Football, Lies and Videotape

U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander, U.S. Central Command, poses for a photo with NFL Hall of Famers Lynn Swann, Roger Craig, John Elway, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during Super Bowl XLIII, Feb. 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The world has now seen the video of Janay Palmer Rice assaulted in an Atlantic City casino elevator by her significant other, NFL star Ray Rice, courtesy of TMZ.  No need to go into the details, except to say that it makes Rice look like he should have picked on someone his own gender.

At first, Rice was suspended by the NFL for two games.  Then the more graphic video came out, prompting the Baltimore Ravens to cut him loose.  The league, after much public pressure, revised Rice's punishment to an indefinite suspension.  Define "indefinite".

As bad as the video was, this situation has turned into a sports version of Watergate.  You know, what did the NFL know and when did they know it?   Commissioner Roger Goodell, who seems to be channeling President Richard Nixon, claims not to have seen the full video before everybody else did.  But there was one report that the tape had been made available to the league office for months, and whoever was in charge must've sat on it.

The NFL should have had all the evidence at their disposal before making their judgment on Rice.  The fact that they did not, and that they chose to look away, makes the league and Goodell look like incompetent fools.  To save face, they've asked former FBI director Robert Mueller III to launch an independent investigation into the matter.  How "independent" the investigation will actually be is anyone's guess.

Some wonder why Goodell hasn't already resigned or been fired for his negligence in this and so many other matters.  Because the NFL owners who employ him are happy with the way he has kept the league rolling in the dough, they see no reason to unload him.  Yet.

Domestic violence isn't the only serious problem the NFL must address.  There's also drug use, driving under the influence, and illness caused by concussions.  With the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson indicted by a grand jury in Texas for allegedly swatting his son with a switch, you can add child abuse to the list. 

Women make up nearly half of the NFL's fan base.  They should not be patronized by pretending to care about breast cancer awareness by donning pink every October, or giving light sentences to those players who mistreat their women and children, or paying less than minimum wage to cheerleaders. 

Obviously, the NFL and its fans want all of this negative stuff to go away and just play the games.  We are ready for some football, thank you very much.  Just don't forget that many of the players on the field have wives and girlfriends.  We have no idea how they're treated off the field, but chances are real good that there may not be video evidence the next time someone decides it's OK to hit a woman.