For Knocking His Fiancée Out, Ray Rice Given 40% of Terrelle Pryor's Sentence

By D.J. Byrnes on July 24, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Ray Rice dragging his unconscious fiance into an elevator, via TMZ
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One of the #hottest #takes I hold in my #takes chamber is "Domestic violence is bad."

Domestic violence committed by men against women is especially reprehensible; even more so when the male is a professional boxer or another form of professional athlete.

Take, for example, Ravens running back Ray Rice. A few months back, Rice was caught via surveillance video dragging his unconscious then-fiancée out of an Atlantic City casino's elevator after what police described as a "mutual attack."

I don't know about you, but there's nothing "mutual" about that TMZ video. 

Of course, the circus of depravity didn't stop there. In a meandering, bizarre press conference in which Ray Rice declared "sometimes life knocks you down," the true victim of domestic violence was made to apologize for HER ROLE in the debacle:

I don't know what's more baffling: That this was tweeted in the first place, or that the tweet hasn't been deleted over a month later.

Yet, according to Goodell's arbitrary sentencing, knocking the consciousness out of a woman is only 40% as bad as fleeing college to avoid NCAA repercussions. The latter, of course, is a matter of integrity:

From ESPN:

"I believe it is a fair conclusion that he intentionally took steps to ensure that he would be declared ineligible for further college play and would be able to enter the NFL via the supplemental draft," Goodell said in a news release. "Taken as a whole, I found that this conduct was tantamount to a deliberate manipulation of our eligibility rules in a way that distorts the underlying principles and calls into question the integrity of those rules."

That was Roger Goodell upon handing a five game suspension to Terrelle Pryor, something that was unprecedented in the NFL. It will never happen again, either. (The Tat Five was historically railroaded, y'all.)

Of course, Ray Rice was never convicted of a crime (because those are the benefits of being rich in America), but neither had Terrelle Pryor (despite what the NCAA might try to tell you). 

Roger Goodell has stated he wants to send a message with his discipline. Yet, in the end, Terrelle Pryor was suspended for five games and Ray Rice was only suspended for two. A message was sent alright, but not the one I think he intended.

But hey, look on the bright side, women: the NFL wants to sell you pink and/or bejeweled team pride-wear.

Really makes you think, huh? 

Eat the bread, everyone.

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