Ray Rice wins appeal; free agent can now sign with any NFL team

nah...I just prefer to state once again, for the millionth time, that this Disgustioner, this pinheaded, cyclopic ,mongoloidal rhinoceroidell needs to be shown the door...at which point he can receive a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury investigating possible RICO violations under his watch.

Deus Irae said:

Rice won, as he should have. Goodell got smacked down, as he should have.

From ESPN's pull of the decision:

"In this arbitration, the NFL argues that Commissioner Goodell was misled when he disciplined Rice the first time. Because, after careful consideration of all of the evidence, I am not persuaded that Rice lied to, or misled, the NFL at his June interview, I find that the indefinite suspension was an abuse of discretion and must be vacated," Jones' decision stated.

"I find that the NFLPA carried its burden of showing that Rice did not mislead the Commissioner at the June 16th meeting, and therefore, that the imposition of a second suspension based on the same incident and the same known facts about the incident, was arbitrary," Jones also wrote.

"The Commissioner needed to be fair and consistent in his imposition of discipline.

"Moreover, any failure on the part of the League to understand the level of violence was not due to Rice's description of the event but to the inadequacy of words to convey the seriousness of domestic violence. That the League did not realize the severity of the conduct without a visual record also speaks to their admitted failure in the past to sanction this type of conduct more severely."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...ore-ravens-wins-appeal-eligible-reinstatement

Y'all can get back to arguing insensibly about both cases, now.

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Like with many of his posts, I was about to hit the Like button until I got to the very last sentence.

Deus Irae said:

Rice won, as he should have. Goodell got smacked down, as he should have.

From ESPN's pull of the decision:

"In this arbitration, the NFL argues that Commissioner Goodell was misled when he disciplined Rice the first time. Because, after careful consideration of all of the evidence, I am not persuaded that Rice lied to, or misled, the NFL at his June interview, I find that the indefinite suspension was an abuse of discretion and must be vacated," Jones' decision stated.

"I find that the NFLPA carried its burden of showing that Rice did not mislead the Commissioner at the June 16th meeting, and therefore, that the imposition of a second suspension based on the same incident and the same known facts about the incident, was arbitrary," Jones also wrote.

"The Commissioner needed to be fair and consistent in his imposition of discipline.

"Moreover, any failure on the part of the League to understand the level of violence was not due to Rice's description of the event but to the inadequacy of words to convey the seriousness of domestic violence. That the League did not realize the severity of the conduct without a visual record also speaks to their admitted failure in the past to sanction this type of conduct more severely."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...ore-ravens-wins-appeal-eligible-reinstatement

Y'all can get back to arguing insensibly about both cases, now.

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It really speaks to Goodell actions that he makes Ray Rice look like the good guy in this affair.

RxJock1120 said:

They got enough of foreheads to go around though...

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It just dawned on me...that large forehead is the perfect landing pad for a tea bag.

Danger Zone said:

Like with many of his posts, I was about to hit the Like button until I got to the very last sentence.

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I feel the opposite. I feel Deus is a quality poster/person and has made very intelligent posts that are often times very enlightening. I don't agree with Deus 100% of the time, but I don't agree with anyone 100% of the time. However, I often times do agree with Deus. Overall, Deus is an outspoken poster who lays it all out on the line ,but does so with class and integrity. Thus, there's no need to keep making snide comments about Deus because you don't agree with him.

Back to the topic. My take is that Goodell mishandled this case. I feel he knew about what really happen in that elevator way before the tape leaked and swept it under the rug. I believe he saw the infamous tape before the leak by TMZ and I also believe Ray Rice gave him a full account of what really happened on that elevator. Despite all that Goodell initially only suspended Ray for 2 games and downplayed Ray Rice's actions in order to justify his light punishment.

Goodell tried to save face once the tape went public by suspending Ray indefinitely. All the while acting like he never saw the tape before TMZ released it. He thought the tape wouldn't go public and just decided to lie to the public and act like he didn't know the severity of Ray's actions in the elevator.

Goodell was WRONG and should have been honest with the public and let the proper people/entities deal with this case. This is why many people don't trust the NFL when it comes to dealing with these off the field issues because they don't know how to handle them properly.

obgod3 said:

Actually I couldn't care less about Ray Rice. If he was a normal citizen he would be in jail, this guy got off because of who he is.

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Although you're correct in that he received leniency in the state of NJ under the parameters of his charge(s) that supposedly 99 percent of the rest of the population charged with the same crime do NOT receive, he still wouldn't have done any jail time with it being a first offense on a dime a dozen charge. Just to show how lucky he was, in the state of NJ in 2013, approx. 3,000 people were charged with his felony III charge (causing some type of bodily harm), and only .85 percent were accepted into a pre-trial intervention program like he was.

In other words, yes--he was given special treatment by being allowed into a pre-trial intervention case, but no--he wasn't looking at jail/prison time either.

This was a pre-trial intervention vs. probation case leaning heavily toward probation, so in that sense he got lucky. Ray Rice was never going to see any jail/prison time though. There's 100 percent no doubt about that, as unfortunate as it is. It's simply too common of a charge, especially for someone with little or no record. His sentencing score wouldn't have warranted anything close to that.

Ivan said:

Neither. When I first heard about Rice I assumed it was a really big mistake on his part and more of a momentary lapse, however when I saw just how indifferent he was while she was out cold I realized it was more likely a common occurrence because I cannot imagine anyone responding that way if it wasn't. She could have been dead for all he knew but he acted like her unconsciousness was inconveniencing him. What a POS.

Peterson doesn't think he did anything wrong, he is just saying what he has to.

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Well-argued. Rice threw a quick punch in self-defense, and based just on that it could have been an unfortunate miscalibration by a man who, while he has a professional athlete's reflexes, doesn't have the professional duty to be an expert in that particular kind of situation.

But yeah -- he didn't seem shocked by the punch's effect at all.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/ron_borges/2014/11/borges_sacked_by_blind_justice

Borges vs. Goodell -- who do we root for?

Just today I saw a physical altercation between a man and a woman on the other side of the street, while I was out walking with my stepdaughter, son-in-law and infant grandson. My reflex was to go, but they stopped me. On the other hand, they had no objection to staying and watching, in case witnesses would help keep the thing from escalating.

The woman definitely did some of the attacking. At the end, the guy walked away and she cycled off. I suspect they are in a relationship, and at least one of them is getting abused. But since both were free to leave under their own power, evidently unhurt, my companions were probably right that we shouldn't have gotten more involved than the very minor way in which we did.

Fencer said:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/ron_borges/2014/11/borges_sacked_by_blind_justice

Borges vs. Goodell -- who do we root for?

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Borges is not to be trusted with Patriots reporting, but in this case he seems spot on. This article explains many things, including (1) why Goodell hasn't hardly been seen in public in recent weeks, (2) that he simply has TOO MUCH power as his role currently is structured, and (3) the commissioner's job should be made totally independent of ownership and redefined to where direct league financial concerns are not his primary mission.

scout said:

Let me get this straight: Beating a child is equal to beating a female adult? Followed up with your defense that you know plenty of people who turned out ok from beatings.
Oh and by the way, Peterson lost a son (death) only a few years ago to physical abuse.

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This is my personal view. Anyone that has it in them to harm children, the elderly, or dogs. Are pieces of ****. For anyone that thinks what AP did was "discipline" your a ******. I was disciplined as a child, never beaten like that though.

The fact, that it seems people are so quick to forgive AP, but still want to kick down RR, just shows how brainwashed some people are by the media. You have the reaction that you do towards RR because you seen the video, but completely ignore the fact that since 2000, 85 of the 715 arrests were for domestic disputes. You all are puppets for thinking that....

Meanwhile, AP 7 different children with 7 women. One of them murdered, and I think there's been 2 counts of him beating his kids. Practically a non existent father, but he gets a free pass though....

I suspected this outcome all along, the personal conduct policy should have been revised a while ago, to revise it now and hold folks accountable for previous behavior is folly..

What that spineless suck up Goodell did was suspend him with the knowledge that he had no right to, then deferred to the arbitrator who had no real choice based on the issues framed..

The outcome is that Goodell tried, but the Arbitrator did it.. classic bullshyt, from the chief bullshytter. Wonder if the NFL owners are fed up yet??

DarrylS said:

I suspected this outcome all along, the personal conduct policy should have been revised a while ago, to revise it now and hold folks accountable for previous behavior is folly..

What that spineless suck up Goodell did was suspend him with the knowledge that he had not right to, then deferred to the arbitrator who had no real choice based on the issues framed..

The outcome is that Goodell tried, but the Arbitrator did it.. classic bullshyt, from the chief bullshytter. Wonder if the NFL owners are fed up yet??

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The NFL owners created this Frankenstein's monster and then set him free. They need to make the extraordinarily courageous move, for their own good and that of the league, of establishing an independent commissioner's office whose primary role is not enriching their bank accounts.

Does anybody know the cap implications of the reinstatement??? If he wins his grievance over the salary, how does that affect dead money??


http://overthecap.com/salary-cap/baltimore-ravens

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/...under-nfl-salarycap-limit-20140910-story.html
(link from when he was released)


"With former star running back Ray Rice's $35 million contract terminated, the Ravens are now $6.338 million under the NFL salary-cap limit of $133 million.
That includes a net savings of $3.529 million in salary and cap space for this year with the subtraction of Rice's salary as well as $4.755 million in dead money for this fiscal year. In 2015, though, Rice will count on the Ravens' books for a hefty $9.5 million in dead money."

Beating up people is ridiculous. Men hurting men included. Society is ridiculous to "boys will be boys" fights that involve men. In 40 years, I've found it very very easy to NOT get in any physical altercation. It hasn't taken up any of my time or effort to stay out of fights.

Ray Rice : no thanks. Who needs him ? Sadly, what is actually keeping him away is much less the incident, and much more his age and diminishing skills. Add to that the fact that we are late in the season...

This whole case still annoys me. Couples fight. This one went too far but they got over it seemingly months ago. It seems like the wife had to beg the nation for forgiveness so her husband may work again. It feels like this is the first domestic violence case ever and despite whatever the people involved wanted(a quick 2 game suspension) he was going to be crucified and Goodell played the role of coward by appeasing the people.

Deus Irae said:

Y'all can get back to arguing insensibly about both cases, now.

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Gosh, thanks Deus, we all bow down to your superiority.



Hey everyone, deus has given us his supreme blessing to continue the discussion.

doesntmatter1 said:

This whole case still annoys me. Couples fight. This one went too far but they got over it seemingly months ago. It seems like the wife had to beg the nation for forgiveness so her husband may work again. It feels like this is the first domestic violence case ever and despite whatever the people involved wanted(a quick 2 game suspension) he was going to be crucified and Goodell played the role of coward by appeasing the people.

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I agree with your analysis.

Rice is indeed scum for hitting his fiancee. The legislature and courts are there to decide what punishment is appropriate for a first time offender. As is often the case, the law did its job. As is also often the case, the courts were lenient in the case of public figures. Yes, most prosecuted were dealt harsher punishment. Of course, thousands more cases were simply dismissed or settled out of court.

The league deals with these issues on a case by case basis. The rules have now changed. Goodell did what the owners wanted (as he always does). Complain to Kraft if you wish. He is one of the top leaders of ownership. Goodell's actions were WRONG. He should not have exacted a punishment that was illegal under the CBA, no matter how many folks here and in the media wanted him to do so. He folded.

The case is where it should be. Rice might sue the league for lost wages, but only if someone were to sign him up before the end of the year. This matter should have been, and should be a private matter. YES, Rice should be punished. Perhaps he should pay his fiancee millions in damages. That is NOT a matter for the league. The league has decided to become even more involved in the criminal justice system, adding their own investigation and punishment for crimes that have nothing to do with football.

Yes, any team has a right to cut anyone for this kind of personal behavior. Or the team could make sure that the family received help and therapy, and that the victim comes out of this in good financial situation.
That is NOT the role of the league. The player is an employee of the team.

BTW, is the couple together? What has Rice's behavior been like in the intervening months. Has Rice received treatment? Does anyone care? Or should Rice be banned for life so that a point can be made by the league with regard to spousal violence?
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BOTTOM LINE
I don't think that any team will sign him, other than the Ravens who certainly might. If I were the Ravens, I would likely sign him with conditions regarding therapy and future conduct. In any case, Rice will not and should not be banned for life for his crime. That is not the role of the NFL. We COULD have a thread on what crimes such a punishment should apply to.

Christiancat said:

I feel the opposite. I feel Deus is a quality poster/person and has made very intelligent posts that are often times very enlightening. I don't agree with Deus 100% of the time, but I don't agree with anyone 100% of the time. However, I often times do agree with Deus. Overall, Deus is an outspoken poster who lays it all out on the line ,but does so with class and integrity. Thus, there's no need to keep making snide comments about Deus because you don't agree with him.

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If I was to direct towards you Christiancat the kind of belittling comments and insults Deus has directed towards me (and many, many, many others) in the past, you'd be running to the Mods and accusing me of being "mean"..

Sure there was a little snideness in what I wrote, but you know, there was a lot of compliment in there too.

And I suspect that Deus was not so much being "classy" but snide himself in how he chose to conclude that post.

Deus Irae said:

Y'all can get back to arguing insensibly about both cases, now.

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Still, if you ever get around to actually criticizing him about something he said yourelf one day, please, please give me a heads up. I'd love to see where that conversation ends up.

Fencer said:

Well-argued. Rice threw a quick punch in self-defense, and based just on that it could have been an unfortunate miscalibration by a man who, while he has a professional athlete's reflexes, doesn't have the professional duty to be an expert in that particular kind of situation.

But yeah -- he didn't seem shocked by the punch's effect at all.

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Self defense? Are you kidding?

They were arguing, but she came up to him with her hands by her side. did he think she was going to head butt him? I seriously doubt he was in fear for his life.