New video released of Ray Rice

[Spider-Dan]

So apparently she spit on him right before he slugged her, which I presume is supposed to be the "mitigating factor" as to why Rice only got 2 games to begin with.

[Dave Gray]

I don't care for all the ire pointed at the NFL.  I understand that they have to protect their brand image, but I'm not really all that in favor of a company taking super severe action against their employees.  I mean...I get it and I think that Rice is a total scumbag and derelict and I wouldn't want him on my team.  But... the NFL isn't a court of law.  I am not really comfortable with them handing down lifetime bans for off-the-field incidents.  We have a legal system to gather evidence and punish society.  I don't want Roger Goodell having to do that to this extent.  And I certainly don't think that people should be calling for his resignation.

[Brian Fein]

I think the people clamoring for him to resign and for all the Ravens coaches and staff to be fired are just ridiculous.  There's a point to be taken, and appropriate action.  Its not Roger Goodell's job to punish Ray Rice.  Its the legal system's job. 

I don't think Goodell did anything wrong.  It was said that Goodell had no access to the tape, and it would have been illegal to give it to him.  I don't blame Harbaugh for keeping Rice around originally, but the Ravens fired him immediately once the video came out. 

I think some people are on a witch hunt and just want EVERYONE to feel the pain.  Sometimes, these things go too far.  Remember, Ray Rice is the scumbag, and no one else.

[Dave Gray]

I think that there's a lesson to be learned by the NFL (and certainly by the Ravens).  The NFL just needs to correct its punishment system to be more consistent.  I think that the real place that the NFL looks stupid is by having these hard-line stances on things like weed (which is now legal in certain states), but significantly less for battering your wife.  But, until it happens, I guess you just can't foresee how dumb you look.

The Ravens look pretty bad by welcoming him back and with all the tweets and all that.  And while his wife did share involvement (if, in fact, she did spit in his face), it's just stupid to publicly post that on your Twitter -- to quote Jeff Lebowski, "You're not wrong; you're just an asshole."

[Rich]

I think that the real place that the NFL looks stupid is by having these hard-line stances on things like weed (which is now legal in certain states), but significantly less for battering your wife.

Actually, it is worse than that. The first time the NFL catches you smoking crack, they stick you in a program. But the first time you take Sudafed... FOUR GAME SUSPENSION!

[Rich]

I think the people clamoring for him to resign and for all the Ravens coaches and staff to be fired are just ridiculous.  There's a point to be taken, and appropriate action.  Its not Roger Goodell's job to punish Ray Rice.  Its the legal system's job. 

I don't think Goodell did anything wrong.  It was said that Goodell had no access to the tape, and it would have been illegal to give it to him.  I don't blame Harbaugh for keeping Rice around originally, but the Ravens fired him immediately once the video came out. 

I think some people are on a witch hunt and just want EVERYONE to feel the pain.  Sometimes, these things go too far.  Remember, Ray Rice is the scumbag, and no one else.

The only circumstance under which Goodell should resign is one in which he knew how bad this was and tried to cover it up hoping it would go away.

[Fau Teixeira]

Really, why would the NFL cover this up. That's the dumbest argument I've heard. The NFL and the owners couldn't care less about Ray Rice, much less covering for him. They aren't buddies with Ray Rice, they have no interest in him other than to exploit his popularity to sell team jerseys. They have nothing to gain in covering anything up. They would react exactly like they did react once they had evidence. Cut the guy . .ban him from the nfl (probably for life) and go on to your next RB .. cause .. seriously .. dime a dozen.

[Rich]

Really, why would the NFL cover this up. That's the dumbest argument I've heard.

Um... where did I make that argument? I simply said only under that type of scenario should Goodell be forced to resign because it would show nefarious intent.

[Fau Teixeira]

I didn't say you made the argument .. i said that the argument is dumb

[Rich]

I didn't say you made the argument .. i said that the argument is dumb

Gotcha. My bad.

[Brian Fein]

Fau and Rich are exactly right.

The original 2-game NFL suspension was likely related to the fact that the entire case was based on suspicion of wrongdoing.  No witness or evidence was available at the time, so his penalty was not as severe because it was plausible that maybe something else happened in the elevator when no one was watching (passed out from being drunk, or tripped and fell, etc).

Once all doubt was removed (earlier this week), swift and appropriate actions were taken by all parties.

Nothing more to see here.  Case closed, let's all move on.

[Phishfan]

^^^It wasn't based on suspicion. It was based on the fact that it wasn't visible. Both parties supposedly admitted to their roles and Ray Rice supposedly told the entire story to Gooddell. Now we can argue that Ray didn't paint a good picture or we can argue that Ray didn't tell the entire story but we absolutely cannot argue the suspension was based on suspicion because everyone knew Ray knocked her out somehow. He admitted to doing so. The only difference is Goodell sees the violence now instead of having a mental picture painted by Ray Rice.

[Fau Teixeira]

that's a good example of why video evidence trumps eyewitness testimony every time

eyewitness testimony is unreliable and faulty at best.

[Phishfan]

^^^This was participant testimony rather than eyewitness which I think you can argue is likely less reliable.

[Dave Gray]

He was arrested for battery, if I'm not mistaken.