorship and audience attendance. Players are supposed to conduct themselves outside of the field in a manner that is lawful and promotes good citizenship but the truth is that many do not. Just in the past week there have been 3 other incidents involving some kind of abuse. According to policy, it is the job of the NFL commissioner to hand out punishment to players and officials not in accordance to that policy.
There are those that are defending Rice including his wife and the NFL player's union. Executive director of the NFLPA DeMaurice Smith gave his opinion as to whether the NFL should regard this as a serious issue, "When I was a prosecutor, domestic violence was a community issue. It still is a community issue. I think it would be a mistake to ever look at our issues and react to our issues as being a football issue" (Brown). The union stands behind Rice but does not condone his actions. Where the NFL comes under a lot of controversy is in how they handled the situation in relation to the other abuse cases. While Rice got slapped with an indefinite suspension, others like Peterson, got a "slap on the wrist". "After initially suspending Rice two games back in July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted in late August that he "didn't get it right" and toughened the league's policy on domestic violence - instituting suspensions of six games for offenders" (Brown). The NFL is justified in upholding whatever policies they lay forth in the players' contracts but the punishment should fit the crime for everyone, not only for high profile cases. In this case, if you are going to punish one player for abuse by suspending them then you should suspend all the players accused of abuse.
Brown, James. "NFL Player's Union: It's Our "Duty" to Defend Ray Rice". CBS Evening News. September 16, 2014. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ray-rice-nflpa-its-unions-duty-to-defend-players/. Accessed 9/18/2014.
La Canfora, Jason. "Goodell issues memo highlighting NFL's personal-conduct policy". NFL.com. August 3, 2012. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8178bb24/article/goodell-issues-memo-highlighting-nfls-personalconduct-policy. Accessed 9/18/2014.
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