TMZ, NFL, DA, Ray Rice and Janay

[wilt the stilt]

I know this is flame bait but I have given this incident some thought. Ray Rice did wrong and there is no excuse for hitting a women or anyone else. That being said let's take a look at TMZ and the NFL.

Who made TMZ the arbiter of morality. If they really wanted to do the right thing they would have gone to the NFL and shown them the video and given the NFL time to take the appropriate action. If they didn't then they could have released it to the general public.

The NFL should have suspended Rice for 8 games upfront. They knew he punched her. They were protecting themselves.

As far as I know Ray Rice went through the appropriate channels. He took a plea(which one of us would not have taken a plea). He was going to counseling. He took his suspension. How many of us would have asked for more time?

What TMZ has done is beyond character assassination. They have made him a pariah and Rice is now unemployable in the USA. How is that right? How does that help the family?

Janay was right it was all about TMZ and the media but no one has thought about the family.

The NFL dropped the ball.

It was right for a long suspension it is not right to make someone unemployable.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Boycott the NFL and other violent pro sports.

The fans enable the NFL, and NFL enables violent overpaid players.

Boycott them, permanently.

Teach your children public service, spend your weekends with your family or friends doing useful things.

Turn off the TV and quit going to games.

If we did these things there wouldn't be a TMZ, or NFL.

Fans are enablers, they enable with their $$$$ and influence on others.

Fuck the NFL.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

2. It's not the place of private corporations to dispense justice.

That is supposed to be the role of duly constituted civil authority. The DA is biased grandstander who is derelict on multiple fronts.

And, as to the OP itself, the NFL had already dispensed its punishment. As far as it is concerned the matter was closed. That they should now pretend the video is a shock is to stretch their credibility to the breaking point. What did they imagine happened to render the now Mrs. Rice unconscious? How could it be anything other than a violent, brutal blow?

TMZ makes its money by pandering to the lowest common denominators and brutish titillations but I'm reluctant to place any blame on them. They are not obligated to keep the NFL or any other organization from suffering embarrassment for their own actions.

[wilt the stilt]

3. The DA is derelict in their duty.

but as i said would you have turned down the plea? Ray Rice is unemployable in america. No one and i mean no one is hiring him. Is that right?

The NFL should have suspended him upfront for 8 games. they did not do their duty and they do have the right to mete pinsihment fr the right to play in the league.

TMZ is guilty. They do not have the right to make someone totally unemployable.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. Rice made himself unemployable. None of these controversies would exist save for his actions.

It's a lesson dispensed since kindergarten -- No hitting!

The NFL should have suspended him upfront for 8 games.

Jail would be a good way to make sure he missed at least 8 games.

[wilt the stilt]

12. so is this ray rice's fault or the DA

He was offered a plea. i suppose you would have turned down the plea and insisted on jail time.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

26. Choose an argument and stick with it already.

Are you blaming TMZ or who? I can't even tell anymore.

The DA is a POS in his own right for his own reasons but the fact remains that had Rice not brutally assaulted his wife none of this would be an issue. OK, so a wife-beater took a plea deal to escape the consequences of his actions. Wife-beaters aren't exactly renowned for their selfless moral rectitude.

If Rice is unemployable it is his fault. Not TMZ's or the NFL's or the DA's or any other combination of letters.

[SwankyXomb]

5. Punch your wife, lose your job

It's not that difficult to understand.

[wilt the stilt]

7. Lose his job is ok

however there are very many people who do not lose their job. there is a difference when you take away the right to work and that is what they have done.

I feel the same way about non competes. No one should have the right to take away the right to work.
Were you complaining about the punishment before the video. i was. i always thought he got off to light but that being said he want through the proper channels. he went to court. he was given a plea that he accepted it.. he went to counseling.

Anyone with half a brain knows he slugged her.

I fell the same way about non competes. No one has the right to take away the right to work.

The NFl knew he slugged her as did almost everyone else who paid attention to this story from the beginning.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

27. How do you draw an analogy between violent criminal acts and simply wanting a new job?

Good grief.

[joeybee12]

6. For all we know, TMZ might not have had the video until recently...

The Casino made 3 copies and assumed the NFL would want one...I think the likely scenario is someone at the Casino gave TMZ the video recently, after the worthless 2-game suspension and then all their talk about how they were going to get tough on domestic violence.

[Kaleva]

8. Somebody at the casino probably made some bucks selling it to TMZ

[rocktivity]

21. DING DING DING! Kaleva, you're our grand prize winner!

Last edited Fri Nov 28, 2014, 09:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Somebody at the casino probably made some bucks selling it to TMZ

I'd even go as far to say that the reason it didn't surface sooner is that it was shopped around to the highest bidder first.


rcocktivity

[joeybee12]

23. Oh yeah, and that's why people like Rice and the NFL are stupid

to think the truth won't come out.

[wilt the stilt]

9. I don't disagree with you

but who made TMZ the arbiter of morality. I'm from Yonkers and I'm sure Rice is from the ghetto in New Rochelle. Is it right for TMZ to make someone unemployable in the U.S. Not just football but any job.

The NFL should have suspended him up front for 8 games. heck Josh Gordon got a year for weed.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

28. "who made TMZ the arbiter of morality"

Since when did slugging your fiancé in the face, knocking her out cold, dragging her unconscious body out of the elevator by the arm only to leave her sprawled and half-exposed in public lying on the hallway floor become an issue of moral ambiguity?

The keyboard is not your friend today. It's screwing-up and allowing you to transpose your thoughts to a public forum.

[Baclava]

10. "Oh poor Ray Rice"... So you're blaming TMZ for Ray Rice pounding his fist into a woman's face?

Quit defending the guy - are you related to Goodell?

He got at least $22 million in cold cash in the bank in the last year alone - he won't starve, the poor thing.

[wilt the stilt]

13. if you read my post

I put most of the blame on Goodell. they dropped the ball.I'm not defending him but what changed after the video. Anyone with half a brain knew he punched her.

[Baclava]

16. "Seeing that video changed everything" so, without it, this would all have been swept under the rug

2 game suspension - then back on the field like nothing happened

I'm glad they got outed by TMZ.

Fire Goodell!

[wilt the stilt]

18. I always thought the 2 game suspension was a joke

but like I said rice went to court he took a plea that was offered to him. He went to counseling. he got married. The NFL gave him the 2 game suspension. Which of these actions( i know you would not have punched her) would you have turned down.

I'm sure you would have insisted on being put into jail and be suspended for 8 games. i'm sure you would have.

[Baclava]

25. If I were a young man with tens of millions of dollars in the bank I could find something to do

..on vacation, that didn't involve beating women unconscious.

sorry - you won't get me weeping for 'poor Ray Rice' and his wife beater shoes don't fit me, so I don't really give a fuck how he feels.

[Kaleva]

30. He could have a career as a heel in pro-wrestling

[Baclava]

32. He don't need more money - Poor thing can't decide which of his cars to drive around as it is

Range Rover or Porsche Panamera - tough choice



nice Jeep too

[freshwest]

50. Looks like future employment will be managing his investments.

[Sheldon Cooper]

11. Fuck the NFL and good for TMZ for making it public - the NFL was NEVER going to do so.

And I don't care if Ray Rice never works again. Michael Vick was unemployable at one point, too. Remember that?

[wilt the stilt]

14. So you were up in arms before the video

I was. I figured he duked her out. So in other words you make a mistake and forever more you are punished. Are you sure you are not a republican. You sure sound like one.

[cpwm17]

19. I agree with you here.

We have a huge prison population due to excessive vengeance. Ray Rice shouldn't receive a career death sentence for one offense. He should be banned for a period of time and then allowed to return. It does nobody any good to prevent him from ever returning to work.

[gratuitous]

15. TMZ is a media outlet

I don't think they have a duty or an obligation to do the NFL's work for them. Goodell's disingenuous excuse that the NFL asked the local police for copies of any tapes they might have is just flat-out self-serving. If the NFL (which works hand-in-glove with the NSA on "security" issues, remember) wanted to see all the tapes, they should have contacted the casino (which contrary to Goodell's assertion wouldn't have been illegal). My guess is the NFL didn't ask the casino because they didn't want to know. They hoped their little two-game suspension for Rice would be the end of it. TMZ's sleuthing (or bribery or whatever you want to call it) simply monkey-wrenched the NFL's plan to sweep all the unpleasantness under the carpet.

The NFL indeed dropped the ball, and is frantically trying to cover its own malfeasance in this matter. Goodell claimed that he's "taking responsibility" for the NFL's poor performance, but what does that mean? Will Goodell be disciplined by his putative bosses, the franchise owners? Don't make me laugh. Jerry Jones has problems of his own in this vein, and if anyone who thinks the owner of America's Team the Dallas Cowboys is going to hold someone else accountable for sins he himself has committed, that person should think about it again. Consider also that Goodell is responsible for holding the owners to account, a tidy little conflict of interest that all but guarantees that nobody of any consequence will be held responsible for the NFL's failures.

Ray Rice may be unemployable for a little while at his chosen profession. That's on him, though. If Michael Vick could come back and play, Rice will surely be picked up by another team after a suitable amount of time has passed, and he'll be back making millions of dollars a year again. TMZ didn't assassinate Rice's character; Rice assassinated Rice's character by slugging Janay. Ray Rice's family can best be helped by not brawling anymore, either in public or in the privacy of their own mansion.

[wilt the stilt]

17. you basically have it

but Rice is unemployable is any profession now. Goodell and the DA are the real villains. Anyone pying atention to this story from the beginning as I was knew that goodell blew it.

[justiceischeap]

20. I'm going to comment on some of your comments so far throughout this thread

The NFL should have suspended him upfront for 8 games

Why only eight games? As you mentioned someone got suspended an entire season for weed. I think cold-cocking your fiancee in an elevator is worse than smoking weed.

TMZ is guilty. They do not have the right to make someone totally unemployable.

Did TMZ punch their fiancee on camera? No, Ray Rice did. He is the one who is guilty whether he took a plea or not. It was his actions that ultimately led to becoming totally unemployable.

however there are very many people who do not lose their job

Yes, and sadly in our society, those many people aren't seen as role models. Professional athletes generally have a higher standard they have to live by and it's up to their employer to create those standards and decide the punishment beyond the judicial system. I bet it's even in the contract these pro athletes sign--otherwise, we'd be hearing about the Ray Rice lawsuit for being let go unjustly.

but who made TMZ the arbiter of morality.

I will agree most of what TMZ releases is purely salacious but I'm guessing someone saw this video and disagreed that Rice's punishment wasn't severe enough and I agree. He got a slap on the wrist and many people were fine with that until they actually saw the brutality of the incident. It's one thing to know in theory that he punched her in order to knock her out, it's another to see it.

I put most of the blame on Goodell.

The NFL didn't handle this well, I'll agree but most of the blame should be placed on Ray Rice himself.

So in other words you make a mistake and forever more you are punished. Are you sure you are not a republican. You sure sound like one.

It's very likely this wasn't the first time Rice hit someone off the football field. He humiliated her long before they got on that elevator by spitting on her. He hits her twice in that elevator and showed no compunction about doing so and absolutely no remorse afterwards. This isn't (usually) the actions of someone who has never done this sort of thing again. I'll reiterate the point that sadly, pro athletes, actors and musicians are often seen as role models (goodness knows why, but they are). He has to live up to a higher standard than the rest of us. Is it fair? No but he took that on when he signed his first NFL contract.

it is not right to make someone unemployable.

Goodell is already making news about lifting his indefinite suspension. Rice is not unemployable... he's just unemployable right now. However, he's always going to be tainted by this scandal because he's always gonna be that football player that knocked his fiancee out in AC--and that's his fault. No one should forget this man had no qualms about spitting on and hitting his fiancee twice in public.

[wilt the stilt]

24. maybe a year

i'm not against that amount of time. But Rice was wrong and he went through what he was given to do. goodell tried to sweep it under the rug. Goodell has always been a jerk.

I was outraged when he got the 2 game suspension. I thought it was a joke. As far as whether he has done it before that is all speculation.

This should have been dealt up front when it happened by the DA and Goodell.

[justiceischeap]

33. Yes, it's speculation whether he's done this before

but it doesn't take a leap of logic to assume he has. It's his lack of reaction that's telling. Also, do we know if Rice got to keep any money from his new contract? And how much money he's made since he went pro? Does he even have to work again?

[wilt the stilt]

34. once again we don't know

but NFL contracts usually suck and i don't believe they get payed until they start playing and since he was suspended I doubt he got money. by the way bye bye roger
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11503851/ray-rice-videotape-sent-nfl-executive-april

[bigwillq]

22. Ray Rice should be banned for life

from competing in any type of professional football.

[aikoaiko]

31. TMZ may be one of the more righteous actors in this fiasco.

And Ray Rice is free to work almost anywhere.

He and his wife can cast for the MTV Couples Therapy show for a nice contract and maybe make their own reality show a la Bobby and Whitney.

[wilt the stilt]

35. e has absolutely no chance of getting hired by anyone

you are dreaming.

[aikoaiko]

49. If Michael Vick can play in the NFL, I'm sure Ray can at least play arena.

[Glassunion]

36. I disagree with almost every single word of your post.

Who made TMZ the arbiter of morality. If they really wanted to do the right thing they would have gone to the NFL and shown them the video and given the NFL time to take the appropriate action. If they didn't then they could have released it to the general public. - No one made them the arbiter of anything. They are the press (and I apply this to them in the loosest sense of the word), and they take information and give it to the public. That is what they do. They did absolutely the right thing and showed the world exactly what kind of an asshole Rice is.

The NFL should have suspended Rice for 8 games upfront. They knew he punched her. They were protecting themselves. - The NFL (yes they banned him), has a fucked up sense of morality. Let's see, you smoke weed - you get suspended for a season. They knew he punched her so fucking hard that she was unconscious for how long? And you feel he should have been suspended for only 8 games?

As far as I know Ray Rice went through the appropriate channels. He took a plea(which one of us would not have taken a plea). He was going to counseling. He took his suspension. How many of us would have asked for more time? - I would have have asked for all of the time, ensuring he no longer had a career.

What TMZ has done is beyond character assassination. They have made him a pariah and Rice is now unemployable in the USA. How is that right? How does that help the family? - Rice was the one assassinating his character. No one else. Not his wife, not TMZ, not the NFL, not anyone but himself. He did it, he fucking owns it and too damn bad he is unemployable. How is it right that he punched her? How does punching the shit out of the family help the family?

It was right for a long suspension it is not right to make someone unemployable. - So a mental game here... If I employ someone for 20+ million dollars a year, beats his wife, I'm supposed to give him a little vacation and bring him back next year? He should be unemployable due to a long prison stretch. Instead he can sit at home on a giant fucking pile of cash and think about what he's done. I will shed not one tear at all for this piece of human garbage.

The sad thing is that the name Rice in the NFL will always be marred by this asshole. Not the 23 NFL record holding real Rice.

[wilt the stilt]

37. I hear vengeance

from most of you. What makes your vengeance and self righteous different than right wingers screaming for execution.

[Glassunion]

41. I hold no vengeance.

What you're reading is a complete lack of sympathy, empathy, or sorrow for his situation.

He brutally assaulted her and for some reason you'd like for me to give a shit about his multi million dollar contract? Sorry, but women are worth more than that.

[Glassunion]

48. Maybe wilt had Rice on his A team in the fantasy league.

Just trying to salvage a running back for their week 2 picks.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

38. So you're saying media outlets should not report bad behavior because it might cost people....

....their job?

Do you feel the same about corrupt pols and companies that poison their food or the environment?

All TMZ did was show a video that prosecutors, Roger Goodell, Ray and wife were "cool with". It's everyone else that should be embarrassed that it only led to a slap on the wrist.

[cwydro]

39. Asshole should be in jail

Cry me a river.

[wilt the stilt]

47. yes he should and let's execute that guy

for murdering someone. Just like right wingers always say. fry him he deserves it.

[rollin74]

40. Ray Rice did this to himself

He damn well deserved to lose his job and his career

The pathetic DA and judge behind the plea deal are enablers of violent crime and should lose their jobs too

Rice is getting a slap on the wrist for knocking a woman unconscious. Disgusting!

[cwydro]

42. Damn right

[wilt the stilt]

45. lose his job is one thing

unemployable is another. He couldn't get a job anywhere now. that is the difference. By the way didn't the murderer deserve the electric based on your reasoning. Explain to me the difference in your logic and the right wingers logic for execution.

[fishwax]

44. i don't see why TMZ should take it to the NFL

Why should they do that? As to the Pariah status, I don't see anyone to blame but rice--and I suppose the nfl. If they'd handled it differently it might not have blown up like this.

[wilt the stilt]

46. exactly

He should have been suspended for at least 8 games. that is my point.The NFL didn't give the appropriate penalty.

As far as the DA. many times first offenders are given a lighter sentence. He took the plea. who wouldn't have. He went to and is going to counseling. Isn't that what we as a society is supposed to encourage.

I hear tons of vengeance in many writings. It is the same exact type of behavior that we at DU state about right wingers and execution HE DESERVED IT. FRY HIM.

Janay is lambasted by everyone.everyone knows what is best for her. It's kind of condescending.

[kcjohn1]

51. Mob mentality

Vindictive & Mob mentality is too persuasive in society. What Rice did was wrong and he should be punished for it. But the way people are reacting, you would think he is serial killer who has killed hundreds of kids. People need to put different horrible acts in scale. Murder is worse than rape (doesn't mean rape is any good). Rape is worse than domestic abuse (doesn't excuse domestic abuse), etc. If we take one brush approach on all things, we lose perspective. If Rice should be banished for striking his wife once, what do we do with people who seriously injure or kill other people?

The ideal outcome of this is Rice understands how that type of behavior is unacceptable, and leads to rehabilitation. The end of that process is welcoming him back to society, including having him earn a livelihood. This zero tolerance approach to everything is very wrong headed and does no one any good.

[LanternWaste]

52. If the accuracy of the videotape is not in question, he assassinated his own character.

If the accuracy of the videotape is not in question, he assassinated his own character by his own actions. All else is merely rationalizing the absurd...