NFL Scandals

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Olivia Welch

Alvarez

WRD 110

22 September 2014

NFL Scandals

It’s no secret that famous people, whether it be athletes, actresses, or singers, get treated differently than your average citizen. This could be considered a good and a bad thing. I’m sure it’s nice to be known by everyone and looked up to all around the world, but it comes with a price, especially when the topic of discussion isn’t positive. Their every move is discussed in magazines and on the news because they’re in the spotlight, and often times the media skews this information, making it very hard for the public to know what’s really going on.

The goings on of former Baltimore Ravens football player Ray Rice has caused lots of controversy in the media world lately. After a new video surfaced in September of his assault back in February on his then fiancée and now wife Janay Rice, he has been released by the Ravens and indefinitely suspended by the NFL. Back in March, TMZ released a video of Rice dragging his fiancée out of an elevator in a casino in Atlantic City. He initially was just given a two-game suspension, while teammate Wes Walker got a four-game suspension for using Adderall at the Kentucky Derby. This comparison in wrong doings and harshness of punishments obviously caused lots of discussion. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell later admitted he had made a mistake and Rice’s suspension was raised to “indefinitely”. There are many different views and opinions as

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to if his new punishment is too harsh or if he got what he deserved. Some news sources make it seem to be just as much Janay Rice’s fault, while others have no problem with Rice being released.

The Camera is to Blame?

In the Fox News article “Ray Rice Revulsion: How the media have let abusive athletes get away with it”, Howard Kurtz argues that he is well deserving of being the poster boy for a battering spouse. He acknowledges that there is a long line of professional athletes that have gotten away with violence with little to no punishment, but that doesn’t mean that this case is being blown out of proportion, the media has just played a bigger role.

“Take Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers, who was all set to play yesterday until the NFL team deactivated him at the last moment. A North Carolina judge found Hardy guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend in May. He is alleged to have pulled her hair, slammed a toilet seat on her arm and put his hands around her neck.  Hardy is appealing, but neither the league nor the Panthers have seen fit to make him sit out a single game. Here, as noted by Time, is the complaint by Hardy’s accuser. ‘I have bruises from head to toe, including my head, neck, back, shoulders arms, legs, elbow and feet. Hardy pulled me from the tub by my hair, screaming at me that he was going to kill me, break my arms and other threats that I completely believe. He drug me across the bathroom and out into the bedroom. Hardy choked me with both hands around my throat while I was lying on the floor. Hardy picked me up over his head and threw me onto a couch covered in assault rifles and/or shotguns. I landed on those weapons. Hardy

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bragged that all of those assault rifles were loaded. Landing on those weapons bruised [my] neck and back.’ And here’s what the woman said in court: ‘He looked me in my eyes and he told me he was going to kill me. I was so scared I wanted to die. When he loosened his grip slightly, I said just,`Do it. Kill me.’ And the team was okay with this guy representing the state of North Carolina on the playing field? Of course, there’s no video of Greg Hardy doing what he is alleged to have done. So he skates. No suspension.” (6-12)

When comparing the two stories, it becomes clear that Hardy isn’t punished simply because his actions weren’t caught on video camera. Who is the one in charge of these punishments? If NFL related, it looks like Rice was only punished not because the NFL thought it was morally wrong (or they would punish others also), but so they (the NFL) don’t look bad when these videos come out of their clients being violent. If Hardy’s accuser had obvious bruises and clearly wanted him to be in some sort of trouble with the law, why would it so calmly be brushed under the rug? To protect his NFL career? Any normal person would have to face some sort of consequence for these actions, but apparently not a professional football player with no proof against him. Why would the victim not choose to push this case any further? You have to wonder if she ever got anything out of this, but either way they were in no hurry to see that he was punished appropriately for his wrong doings; so no camera means game on.

Women Need to Take a Stand

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In Huffington Post article “What Ray Rice Should Mean for NFL’s Female Fan Base”, Dr. Peggy Drexler states that “if the men won’t stand up against violence towards women, then the women of the NFL need to.” Today 46% of NFL fans are women. There have been million dollar efforts and campaigns programmed to welcome women fans to the sport, but does that mean the NFL genuinely cares about women? She argues that they absolutely do not.

“On the surface, this would seem to be an encouraging move: A traditionally male-oriented, often female-exclusionary sport recognizing that fans can be, and are, of either gender. And yet, in its handling of running back Ray Rice’s assault against his then-fiancée, now-wife, Janay Palmer Rice, the NFL has proven that it does not care about women. As far as I’m concerned, this leaves women little choice but to return the favor. Can you believe in women’s rights and enjoy football? Can you be angry about Ray Rice and the NFL’s inadequate handling of him but still feel okay about watching the game? The answer, to both, is no.” (4)

Back in May when only a little portion of the Rice video was released (him dragging her out of the elevator), he was given a 2-game suspension and that was that. No one from the NFL chose to investigate that any further, and their motives are clear. The NFL is in charge of football, so obviously they aren’t going to want to make all these public scenes and lose players if they don’t have to. Is this wrong? Should they just let the police handle it without getting backlash about it? Drexler argues this is wrong and

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women should not be okay with it. They shouldn’t treat it so much like a business that they lose moral respect and views of what’s right and wrong. When the full video was released, Goodell was pressured to raise the consequences because it was such a widely known thing, but if this video had never been released the outcome probably would’ve been a much different story.

Geoff Mulvihill and Sean Carlin from the Huffington Post address the fact that he was entered into a rehabilitation facility instead of jail after knocking his fiancée unconscious. In “Intervention Program That Accepted Ray Rice is Rare in Domestic Assault Cases” they state that only 70 of more than 15,000 cases were admitted to this program. The Pretrial Intervention Program (PTI) allows suspects to avoid jail time and keep a clean record if they follow agreed-upon rules.

Rice Supporters?

“Advocates for victims of domestic violence have accused investigators of being too lenient on Rice, and lawmakers have called for a review. Defense attorneys and experts disagree about whether his stardom led to leniency, with some saying Rice’s fame, if anything, gave the case more scrutiny.” (4)

Rice fans and supporters are taking the stand that he has gotten in so much trouble due to the fact that he is a famous football player. When this is actually thought about, he

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could be a lot worse off. He is avoiding jail time and his relationship has actually gotten stronger (fiancée to wife) since the incident. Yes others have had accusations against them and have gotten in less trouble with the NFL, but his case was just the perfect storm. With all the media talking about it world wide they obviously felt a more serious stance needed to be taken. Just because others have gotten away with things without losing their career doesn’t mean that was necessarily right either by any means.

This video shows female Ray Rice supporters. They went to a Ravens game wearing his jersey, arguing that his punishment was unfair. One lady made the statement that Janay did hit him first, and “any woman that can hit a man can get hit back”. Others argued that other football players have made mistakes “like everyone does” yet are still on the field playing. Another woman also said that while she doesn’t support abuse, it wasn’t the NFL’s place to make such a huge decision, it was the courts.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/9/16/an_nfl_wife_tells_her_story

In this video you will see the ex-wife of a former NFL player share her story of abuse. In her situation her husband was getting help with a drug addiction through the NFL and would meet with him for counseling periodically. When wife Dewan Smith-Williams was fearful of her life and called this man, she got no response. This demonstrates the NFL is willing to help with drugs and alcohol abuse, but try to keep the

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domestic abuse side very under the radar. She expresses it was a tough situation to be in because coming out about it effects everything; how people view you, the risk of them losing their job, and just makes private things open to the media. She claims abuse was a very common topic of discussion among other football wives, and they considered it “pillow talk”. In Janay Rice’s situation, she seems to be very content to stay with her husband. Keep in mind she never “told on” him, this was all brought to the public by video. After the video went viral, Janay posted on instagram saying “to take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific”. You have to question why, even after the whole world has seen what she has been through with her husband, why she is staying with him and is so upset that he has been released. It would make sense to conclude that him losing her job means that the newlyweds would also be losing a lot of income. She obviously doesn’t have to stay quiet about their relationship problems because they are already out for everyone to see, so why would she still continue to act as if she can’t believe he’s in so much trouble?

After trying to view the Ray Rice scandal from many different sides, its safe to say someone is going to be upset no matter what the final outcome turns out to be. From his wife and many other females supporting him through thick and then, to people saying he deserves everything he gets, there really are so many different opinions on this story. Whether or not the NFL did too much by not letting the courts do their own thing with the situation will probably continue to cause controversy. You can’t punish everyone equally and every scenario is different but at some point something has to be done. This

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clearly is a big issue with wives and the NFL and I don’t see how it’s ever going to get any better unless drastic measures are taken. It’s unfortunate Ray Rice had to be the example for everyone, but now maybe things will start to change for the better throughout the NFL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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WORKS CITED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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