So they don't even follow their own new suspension policy and can unilaterally just change his suspension simply because a video pops up of the incident, even though it was pretty obvious what happened? Expecting an appeal by the players union on the change of his 2 game suspension to indefinite.
I know it's the unpopular thought here, but she still ended up marrying him for whatever reason despite the incident and they have both reached some level of moving past the incident. Can't they just let them fucking move on instead of now further ruining his career and ironically affecting her life as well? Things like TMZ are the dredges of society.
If what bothers you is that the NFL and the Ravens' move screams of backpeddling to appease public sentiment, then sure, I agree with you wholeheartedly. A two-game suspension was a laughable response to the incident in the first place. (I also am not sure I buy that this was the first time the NFL saw the video, since that directly contradicts what people like Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen have said, and they tend to have a pretty good idea of what is going on.)
As for the actual incident itself...
The fact that the victim in this instance chose to marry him regardless isn't really relevant. I'm not part of their relationship and I don't know what kind of power dynamic they have. Maybe she's moved on, or maybe this is actually the norm with him, and like many victims of domestic abuse she's been terrorized to the point where she feels like she doesn't deserve any better. Or maybe he
has shown serious change in his personal life. That latter bit would be great! But ultimately, the Ravens brand is made up of its players and, for better or for worse, how the players conduct themselves off the field
does have a bearing on the team as a whole.
Maybe I'm sensitive because I live in Baltimore, and so I see kids wearing Ray Rice jerseys every day. This is a guy who really seemed like a positive role model, who went out of his way to be involved in the community. He was the example people used to point to around here when they talked about how most NFL football players are actually stand-up guys, and that the Michael Vicks were the exception, not the rule.
And you know what? He still had a chance to make some positive change after this all happened. It wouldn't necessarily excuse his actions, but he could have said, hey, guys, I've got a problem. I have anger issues, and I lashed out and hurt someone I loved, and that's
not OK, and here's what I'm doing to fix the problem. I mean, seriously, think about it. What if he had used this opportunity to actually open a public discussion on domestic violence from the male's perspective? That would actually be a pretty big deal, and might have gotten other people with similar issues to try to seek help. But no, instead, we got a mealy-mouthed half-apology and an attempt to shove everything under the rug and downplay the incident.
Well, guess fucking what, eventually it came out and now this asshole is out of a job. And so, I repeat myself:
Good. Fucking. Riddance. This whole nonsense and the lukewarm response to it really dampened my enthusiasm for the Ravens, which is basically the only football team I've ever seriously cared about. Maybe now I can start wearing purple on Fridays again.