Yahoo: Goodell, NFL in fight to save public image as Rice scandal deepens

[CCBoy]

Thanks for your service, BTW. Should of said that earlier.

Thank you dragon...I'm humbled by such responses.






I couldn't care less about whether or not Goodell is fired but it's up to his employers not you, me or the media.

 

[erod]

It was Bounty Gate non stop.

Then Richie Incognito was mean to Jonathan Martin.

Then it was Jim Irsay.

Then it was the Commanders nickname.

Then it was Michael Sam.

Then it was Jerry's party pics.

Then it was Ray Rice.

Now it's Roger Goodell.

I didn't even mention the Vikings party boat, Michael Vick, the Brown's owner, Aaron Hernandez, Farve's private selfies, etc, etc, etc.

Football is never about football anymore.

This happens when you cater to casual fans.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I couldn't care less about whether or not Goodell is fired but it's up to his employers not you, me or the media.

In the end it is up to the fans. Without the fans there is no NFL. Without the fans, there's no reason for companies to buy advertising and sponsorships.






YR

 

[Yakuza Rich]

It was Bounty Gate non stop.

Then Richie Incognito was mean to Jonathan Martin.

Then it was Jim Irsay.

Then it was the Commanders nickname.

Then it was Michael Sam.

Then it was Jerry's party pics.

Then it was Ray Rice.

Now it's Roger Goodell.

I didn't even mention the Vikings party boat, Michael Vick, the Brown's owner, Aaron Hernandez, Farve's private selfies, etc, etc, etc.

Football is never about football anymore.

This happens when you cater to casual fans.

Incognito was more than just 'mean' to Jonathan Martin.

And you can say this about every sport there is. And it goes down to the collegiate level as well.

It's not about catering to the casual fans, it's how our society likes to dig into gossip.

I mean, the elevator video was released by TMZ who is not hurting for any money anytime soon.





YR

 

[CCBoy]

NFLPA appeal of Rice suspension necessary, and potentially useful
Posted by Mike Florio on September 12, 2014, 2:05 PM EDT
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-suspension-necessary-and-potentially-useful/

Getty Images

On the day Ray Rice was due to return to the Ravens after his two-game suspension ended, the NFL officially imposed an indefinite suspension on the currently unemployed running back.

After a week of conflicting reports and comments and off-the-record quotes regarding whether Rice lied to the Commissioner, the Commissioner has informed Rice that he essentially lied to the Commissioner. But Rice hasn’t been suspended for lying to the Commissioner; Rice has been suspended a second time for something the NFL knew or should have known Rice did.

For that reason alone, the NFLPA must file a grievance appealing the NFL’s effort to suspend Rice a second time for the same conduct. The NFL had the information, or easily could have gotten the information, necessary for concluding that Rice did what the video shows he did — Rice struck Janay Palmer Rice and knocked her out.

No matter what anyone thinks of Rice or what he did, Rice has rights. And if those rights aren’t defended, a bad precedent will be set, allowing the NFL the unilateral ability to conjure a Mulligan whenever an initial suspension is criticized and some new piece of evidence that they should have had in the first place (and maybe did have) is leaked to the public. For the same reason the NFLPA is fighting the Patriots’ effort to not pay money owed to tight end Aaron Hernandez, the NFLPA must fight this apparent effort to suspend Rice a second time for the same set of facts.

If/when (when) the NFLPA files an appeal, the process of resolving it could generate potentially useful information about what the Ravens and the NFL knew, and when they knew it. With the investigator hired by the league necessarily not independent by virtue of his firm’s many tentacles with the NFL and its teams, the appeal hearing could result in the dissemination of documents and the generation of testimony that will shed considerable light on many of the questions the league has avoided answering.

Things also could get interesting in light of the fact that the NFL essentially has called out Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome, a Hall of Fame player who deserves a second bust for his work as a personnel executive. Newsome said Rice didn’t lie. The league says, essentially, that Rice did...

 

[CCBoy]

League says video was “starkly different” than Rice’s version
Posted by Darin Gantt on September 12, 2014, 12:18 PM EDT
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...deo-was-starkly-different-than-rices-version/

Reuters
Well, now we have an explanation.

It just needs an explanation.

According to Jane McManus of ESPN.com, the NFL informed Ray Rice that it increased his suspension from two games to indefinite because the video they eventually saw showed a “starkly different” sequence of events than what Rice described previously.

In short, the league is relying on the “Ray lied to us” defense, which goes against what Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome described.

Of course, Ravens president Dick Cass contradicted Newsome as well, saying the video “just looks very different than what we understood the facts to be.”

Again, this just gets us back to the problem of not having or not having access to a transcript of Rice’s meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell.

The NFLPA has three days to appeal the suspension, and a source tells McManus that they’re “considering all options.”

Generally, fighting a he said-she said fight on behalf of a wife-beater is not a position a union would eagerly take on.

But in the current climate, with public trust in Goodell and the NFL at low tide, they might be inclined to.

 

[CCBoy]

Senators ask NFL to institute no-tolerance policy for domestic abuse
1 day ago By Associated Press

http://t.sports.msn.com/nfl/senators-ask-nfl-to-institute-no-tolerance-policy-for-domestic-abuse




WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sixteen female senators from both parties called on the National Football League Thursday to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on domestic violence.

The senators said they were "shocked and disgusted" by a video showing former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee and knocking her unconscious.

"Tragically, this is not the only case of an NFL player allegedly assaulting a woman even within the last year," the senators wrote in a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The senators said they were deeply concerned that a new policy Goodell announced last month would let a player commit a violent act and return to the field after a six-game suspension.

"If you violently assault a woman, you shouldn't get a second chance to play football in the NFL," the letter said.

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California put the letter together. It's signed by 14 Democrats and two Republicans. Four other female senators -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- did not sign the letter, which Boxer's office said was put together quickly after the Rice video was released earlier this week.

Goodell, who initially suspended Rice for two games for the February incident, said last month that he "didn't get it right" with Rice. The league set up new penalties for domestic violence: a six-game suspension for a first offense, at least a year for a second...

 

[Rogah]

"If you violently assault a woman, you shouldn't get a second chance to play football in the NFL," the letter said.

Good luck getting the union to sign off on that policy.

 

[CCBoy]

Good luck getting the union to sign off on that policy.

They're made up of men...and there should be an integrity and pride attached as well.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

Dude, we finally agree.

If Goodell loses his job over this. That would be total bs.

But I don't think I hear Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton calling for his head because this (rice hitting and wife backing him is just stupid). They know that.

Its utterly ridiculous, but I dont feel a bit sorry for Goodell. He's put himself in this situation. His dictator style was bound to come back and bite him. And in this situation he's created the mess by trying to cater to public opinion. Trying to say the right thing to appease the unappeasable and he makes it worse.

In reality it would be silly to fire the guy over an elevator video but this is the world we live in. Once the mediot sharks grab onto something and taste the blood the frenzy is hard to stop until the prey is lifeless. Combine that with the general public's desire for sacrificial lambs to be offered routinely and it wouldnt be surprising to see him go down. Everyone will be temporarily satisfied until some artificial wound can be inflicted on another public figure and the cycle starts all over.

In the mean time Jerry is licking his wounds and hoping they are scabbed over by the time the Goodell frenzy is over and new blood is in the water from somebody else. Maybe AP beating a kid will be good for Jerry, but not so much for Goodell.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

They're made up of men...and there should be an integrity and pride attached as well.

The NFL should just set the policy. If the NFLPA balks over the CBA, tell em too bad, this is the way it is. Non negotiable. Period! Public opinion right now would not favor the NFLPA.

 

[31smackdown]

This is all about ratings and clicks and the need to fill the gossip, sensational, celebrity thirst that a large audience has today. Is it terrible? yes. But why is it more terrible just because there is video? It's not. It's just more sensational and makes for good ratings. Since when has any sports organization been the poster child for perfect citizen? Again, that's not to say the behavior is acceptable, but that's why there are fines and punishments agreed to for these actions along with a legal system. Should we start asking all companies for their employee records and how the infractions were handled? Are you really going to stop watching football because it's contains 10% criminal employees? People just like to have something to get on a soapbox about and scream how wrong it is and sadly in today's world it is typically to draw attention to themselves for their own benefits. You are never going to have a perfect employee rating and you certainly are not going to have that when your employees are 21-28 year old kids from many times not the best of upbringings. The NFL has their set of rules and regulations, which also includes testing and penalties for many things that are not illegal or unlawful and that is what they use to govern outside of the legal system. Accept what that standard is or move on.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Senators ask NFL to institute no-tolerance policy for domestic abuse

Am I really reading this headline? Senators, who are actually involved in the process of the creation of the laws of the country, are asking the NFL to have no tolerance for domestic abuse. Seriously? You think maybe you can figure out something you can do to help?

 

[BringBackThatOleTimeBoys]

This has gone viral: #FireGoodell