Ray Rice cut by team, suspended by NFL

[Tonus]

In all the self righteous 'morality' all of you have defended has anyone considered the rights and wishes of Mrs. Rice?

I think that the people attacking Ray Rice for knocking his wife unconscious (and the NFL/Ravens for their lax approach to what happened) are more concerned with her rights than he was. As for her wishes, I am presuming that among her wishes is to NOT be beaten up by her husband, so at least on that score there is also concern being shown.

I understand why the Ravens cut him, but why the new punishment from the NFL?

I think that they simply didn't think it warranted more than a two-game suspension. At first I thought that perhaps they didn't expect that the video would become public, but I think it's more that they did not expect such an angry public backlash. When they realized that the video made them seem all the more insensitive to the issue, they decided to take stronger action to protect the Ravens brand and the NFL brand.

You are correct that the video simply confirms what was already known: Janay was knocked unconscious, and Rice admitted that it was a result of his striking her. It's hard to imagine any circumstances under which this could be excused. But I think the league's indifference to violence against women was exposed, and now they have to take harsher action.

That said, I think that NFL's action makes a sham of their rules and their authority. They have to act within contractual limits, and it seems to me that Rice has a case that the league has acted well beyond its powers. He may decide to suck it up because he wants back in, and his only hope is to play the contrite villain. But if he wanted to, he could sue and possibly get the league to admit that they had access to the interior video, which would be a disaster for the NFL. As it is, Roger Goodell is facing a growing number of calls for his resignation or firing over the way this was handled.