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Source: www.youtube.com / Via: www.youtube.com
The Ray Rice story could have ended months ago. The league could have acted when it first saw evidence that the Baltimore Ravens running back had been physically abusive to his wife. The latest video from TMZ Sports, from inside the elevator, should not have even been necessary.
Perhaps the NFL and the Ravens finally saw an opportunity to correct the mistake it had made months ago when deciding not to immediately ban Rice from the game. Now, however, they have a much larger PR problem on their hands, as an anonymous Associated Press source says that NFL executives received the video five months ago.
The only conclusion now is that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his staff engaged in a massive cover-up to keep this video from becoming public. (Again, it shouldn’t matter, as video from outside the elevator, of Rice dragging then-fiancee Janay Palmer out of the elevator already reveals the extent of his brutality that evening.)
For my part, Keith Olbermann’s summation and argument about this scandal and those who are complicit in Rice’s actions is the most powerful to date:
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Source: www.youtube.com / Via: www.youtube.com
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This is what scares me the most. I’m a football fan. I watch it for about nine hours every Sunday. Is Olbermann right? Am I helping to support men who beat their girlfriends and wives by watching NFL games?
I don’t know the answer to this question. I agree with health advocates about the detrimental effects of repeated concussions, I’m on board that domestic abuse must be stopped and those who perpetrate it must be outed for the scum that they are. And yet, I still watch.
People much smarter than me have commented on this issue, so I’ll defer to them: Chuck Klosterman, Peter Beinart, Jason Kottke.
I’ll leave you with this. If you’re just a casual fan of the NFL, and not a die-hard football psycho like me, will you consider changing the channel?
Die hard NFL fans are not going to stop watching. The NFL should be TERRIFIED of what their image is doing to semi-casuals like me.
— Patrick Minton (@nbageek) September 10, 2014
