NFL's Botch Becomes League PR Nightmare

They say that people's opinion only matter when money is involved.


That saying couldn't have rung more true on Monday. Only a couple of months removed from Roger Goodell's wrist slap 2-game suspension of Ray Rice following a domestic violence episode with this then-fiancee', video surfaced of what happened between the couple in Atlantic City.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and spell out what happened for you, but here's the graphic video if you haven't seen it.




It doesn't matter what was said. At the end of the day, Rice put force behind a punch that never should have even been thrown.

After the release of the video, social media blew up. Opinions from everyone ranging from your average Joe to current and former NFL players showed up on timelines across the world sounding off about the video.

Now...let's really get into the problem here. The video shows a disturbing glimpse of what domestic violence is and how dangerous it could be.  The NFL, according to reports, said they did not have access to the video until Monday.

But how did TMZ manage to get access while the premier sports league in America couldn't do so in an effort to investigate further into this tragic scene? Goodell and his minions did not provide a thorough investigation if you ask me. Furthermore, word is that the league actually knew what happened on the tape despite not seeing it. If it's true that law enforcement did inform the league of what the footage displayed, the league didn't help this victim who, for whatever reason, went on to marry this man.

Rice's contract was terminated by the Ravens and the former Rutgers star was later suspended indefinitely by the league. But is this too little, too late? The problem the league now has is trying to justify why the suspension wasn't done this way in the first place. Sure, Goodell put out a statement saying he screwed up. But we already knew that. Why not make the correction instead of waiting for this PR nightmare to grow a set of legs and take off on its own as it has done?

How can the NFL now ensure that they keep their female fans on as supporters when it took someone else's digging to force their hand in doing the right thing? How can the league justify that Goodell should remain as commissioner if his inability to make the right decision the first time will overshadow anything positive that me may do from this point forward?

There are a lot of questions that the NFL will have to answer in the near future and I don't envy not one of those members of their public relations department. At the end of the day, fair and equal treatment for all employees has been the best policy.

If this was Eric Decker or Doug Baldwin and not Ray Rice, would the NFL have just given that guy a 2-game suspension? Better yet, what will they do now with the San Francisco 49ers' Ray McDonald?

I could sit here and write all night, but the fact of the matter remains that the answers wouldn't come any sooner. So, let's keep an eye on the boys behind the shield and see how they handle this fiasco.