On Monday morning, TMZ released video footage of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice assaulting his former fiancée — now wife — in an elevator. The couple seemed to be having an argument in the video, and before the doors to the elevator can even close, Rice slaps her. Rice then knocks his wife unconscious with a single punch to the face, and proceeds to drag her out of the elevator.
Domestic violence is unacceptable on all levels of today’s society, so why do we provide exceptions for such behavior for our professional athletes? Rice’s is one of the latest cases of soft punishment for domestic violence. To the outrage of many, Rice was suspended for a mere two games after he was charged with felony aggravated assault after knocking his then-fiancée unconscious in an elevator. For this offense, his punishment is a slap on the wrist compared to the one-year suspension Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon received for failing a marijuana test.
Fans were angered even more by the laughable suspension served to Rice after watching the horrific video. The NFL took notice. The Baltimore Ravens released their prized running back the same day as the shocking video surfaced. Whether or not his release was correlated with the video’s release is unknown; regardless, it is definitely a long stride in the right direction compared to the baby steps taken in recent years.
The NFL’s policies on domestic violence are clearly too soft, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted he made a mistake in only suspending Rice two games. He claimed he felt boxed in by the precedent set by previous cases, and believed the punishment should have instead been at least a six game suspension. Although that has no effect on the suspension already given to Rice, it is refreshing to know the NFL is re-evaluating and harshening its domestic violence policies — but how long is an “adequate” suspension?
Many citizens face fines, jail time, and restraining orders as a penalty for domestic violence, but professional athletes — not limited to the NFL — are often facing heavy charges with surprisingly lenient discipline. Because many of us are fans and find sports as a source of entertainment, naturally many people don’t want to see their favorite players off the court or field, but are we so star struck that we try to justify athletes’ violent habits off the job? In 2012 alone, there were 21 NFL teams that held at least one player with assault or domestic violence charges. As soft as consequences have been for these types of charges in professional sports in recent years, policies might be starting to change after all.
Goodell ruled to suspend Rice indefinitely after viewing the video proof of his assault. It remains to be seen whether his suspension will be the heftier (but still very kind) six games, or a punishment that rides more along the lines of the entire season. Though an entire season’s suspension without pay seems as if it would be a harsh punishment for a professional athlete, a no-tolerance message needs to be delivered to players in order for these assault cases to dwindle and hopefully end, if not due to a shift in the way the players treat women, then at least in the way they perceive how that behavior would be perceived and responded to by their employers. Ray Rice will be made an example of, and may teach other athletes that professional athletic programs will not condone such acts of violence. However long the suspension is determined, the NFL made great progress on Monday.
Parsa Rafatian is a sophomore from Oxford.
