The NFL's commissioner Roger Goodell finally spoke out about his ludicrous two game suspension of Ray Rice for punching his girlfriend's lights out.
Goodell spoke Friday at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, addressing the media for the first time since the NFL announced Rice's controversial suspension last week.
"We have a very firm policy that domestic violence is not acceptable in the NFL, and there are consequences for that," the commissioner said. "Obviously, when we are going through the process of evaluating an issue and whether there will be discipline, you look at all of the facts that are available to us."
Goodell also fielded multiple questions about the widespread public reaction to the length of Rice's suspension, which has been criticized as lenient compared with other NFL suspensions for substance abuse and off-field incidents.
"We have to remain consistent," he said. "We can't just make up the discipline. It has to be consistent with other cases, and it was in this matter."
"You've got to deal with the facts, OK?" he said. "Now, when we have a drug program that's collectively bargained, and it has a step process, it takes four incidents before you actually reach a suspension in a drug-related case. So you have to respond to facts here."You know, you have a lot of people voicing their opinions, but I think it's important to understand that this is a young man who made a terrible mistake. [Rice's actions are] inconsistent with what we're all about, and we've dealt with it in a serious manner, and we're very confident that this young man understands where he is and what he needs to do going forward."
Make it stop. Goodell doesn't need the league to negotiate with the union to come up with an acceptable suspension for domestic abuse. Does he really feel that smacking around your girlfriend or wife only merits a two game suspension? If he cared deeply about the women abused then he would have suspended Rice for at least half the season and then taken on the union if they complained. But Goodell works for the owners and Rice is a valuable commodity for the Ravens so the commish will always rule in favor of the franchise over a battered women.
