C. Fraser Smith, The Daily Record Newswire
Overheard apology of an outraged fan: “OK, one more thing and I’ll shut up. …”
Tough promise to keep on the subject of Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL and the videotape.
Everybody has a thought or two. Once again, sports brings us together — not in a good way.
We’re all on the same page: It’s football, the national sport, the sport some of us are feeling guilty about watching. So much injury, so much crime.
But we’re into the scandal. Are we ever. It’s real-life soap opera: comic and tragic.
And it’s participatory.
We commandeer the talk shows. What did the Ravens and the NFL know and when did they know it? There are reports that both the team and league had or could have had the telltale videotape. Did they? If so, did they watch it? Of course, they did, we declare. We don’t know the answers, but so much the better. Ignorance can be license.
We have skin in the game — or clothing, at any rate. We’re invited to trade in our jerseys with the team. We can also hand them over to a barkeep in exchange for whatever.
What are we learning? That footfall is mega business? Probably we knew that. More proof that drinking can be a problem? Ditto.
Are we watching the fall of a typical wife beater? The assumption is built into much of the conversation.
The syndrome is there. But I’m not aware of any report that Rice threw punches at women before or after the impromptu bout in Atlantic City. In fact, before the fight, he seemed to be at the opposite end of the scale. A bank thought he was the perfect salesman.
Clearly, he slugged his then-fiancee. We knew that. He said he did. Should he go to jail now because we see the deed up close and personal? Or do we deal with him the way the courts deal with first offenders: probation, counseling, etc. He had plenty of reason to mend his ways — to fend off impulses. He may have been succeeding in that effort. Do we know? We do know a lot of the leverage is gone.
No wonder the aforementioned fan can’t stop. The storylines sustain:
We have the “punishment” line: the craven NFL meting out the now-infamous two-game suspension. Laughable as a condemnation of violence against women — as if two games took care of that. The penalty had “fix is
in” stamped all over it. We saw it and we were ready to live with it – until ...
There was huge blowback. The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, offered his mea culpa. Oh boy! Maybe his job was in jeopardy.
Then the video trail got clearer. Here we have proof that we know far too much about football. I am speaking of the assertion by aficionados that NFL gumshoes can find things the CIA can’t. Then you learn these guys
were CIA.
With the tape in hand, the case reopened at light speed. The Ravens let Rice go.
Then came the NFL do-over: two weeks jumped to indefinite suspension — a.k.a. the metaphorical death penalty.
Did the team and league finally “get it right”? Some say yes. Rice is gone, never to return.
Some say no. Rice is gone because he tarnished the NFL “brand” — not because he KO’d his fiancee, now his wife. Had the issue been dealt with correctly, maybe Rice would still be a Raven with a better chance of saving his career and his marriage.
To his credit, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said the team had not been satisfactorily thorough in its search for the video. Earlier, Goodell announced that former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III would conduct an investigation of Tapegate.
I don‘t need to say this, but stay tuned.
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C. Fraser Smith is senior news analyst at WYPR-FM.
