Rice's Suspension Points to Hypocrisy in the NFL
The National Football League, led by Roger Goodell, has been on the forefront of cracking down on illegal activities that seemed to have run ramped throughout the league in the past decade. However the recent actions or non-actions on the part off the NFL towards Ray Rice have clearly brought a strong wave of scrutiny towards the league.
This offseason Baltimore Ravens star running back Ray Rice was caught on an elevator surveillance camera punching his then-fiancé (now wife) in the face. However it was the video of Rice pulling her unconscious body out of the elevator that went viral and shocked the world. In days after there was speculation on the course the Ravens should take with a strong argument being presented of Rice’s immediate release from the team however two days ago after almost four months of waiting the NFL decided to suspend Rice for a mere two games to start the season.
While this moves bodes well for the Ravens it brings direct speculation into the hypocrisy of the NFL’s suspension policy. The hypocrisy of the suspension dwells from the fact Roger Goodell has issued longer suspensions for testing positive for marijuana, taking Adderall, DUI, illegal tattoos, dogfighting and eating a protein bar that wasn’t on the NFL approved list.
Of course due to the horrendous video of Rice dragging his fiancé out of the hotel’s elevator this suspension has drawn a lot of attention towards the situation and the lack of harder punishment. Now maybe it could be seen that Goodell if trying to not to suspended players as long as he use to because he felt it hurt the league however just his offseason Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis was suspended four games for the upcoming season due to the fact he test positive for using an unapproved fertility drug because he and his wife tried to get pregnant.
Now according to the NFL the reason behind the length of the suspension that Rice was given was due to his clean history when it comes to off the field issues as he volunteers in the community along with other great things he brings to the league. However as far as I am concerned one time is too much when it comes to domestic violence and the weak punishment that Rice received sent the wrong message to not only NFL players but people around the world.
The lack of the justice in the NFL suspension policy is clearly leaving a black mark on the shield of the NFL and the weak two game suspension Ray Rice received is the perfect example of the hypocrisy that is running ramped in the National Football League.
