The Elevator Video Shouldn't Matter

The Ray Rice elevator video doesn’t matter one bit. 

Maybe it underscores some larger problems that we as a society need to address, but it shouldn't have changed anything about how Rice was seen.

Don’t get me wrong, he deserves the life time ban.  That should have been his punishment in the first place.

Let’s review the facts. 

The footage of Rice literally dragging his unconscious fiancée out of the Atlantic City elevator surfaces.  He meets with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to explain himself and is then punished with a two game suspension, which Goodell said could be lessened or extended.  This week, the elevator video was released by TMZ, showing the painful details of Rice striking the woman he’s now married to.  As a result, Rice was terminated by the Ravens and indefinitely suspended by the NFL.

Look at the details of what transpired, and you’ll see why the video shouldn't matter.

Rice never lied to the league, media or anyone else about what he did.  He admitted that he struck Janay Palmer on the night in question.  The league and everyone else knew that he knocked her out.  The video of him actually hitting her is sickening to watch, but it’s not surprising.  How else did she wind up unconscious and being dragged out of the elevator?

It doesn't matter if the league saw the elevator video in April or not.  They knew what he did from the beginning and decided to only suspend him two games. 

Look no further than the Saints’ recent bounty gate scandal to see that the league doesn't shy away from handing out stiff punishment when it sees behavior it wants to eradicate. 

The NFL had an opportunity to make a difference and demonstrate that it wasn't going to tolerate domestic violence from players and totally blew it.

Although the video likely changed the average fan’s opinion of Rice, it shouldn't have changed his punishment.  It doesn't show anything the league didn't already know. 

If the NFL really did learn something new from the video, then they were grossly negligent when collecting information about the incident. That's tough to believe consider it’s an organization worth billions.

Scorn Rice all you want, he’s earned it.  There’s no forgiving what he did. 

But rather than just being upset about what he did, let’s try to take the issue of domestic violence more seriously.  It should not have taken a video of what happened in the elevator to make everyone realize how intolerable Rice’s actions were. 

It’s up to us as consumers to hold these organizations accountable. So far the general public has been loudly voicing displeasure with the entire situation and how poorly Rice’s discipline was handled.  Keep it up.