Ray Rice/ The NFL....REALLY?????

By de anne

When I heard the news, I was upset. When I saw the video, I was devastated. Then when I heard the NFL outcome…I was outraged.

I’m quite sure you all know who and what I’m referring to. In case you don’t, this is a horrible news story about a talented young athlete who punched his then fiancée and knocked her out, proceeded to drag her unconscious body out of an elevator and it was all caught on tape.

Where do we begin here? Do we start at the obvious horrific display of domestic violence or do we begin at the man’s professional football career, abruptly ended, as fast and furious as his lethal punch? Hard to say!

I am not going to go into the easy obvious route, where I spurt the evils and societal outrage at a man abusing a woman in anyway. Nor am I going to discuss the other obvious, the Battered Woman Syndrome, where the abused feel a need to take responsibility for the horrific, violent actions of the abuser.

There are truckloads of information on the whole sick situation of abused persons and the abuser, why they each take their part in the abuse and all the psychological ramifications of the whole messy situation. No! I’ll let you do that research, for my comments on the subject would be way too tainted and not becoming of a journalist or a writer in any way.

I do, however, want to display my outrage at the NFL. Yes, I know Rice was suspended a few games at first, they say, because they didn’t know the seriousness of the altercation in the elevator, that career ending day.

They are swearing like a sailor, that NOW, they are taking appropriate action, and they did, but they are still claiming to “not know about the interior footage of the elevator altercation”, between Rice and his now wife. REALLY?

So, a sleazy entertainment network of blood thirsty paparazzi, have privy to this video footage but not the NFL? REALLY? And if they did have knowledge of this whole scenario, they want me to believe(and the rest of the world), that proper actions would have been taken as they now took! REALLY?

I flat out don’t believe this statement! Do you? Think of all they had to loose from the acknowledgement of this video and the vicious actions of one of their BEST, MOST TALENTED and NEEDED players?? As it goes now, the Ravens are winging it without him; they know that, the fans know that and so does every invested person; the team, the NFL and RAY RICE managers, and all the companies that hired him for endorsements. We aren’t talking a small amount of money here…we’re talking millions and millions and lots of people are going to be very upset. Sweeping it all under the rug, as most of our athletes, politicians, clergy and so many other professions are expert at doing, didn’t work. Somebody didn’t divulge the truth about this footage and hoped it would all go away. It didn’t! Instead, what’s done in the dark, comes out in the light, and in this case, what’s done in an elevator, came out on tape and in the media! My, my!

So why the serious punishments for professional athletes taking drugs? They seem to really get the book thrown at them….for years drug use was covered up, and no smoking gun, but now mandatory testing has left that door wide open.

I don’t want to sound like judge and jury here, but it really smokes my pipe when the only true reason for the NFL’s outrage at Rice’s actions was due to the preverbal cat being let out of the bag and the public outrage had to be met. After all, football is a mind blowing business in this country which determines how numerous people will afford their lavish lifestyles on the backs of these overworked, injury lade ned and over stressed men doing all they can to WIN, for their team, their coach, the owners and the fans….lastly they do it for themselves…this is what I believe. It’s such an extremely demanding sport that one must have 300% of themselves invested at all times. They work, sleep, eat and breathe football and that’s what it takes. Marine like dedication, as they battle on their own warzones and prepare all year for it.

It starts early on, like with my son, at age 9, when football first grabbed him by the ….shoulders…and refused to let go. It taught him perseverance, dedication, discipline and what team work truly is. Weight lifting, running, numerous drills each and everyday; if you’rer tired, headache, knees hurt, whatever.. you man up and continue on! It starts young and by High School, it’s almost the norm for these guys. Rice was a dedicated, excellent, talented young man. He knew what it took to get where he got to. Hours of practice every day, injured or not, sick or not, they forge on like soldiers on their battlefield. The problem is this…he forgot to turn it off at times. That “kill ‘em” on the field attitude can be extremely dangerous off the field, just like when a soldier comes home from his war zone. When you’re conditioned day in and day out to be ferocious and that mindset is embedded in your very being. Turning that switch off can be almost impossible. Football is a violent sport, unlike tennis or swimming or even football, these guys are expected to sacrifice their very being in full contact, rushing each other and using their full force of 200+ lbs of sweat, muscle, bone and determination in doing so.

Am I excusing Rice’s behavior? Not at all! But I do understand it and I do believe the Spartans had it right. I think, if I remember correctly, they weren’t allowed marriage, women, no relationships so they could devastate as trained. Maybe that will be the fate of certain individuals who can’t turn it off, off the field. Maybe the women they encounter will refuse to be another player that they can devastate and maybe the women will stop blaming their actions on the guys reactions. There’s no true answer to this dilemma. I feel for this guy losing it all.. first in the elevator when he couldn’t control that rage he must feel on the field, and now his entire career. Sad and not the only case. More will come out, more savagery at home, more truths and more ruined lives. There are no winners here. A team lost a great player, we, the fans lost a great athlete, society lost another young man to violence. I hope he will try and get help and forgive himself and maybe someday, we’ll hear of another great endeavor Rice has accomplished. Until then, controlled aggression on the field and off is mandatory for all of these powerfully equipped players. Maybe they’ll just stay away from women and vice versa. You think?? Namaste!