The Ray Rice Fallout continues with a new NFL domestic violence policy...

[FreeTedWilliams]

First off, I think that it is amazing that Goodell admitted that he blew this! I'm fine with the punishments as outlined, I think it almost had to be more than the automatic 4 game suspension a positive drug tests results in.

The problem I forsee is the same one already mentioned here, what qualifies as "domestic abuse"?

If you make it a conviction, then the abused party, would almost certainly not press charges because they too would stand to lose a whole lot of money (and probably get a second dose of abuse). Some states have laws where the cops can press charges if the victim refuses to. The problem here, is as with many things, each case was different.

IF Goodell had done the right thing in the first place and suspended Rice for 6 games or more, he would not have had to issue this new rule to save face. I doubt seriously another clear cut case as Rice's will come along (or at least, not one caught on video). Its going to be a "he said, she said" and then the league and the player are stuck in a bind. This is going to create a major headache for someone, hopefully it won't be a Patriot.

 

[Koma]

As condon84 said, I don't think anyone is against the NFL punishing men who beat up wives/girlfriends. I do wonder, though, if this change would have taken place if Rice had received a 4 game suspension in the first place?

I'm not sure if Goodell has the power to do that. I know Roethlisberger got a 6 game suspension (reduced to 4), but I think that was under the old CBA. I'm not sure if anything changed in the current agreement. The 2 game suspension is what caused the backlash, that knocking out your girlfriend isn't as bad as testing positive for a recreational drug. I don't think there would have been as much of a reaction if Rice received a 4 game ban.

The end result is good, a harsher penalty for a harsher crime, but I think it came from Goodell mis-reading the situation and then reacting to the bad press.

 

[SB39]

First off, I think that it is amazing that Goodell admitted that he blew this! I'm fine with the punishments as outlined, I think it almost had to be more than the automatic 4 game suspension a positive drug tests results in.

The problem I forsee is the same one already mentioned here, what qualifies as "domestic abuse"?

I was kind of wondering that as well. Take, for instance, the Ben Roethlisberger rape accusation. Raping a stranger in the bathroom generally doesn't fall under the umbrella of "domestic violence" but it's certainly just as bad.

 

[Jackson 2]

I imagine the NFL will have their own investigative team who will look into each case irrespective of the outcome of the legal process (since in some cases the girlfriend/wife may drop charges).

I don't see why anyone would be against the NFL punishing men who beat up wives/girlfriends.

Unless those objecting are also...the elephant in the room...

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Okay, number 1, it's a good thing. Compare to Ray Rice's paltry slap on the wrist (while the NFL gets all ISIS if you smoke pot and crucifies the stoners). People can see the disproportionality there. It's too absurd to just let it go.

Number 2, I hope there's some kind of consensuality exemption, like if Tom and Giselle have a mutually agreed-on spanking thing.

Number 3: Also concerned about how evenly enforced this will be.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

By the way, now that Robin Williams is gone, I suppose it would just be bad taste to suggest a movie called "Goodell Hunting," where the kindly shrink continues to tell the chronic eff-up in the title role... "It's not your fault. You were with the Jets. It's not your fault."

Then the title character could grow up and take the world seriously n stuff.

(However, yes, I do support this particular move. I just wanted to ask if anybody did that riff.)

 

[Joker]

http://nolanationrising.com/2013/01/06/ray-lewis-better-role-model-than-sean-payton/

, what is it that Sean Payton did that was so terrible that banned him for a year? Ray Lewis was charged with four felony counts, two of them being murder. What did Sean Payton do? Did he gun someone down in cold blood and then dispose of the weapon? No. Did he get drunk on a bender down on Bourbon Street, try to drive home, and run someone over? No. Because if he did that he’d be back in the league like Dante Stallworth. Payton did something way worse than both of those…..wait a minute! The NFL, Roger Goodell, and Paul Tagliabue would like you to believe in the court of the NFL that Ray Lewis’s actions weren’t worse than Payton’s. Maybe I’m a little backwards, but isn’t narrowly avoiding the hangman by bribing him worse than allowing players to run a pay for performance ring?​

A perspective from a Saints POV. I am well known on this board as an outspoken critic of this little pampered rich kid weasel. I've been vilified, castigated and run over the coals for my outspoken critiques of Herr Goodell's administration, or lack thereof.

Looks like the worm has finally turned ,eh? I told anyone who would listen as far back as 2006 that this clown was in way over his unqualified head. It's 2014....just compare 2006 to today and tell me what a friggin' hero your boydell is now.No rhyme, no reason...just tepid "apologies" post facto after being dragged like the town whore through the streets of sports media.

He had to go after the 2007 Spygate fiasco practically destroyed the reputation of not only the Patriots but the hard working fans of N.E. who KNOW the truth and KNOW he's a little rich kid WAY OVER HIS HEAD. He possesses ZERO awareness as far as public fan awareness goes. NOW the emperor has no clothes....uh, yeah, knew that 8 years ago.

 

[Fencer]

The tougher it is to get a conviction for something, the harsher the sentence needs to be when you do convict, assuming you want deterrence.

Problem: This can lead to justice being rather random.

It's hard to avoid that problem in the area of domestic abuse, for reasons stated above (victims not wanting to lose their livelihood) and otherwise.

 

[Joker]

yeah...what could a video of Ray Rice smashing his girlfriend, knocking her unconscious and dragging on the floor by the hair out of an elevator really prove? That IS a problem...OK...two games it is!

 

[SB39]

, what is it that Sean Payton did that was so terrible that banned him for a year? Ray Lewis was charged with four felony counts, two of them being murder. What did Sean Payton do? Did he gun someone down in cold blood and then dispose of the weapon? No. Did he get drunk on a bender down on Bourbon Street, try to drive home, and run someone over? No. Because if he did that he’d be back in the league like Dante Stallworth.

Actually they were both suspended a year, so he was back in the league like Dante Stallworth.

Payton did something way worse than both of those…..wait a minute! The NFL, Roger Goodell, and Paul Tagliabue would like you to believe in the court of the NFL that Ray Lewis’s actions weren’t worse than Payton’s. Maybe I’m a little backwards, but isn’t narrowly avoiding the hangman by bribing him worse than allowing players to run a pay for performance ring?

What you need to understand is the league will treat on-field infractions differently than off-field infractions. The integrity and safety of the game and players needs to be preserved and deliberately targeting opponents for injury threatens the game itself. You let a guy get away with it and then everyone's doing it.

As for Ray Lewis, I think the guy literally got away with murder but the league would have a very tough time lowering the boom on a guy who was charged with a crime only to have those charges eventually dropped.

 

[Joker]

Thanks for the clarification, Mrs. Goodell.

 

[SB39]

Thanks for the clarification, Mrs. Goodell.

No worries. I am always glad to help people not smart enough to understand these things on their own.

 

[Joker]

really...like the posts, by the dozens BTW, YOU made regarding the judge and the Saints players??? You DO remember ,don't you? I have them all archived in a folder on my desktop in fact. You remember "Goodell will crush them...no judge will hear this case!!!"..remember, genius???

"

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell responded with some of the most severe sanctions in the league's 92-year history, and among the most severe punishments for in-game misconduct in North American professional sports history. Williams was suspended indefinitely, while Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season—the first time in modern NFL history that a head coach has been suspended for any reason—and Loomis was suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt was suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season. The Saints organization was fined $500,000, and forced to forfeit their second-round draft selections in 2012 and 2013. On May 2, 2012, four current and former Saints players were suspended after being named as ringleaders in the scandal, with linebacker Jonathan Vilma being suspended for the entire 2012 season—the longest suspension for an on-field incident in modern NFL history.[6]

Most of the players who were the targets of questionable hits by the Saints, including Brett Favre and Kurt Warner, claimed the bounties were merely part of the game.[7] However, several former players interviewed by Sports Illustrated said that while payments for good hits and sacks were indeed considered part of the game, bounties for intentionally injuring opponents violated an unwritten code.

However on July 26, 2012, Vilma and seven witnesses from the Saints testified in front of a federal judge in New Orleans that Goodell got his facts wrong, and there was no bounty scheme.[8] At least one legal expert agreed that Goodell had overstepped his authority.[9]

On December 11, 2012, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, appointed to hear the appeals, vacated all of the players' suspensions, saying that the coaches were primarily responsible for the scheme. But the damage had already been done; the 2012 Saints finished with a losing record (7-9) and did not make the playoffs."​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Saints_bounty_scandal

Quit while you're behind, bunky. You suck at being a shill.

 

[DarrylS]

Godell and his boyz in NYC, need to get together and codify all of the possible offenses in the NFL and then be consistent.. the idea of making changes in the rear view mirror is ludicrous.

Our history shows that when you make a reactionary rule it usually has unintended consequences, such as in this case it may be a wife/girlfriends reluctance to report...

At best the NFL discipline policy has been inconsistent and makes little sense..

Tyms is an excellent example, supposedly he did not provide evidence that he was prescribed Adderall so he after being tested he was suspended... how stupid is that?? Tyms should have followed the procedure but the NFL should have taken a look at why he did it.

Who would think that 20 something millionaires might have evidence of "M" in their system??

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Godell and his boyz in NYC, need to get together and codify all of the possible offenses in the NFL and then be consistent.. the idea of making changes in the rear view mirror is ludicrous.

Hammurodger.

 

[203Pat]

All I think this is going to do is stop a lot of these wives from reporting the abuse so as not to stop the gravy train.

 

[SB39]

really...like the posts, by the dozens BTW, YOU made regarding the judge and the Saints players??? You DO remember ,don't you? I have them all archived in a folder on my desktop in fact. You remember "Goodell will crush them...no judge will hear this case!!!"..remember, genius???

No I don't because I never said anything remotely like what you implied. The fact that you have to put words in my mouth and criticize me for things I never said speaks volumes.

I do, however, remember you announcing to all the board you put me in your ignore file, so I guess you don't even have the self discipline to keep to your own grand pronouncements.

 

[SB39]

All I think this is going to do is stop a lot of these wives from reporting the abuse so as not to stop the gravy train.

I believe that sort of thing is probably already happening to some extent anyway.

 

[Marinlik]

Godell and his boyz in NYC, need to get together and codify all of the possible offenses in the NFL and then be consistent.. the idea of making changes in the rear view mirror is ludicrous.

Our history shows that when you make a reactionary rule it usually has unintended consequences, such as in this case it may be a wife/girlfriends reluctance to report...

At best the NFL discipline policy has been inconsistent and makes little sense..

Tyms is an excellent example, supposedly he did not provide evidence that he was prescribed Adderall so he after being tested he was suspended... how stupid is that?? Tyms should have followed the procedure but the NFL should have taken a look at why he did it.

Who would think that 20 something millionaires might have evidence of "M" in their system??

We have absolutely no idea if what Tyms said is true. He might very well have lied.

 

[flasox27]

All this proves is that the POS commissioner plays favorites. Does anyone think that if a Pats player pulled a Ray Rice the penalty would be on two games. What do expect from a person who pals around with a murderer whose primay accomplishment was being more efficient in destroying evidence than Hernandez