Deadspin has linked to a flowchart on Playboy (the actual link--the second one, to Playboy--IS Safe For Work) for all you prospective NFL commissioners out there: http://deadspin.com/use-this-flowchart-to-find-out-if-youd-be-a-good-nfl-co-1633301774
but didn´t we learn from the movie double jeopardy that you can´t be prosecuted for the same offense twice ? just saying...
No one will care in 1-2 years anyway. Vick is back, Richie will be back and Rice will definitely be back. Time heals all wounds or rather gets the grotesque hydra known as the media off your back while they find juicy new morsels to pick apart.
Not enough room. They gotta keep those dangerous psychos who got busted for a few ounces of weed locked up. That is so very important.
"Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is, Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is, Uselessness". ~ George Bernard Shaw
It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some states you don't need a person/victim to press charges. If there's hard evidence, the DA/AG has an obligation, by law, to charge the offender. However NJ law could allow for what you said is common if the victim doesn't want to press charges, but some of the things that are being said by some NJ lawmakers to the media, to me anyway, sounds as if he had received preferential treatment that he was not privileged to receive for the type of violent crime Rice committed(aggregated assault). I see a lot of heads rolling in the near future: from prosecutor or the judge that allowed Rice to get a conditional deferred judgement, It could be the law enforcement source who allegedly released the video to the NFL, the person that received the video on the NFL's behalf and commented back to the law enforcement source about its depiction and the NFL commissioner and his knights of his round table. Most importantly, if it is proven that the commish did see the interior elevator footage awhile back and lied and tried to sweep this under the rug then IMO, Goodell conducted an act unbecoming of the NFL Commissioner and should fired by the Team owners for no confidence. He gave a player, from one team precedence that other teams do not get. Is he favoring some teams over others?
I hate this stuff. I don't condone what Rice did in the slightest bit, but this has become entertainment. It's ridiculous.
This^. It's just grandstanding and PR and high horse BS at this point. A former FBI guy doing an investigation investigation? That's laughable. Not to mention pointless.
Yeah I wouldn't want to make too big a deal of domestic violence or nothing let's go back to the important things like who throwed the ball well and who caught it
Because sports league personal conduct policies are the way we should enact social change? Is the NFL's policy of 6 games for first time offenders, then lifetime ban for multiple offenses too light? If your goal here is to better address domestic violence in society, then you really should focus your energy on the justice system. If your goal here is to get Goodell fired, then keep in mind that the next commissioner isn't going to be any less focused on generating profits at the expense of the fans and the sport itself. If anything, he'll just be less competent at it.
Yes, NFL players are public figures. Rice, Goodell, and the NFL being subject to the business end of a serious ****-rain of public opinion is a genuine public good and very clearly reinforces to a wide audience the idea that this kind of behavior isn't acceptable. It reaches a segment of the populace that most needs to hear it, and does so in a way that is far more permeable than changing the law, and it's not really an either/or proposition. A loud and clear message to men 18-49 that you can't beat your significant other is an unambiguous public good. Likewise, the idea that you have to act on any obligations you may have to report or punish such a thing appropriately is also a good thing.
What's confusing to me is an NFL source telling TMZ and being very adamant about it that no employee at any of the three NFL offices (NFL head office, NFL Films, NFL Network) received that DVD of Ray Rice in the elevator. I mean, there's a recording of a voicemail from an NFL phone number acknowledging receipt of the DVD and that it is indeed disturbing. Now TMZ I guess is saying that they believe they know exactly who received that DVD and left that voice recording. This is just such an easy thing to prove the NFL is lying about, it confuses me as to why they'd do it.
The NFL already established a policy specific to domestic violence because of this incident. At this point what exactly is the outrage? That the league didn't look at a video that offered no practical purpose for the league? That the league didn't have a specific domestic violence policy prior to this act, which the NFLPA never would have accepted? Roger Goodell acted to the extent that he was permitted to do so. At this point the only clear message is that a lot of people don't like Roger Goodell and want him fired.
Another puzzling thing is that some say Goodell had a setup for "plausible deniability" in that the organization works in such a way that the guy at the top would never hear about the tape. It's an old fashioned way of insulating the guy at the top, but it makes no sense in this case because Goodell was the guy who was dispensing justice. I don't buy it. If you have that kind of setup, you need a different person doling out punishment in these cases.
If looking at the video served no practical purpose for the league, why did the Ravens release Rice and why did the NFL suspend Rice after the tape came out? You say that the NFL has no place in the "morals" business (if I read you right). I don't agree, but I also don't want to argue that point. I understand both sides. However, in this case, the NFL put itself in the morals business with Goodell's insistence on personally enforcing the personal conduct rules. Goodell can't really come out and say now "we're not models for society" when he has emphasized the opposite on a continual basis since day one.
http://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/personal-conduct-policy.pdf Roger Goodell had full authority to punish Rice in whatever fashion he chose. He could have leveled the six-game, or indefinite suspension at any time. The NFLPA would get to represent him at the investigation, but doesn't have any say in how long Goodell is allowed to punish him. An appeal of the punishment would result in another set of hearings that again would ultimately result in Goodell being asked to change the punishment he himself decided was fair. The root problem is that Roger Goodell appears to not give a **** about Ray Rice knocking out his girlfriend, and there has been a lot of lying and covering of tracks to try and make sure that isn't totally obvious. That's where the outrage comes from.
Ray Rice is an A hole. Gee we didn't know that already? This is all just the flavor of the day. The media has a nice big bone to chew and now is "outraged". Who can they tear down next? Lookie the commish is in our sights. "Who knew what when?" "Look what some other jack arse jock tweeted". Get him he has repented yet for saying something that we all don't agree with. The court of public opinion isn't always right. I laugh when they out of one side of their mouths that its a privileged to play in the NFL and then the next segment someone got cut and all of a sudden it's "a business". These guys work their arses off to get to the NFL where a bunch of old rich white guys sit in judgment of whether they are going to make them millions or billions more. Last week Rice was going to make him millions. This week people are pissed off. "Oh c r a p" I had better "do something" cause the court of public opinion is now in session. Well let's not ban him for life cause he might me more millions down the road so let's call it indefinite until he can show some ambiguous life changing process and we can then announce to the world how everyone deserves a second change (at him making me millions). Then you get all the posters who are "upset and outraged". Where was the outrage before? How many battered women's shelters have you volunteered for prior to or even after? The answer is the amount of wins the Patriots have. It's the flavor of the month club. Bulling, domestic violence, DUI - all important issues people are outraged about but 99% NEVER DO ONE THING ABOUT. Where's the action? NOW wants the commish gone. Where the F have they been? The only circus act were missing is Sharpton or Jackson. But since it wasn't a white guy beating up a black girl then, hey why jump into the fray. This is all about being a bunch of hypocrites acting like they actually care what happens. Thank god he doesn't play for the Dolphins (thought I would somehow link this to the on the Miami Dolphins Forum).
The extra emphasis on personal conduct off the field is something that Goodell himself has brought to the game. Why are some so adamant that Goodell should NOT give a **** about Rice knocking out his girlfriend when he gives a **** about so many other things? The enforcement of the personal conduct policy has been random and arbitrary, IMO, and the Rice thing highlights that.
Because the NFL is a form of entertainment dependent an advertising-based business model and is consequently beholden to public opinion on matters involving conduct and behavior of its players. It's really not even that extraordinary you can be fired for domestic violence in any number of jobs, mine being one of them.
Why is it doing some small, token display of opposition(announcing opinion) against something unequivocally bad somehow way worse to you than not doing anything? How is it even hypocritical? And why are you still posting in this thread after complaining about it being here?
There are a lot of posts here I don't understand. People want this to go away; I get that. Media landslides can be tiring. Still... Goodell has often said he cares about the public image of the league. He backs that up with many of his actions. Here, the public is telling him that it sees domestic violence as worse than recreational and performance enhancing drugs. That's good feedback for a guy who cares about public image, isn't it? Somehow, though, the public is selectively outraged and hypocritical and should just let this die? I'm not a big fan of media ****storms, but the NFL has had this one coming. If this leads to reform of the way the NFL handles discipline, and if it leads to domestic violence being a little bit more taboo in the NFL workplace, where's the problem? People will have something new to be outraged about next week, and people who get outraged about people being outraged about a new thing every week will have a new piece of evidence in their mounting case against society. The world keeps spinning. If even a slight amount of change comes to the NFL, it will be a good thing, IMO.
No, he cannot just punish Rice however he chooses. The courts review league interpretation of its own rules through the "arbitrary and capricious" standard. Goodell is required to punish individuals based upon explicitly mandated policy, or by precedent for similar acts. If precedent for domestic violence is X games, Goodell can't decide to increase punishment when deciding an individual case. That essentially gives him the latitude to favor particular players and/or teams.
Maybe because when it's as you posted that its a token gesture, then it really at the end of the day doesn't really mean a hill of beans and just makes that person feel better about themselves. Its on the Dolphins forums; DOLPHINS FORUM so were supposed to add our comments and didn't you see where I for one actually tied it to the Dolphins in my post? The real reason is I am tired of witch hunts. After the Inc/Martin witch hunt I would think most Dolphin fans see that most of this is just the media (read drama queens) being drama queens and at the end of the day it's going to change nothing in most peoples lives.
Out of this Goodell, has indefinitely suspended Ray Rice, created strict domestic violence policy, and corrected a previous mistake of a weaker punishment under essentially request by the media/fans. How exactly is he not giving you exactly what you want? If you don't like Goodell and wanted him gone....that's cool. Yeah....the process was a little "Shady"...but so are the processes of the professionals who are in charge of prosecuting these fools in the first place. I mean...we have an "anonymous" law enforcement source providing voicemails of people they communicate with that's not even evidence for the Ray Rice crime. If this video was soooooo ready to be distributed....why didn't Law Enforcement or the Casino release the whole tape between February and now? I mean in Ferguson we had a tape in days of the "strong arm robbery." I mean....the whole thing is shady. But the end result....in Good Faith, Roger Goodell isn't sidestepping the issue and has addressed it with some bumps in the road.
IMO, at a minimum, he shouldn't be handling personal conduct discipline anymore. He has put himself in the public position of either being a liar or being incompetent at handing out discipline. I'd like to see him gone because he keeps trying to fix a game that isn't broken, but I'd settle for the league fixing some of its policies and setting up a better system for discipline.
I would agree there. Honestly, I don't like Companies playing that role period. I wish the NFL would have never taken up the mantel of "Morality Police." As for Goodell fixing a league that's not broken, as I stated in a previous post, I don't think Goodell is sitting in a room and coming up with this stuff by himself. Jerry and Bobby K and the boys make suggestions, I think Goodell takes htem as suggestions, does discovery and does what he has to do to implement based on the push from the owners. The owners are control freaks, I don't think for a minute they gave the keys to Roger to just start making tweaks to football as we know it. That's my personal opinion though. Honestly, I'd bet a lot of it is Jerruh's idea.
God, if this is true, get Goodell out like YESTERDAY! The league needs a commissioner strong enough and confident enough to be able to tell Jerruh to STFU from time to time. You may be right, but I would like to think that owners are smart enough to get that the NFL sells itself and doesn't need much tweaking. I may be wrong!
I don't think you'll ever get a commissioner hired by the owners who will tell them to STFU, let alone Jerry Jones. He won't even hire a legit GM for his own team. I think the owners want NFL to be on steroids on FIFA status. Could you imagine if there were 4 different NFLs? And 1 Champions league NFL? I think that is where their head is at. They want the NFL to be the biggest sport in the world not just the highest grossing based on just America. Due to logistics of football, I don't think that will ever be the case, but as owners its their jobs to grow the business that way. The commissioner is the elected representative of collective ownership. He's going to drive the ship where the owner's want it. He's the CEO....but they own the company.
The CBA that the owners and players both agreed upon gives him the right to act based on what he considers the specifics of the incident merit. There's been plenty of players whom have complained about the arbitrary and inconsistent nature of Goodell's punishments, and seemingly ample ground for court cases in that area. There was a wide range of suspensions for the players and coaches involved in the Saints bounty program based on what Goodell considered their level of involvement. It's not like there's been a consistent punishment for domestic violence, either. There's been 1, 2, and 3-game suspensions, and the 3-game suspension had the player in question(Michael Pittman) noting that he could have been suspended longer: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1826233
Guess I can't even come to a Miami Dolphins site and not see something about Ray Rice, and in the main "Miami Dolphins" forum no less. Incredible !