sundaybluedysunday

July 24th, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^

People have been teeing off on this on twitter. Rice gets two games but Terrelle Pryor gets five for getting free tattoos when he wasn't even in the NFL. It's also a four game suspension if you test positive for adderall. Just a farce.

LSAClassOf2000

July 24th, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^

NBC ended their article with this bit of appropriate sarcasm:

"But perhaps more poignantly, he’ll be back on the field by October, when the NFL wraps itself in pink to remind us how valuable their female customers are to them."

Just a wonderful, strange world down there at the NFL office in New York. Potential year-long ban for pot, the threat of hefty fines for wearing the wrong cleats (the whole Brandon Marshall thing), but two games for a violent assault on someone. Roger Goodell hasn't perchance visited  small terrestrial planet known as Earth, has he?

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

July 24th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^

Assuming you're talking about Chris Kluwe, I rather doubt he's being "blackballed" for "supporting civil rights."  He's not on a team because he's not a very good punter and has one of the weakest punting legs in the league, and he's old and expensive for a punter.

Plus it's very hard to want to sign a guy who makes incredibly loud noises about suing when he doesn't get his way.  Michael Sam: not really a distraction.  "I'm suing the team because they didn't do enough about a coach who said things I didn't like" = HUGE distraction.

BiSB

July 24th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^

Two VERY different systems of punishment, with different standards of proof, rules of evidence, etc. No one suspended for steroids is ever convicted of anything. No one suspended for bumping an official or attempting to injure an opponent is ever convicted of anything. Tropp and Conboy never saw a courtroom.

In this case, there are witnesses to Ray Rice punching a woman in the face. There is video of him DRAGGING an unconscious woman out of an elevator. Conviction or no, you suspend his ass for WAY longer than two games.

jblaze

July 24th, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^

They are different, but your examples are not a fair comparison.

Steroids are against the NFL rules because of an unfair competitive advantage and bumping an official/ purposefully injuring an opponent happens on the field of play.

The video (of his alleged uppercut) was never released to the press. I think we both agree that Ray Rice is a sack of sh*t, but the NFL (or any league) should not be able to suspend players (and deprive them of income) when the police don't charge the player, especially for cases where the offense is routinely charged. It's the only neutral way to handle things.

I understand why the NFL suspended him (for PR and to not have protests at games), but that's not a good enough opinion, IMO.

bluesalt

July 24th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^

Their CBA gives Goodell pretty wide latitude on "personal conduct." Suffice it to say, Ray Rice's conduct was less than good. If the NFL doubted the evidence, Rice likely wouldn't have been suspended at all. It's pretty clear that they tolerate Rice's behavior more than that of others who've been suspended longer.

Michigania

July 24th, 2014 at 11:26 AM ^

So Josh Gordon gets suspended for a year, for harming nobody, while smoking a plant thats legal in Colorado even....   

..and Rice is caught on tape having knocked out his girlfriend and dragging her unconscious out of an elevator, and he gets a slap on wrist.

 

mGrowOld

July 24th, 2014 at 11:46 AM ^

Baltimore Ravens > Cleveland Browns I guess.

Only makes sense - a player beats the living shit out of women and gets a two-game suspension.  Josh Gordon wll miss the entire year for the henious crime of smoking a joint.  And I guess the year long suspensions only apply for these crimes against humanity only apply to players.  Havent heard anything about Mr Irsay getting asked to remove himself from the Colts now have we?

Seriously - how in the hell does Godell look himself in the mirror?

Clark Griswold

July 24th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^

So much for Roger trying to clean up the league. It's a disgrace. Another reason why the NFL sucks.

ChiBlueBoy

July 24th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^

Clearly the NFL inhabits some sort of hyper-Iowa, where everything is 40 years behind the rest of us. Smoking marijuana is a significant crime (we don't want a bunch of hippies running around), gay athletes are a major distraction, but beating a woman is just part of keeping her in line. If you cross the line and go too far, well, we understand, but we need to give you a slap on the wrist (wink, wink) so it doesn't look like we're condoning it.

Let me know when the NFL progresses 40 years, and I'll start watching it again.

AeonBlue

July 24th, 2014 at 4:08 PM ^

Point taken but, to clarify, it's the media making a stink about there being a distraction with Sam, not the NFL. Nobody actually inside the league has said anything about him being anything other than a model citizen and a rookie trying his hardest to make the team.

MGJS SuperKick Party

July 24th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^

Remember when Goodell was thought of as a good commissioner...

Not only has he removed a significant portion of the fun out of the game, players are getting away with a lot... It's all about the money.

Unfortunately, we have no alternatives, and when I say I am not going to watch, you all know I'm lying... So how do we fix this going forward?

Dawggoblue

July 24th, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^

Would you all feel as strongly about him deserving a longer suspension if it had been a man that he hit instead of a woman?

Dawggoblue

July 24th, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^

Why didn't you neg the guy who said no?  Clearly he believes you are wrong.

 

BTW, I agree with you.  However many people on this thread seem to be stressing the fact that he hit a woman, not that he committed assault. 

MGoManBall

July 24th, 2014 at 1:41 PM ^

Thanks for pointing that out. He has also been negged. 

I was more negging because our POSbang to NEGbang ratio has been thrown out of balance with our 4-5 POSbangs a week. We need to get our points under control. 

Sorry you had to feel the brunt of my crusade. You have earned a point back.

Dawggoblue

July 24th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^

That why so many of you think you are doing the right thing and "standing up for women" when in reality you are just feeding a culture that has held them back for years.  People can't be equal if you refuse to treat them as equals.

 

It's like all those people who sign Jay Leno's petition to end women's suffrage, keep fighting the good fight!

Prince Lover

July 24th, 2014 at 1:42 PM ^

Was that wr who killed a guy while drunk driving suspended? Can't think of his name, but he never did jail time because he paid off the family. I think he played for Cleveland and Pittsburgh.