The NFL started its season with its usual pomp and intriguing matchups. As fans we were glued to our televisions watching every play or at the stadium watching the games up close and personal.
Lost amid the glitz and the glamour was the fact that the NFL was operating under a cloud of domestic violence crimes. Two of its budding star performers, Ray Rice and Ray McDonald, were dealing with domestic violence issues. The situation involving 49ers player McDonald still is being reviewed, so at this point not much is known.
On the other hand, the controversy involving the Ravens’ Rice—who was serving a two-game suspension as the result of him knocking out his then-fiancée, Janay Palmer, in a dispute in an elevator and video that showed him in the aftermath as he tried to drag her body out into the hallway—has reached a crescendo.
On Monday, TMZ released a video segment that showed the actual Atlantic City incident inside the elevator with Rice striking Palmer in the face and her head hitting the hand rail as she fell to the floor.
The firestorm that the latest video ignited led the Baltimore Ravens to terminate Rice’s contract. The NFL also has now suspended Rice indefinitely from the league.
All of these sudden happenings raise some interesting questions and points of view.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who claims to have seen the latest video for the first time Monday, had been heavily criticized for the initial two-game suspension.
