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Tag: goodell
Rice Will Appeal Indefinite Suspension: Reports

Rice Will Appeal Indefinite Suspension: Reports

Baltimore (AFP) — Ray Rice, the National Football League star banned indefinitely after video of him knocking out his then-fiancee surfaced, will appeal the suspension, according to multiple reports.

NBC, the Baltimore Sun and ESPN on Sunday reported that Rice, a star running back who helped the Baltimore Ravens win last year’s Super Bowl, would challenge the indefinite ban handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shortly after the Ravens fired Rice last Monday.

The same day, an Atlantic City casino elevator video revealed by TMZ showed Rice swinging a brutal left-hand punch that knocked Janay Palmer unconscious last February.

Rice avoided jail time on domestic violence charges from his brutal punch by agreeing in May to a pre-trial intervention program.

Goodell, who has guided the NFL since 2006, imposed only a two-game ban on Rice in July, one that drew widespread criticism as too lenient.

Last month, Goodell said he had made a mistake and toughened future NFL penalties for domestic violence.

But after imposing the indefinite ban, Goodell said any team wishing to sign Rice must come to Goodell first.

Rice is expected to argue “double jeopardy,” that he is being punished twice for the same rules infraction.

The NFL Players Association will push the appeal in part to establish a process and punishment terms under Goodell’s recent plan to toughen such penalties for domestic violence.

The union has until late Tuesday to file an appeal, a deadline set by Friday’s letter from Goodell to the union outlining the reasons for the tougher punishment on Rice, whose original ban would have ended Friday.

Goodell has said that the video showed details substantially different from the account Rice gave of what happened in the elevator when he spoke to Goodell about the incident.

Goodell says no one at the NFL saw the video although reports that the video was sent to the NFL prompted the league to have an independent investigator, former FBI director Robert Mueller, look into the matter.

Mueller will have access to all records and employees of the league, Goodell said, and the probe will produce a public report.

Critics have questioned the oversight role for the probe of two NFL team owners who are attorneys, Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers and John Mara of the New York Giants, both past supporters of Goodell.

Losing his job with the Ravens cost Rice the remaining $10 million on his contract.

AFP Photo/Ronald Martinez

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NFL Boss Faces Lawmaker Questions, Call To Resign

NFL Boss Faces Lawmaker Questions, Call To Resign

New York (AFP) — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell faced U.S. lawmaker questions and a call to resign by a women’s advocacy leader Wednesday over his handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident.

Video of NFL star running back Rice knocking out his then-fiancee and now-wife Janay last February in a casino elevator went public Monday, prompting the Baltimore Ravens to fire him and Goodell to suspend Rice indefinitely for an incident that he had previously punished with only a two-game ban.

While Goodell admitted last month the penalty was too soft and toughened domestic violence bans, the brutal video has put the boss of the world’s richest sports league on the hot seat.

U.S. Senator Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican on a Senate Commerce subcommittee with jurisdiction over the NFL, was critical of Goodell in an open letter.

Heller asked Goodell for details about his actions in deciding punishments for Rice, NFL personnel knowledge about the elevator video, and what plans Goodell has to “address the harm your league has inflicted on survivors of domestic violence going forward”.

“Commissioner Goodell must understand the scope and severity of domestic abuse acts,” Heller wrote. “Judging from his actions, it’s time for the NFL to step its game up on this important matter.

“I fear the failure of the NFL to understand the scope and severity of this act of domestic violence has already led to significant damage for vulnerable members of society.”

National Organization for Women president Terry O’Neill said Goodell should resign.

“The NFL has lost its way,” O’Neill said. “It doesn’t have a Ray Rice problem. It has a violence against women problem.”

O’Neill also cited San Francisco defender Ray McDonald, who faces domestic violence charges for striking his pregnant girlfriend three days after Goodell announced his tougher domestic violence penalties; Carolina’s Chris Hardy, playing while an appeal is pending on his conviction for assaulting his former girlfriend; and sexual asault charges against NFL Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

“The only workable solution is for Roger Goodell to resign and for his successor to appoint an independent investigator with full authority to gather factual data about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking within the NFL community, and to recommend real and lasting reforms,” O’Neill said.

“New leadership must come in with a specific charge to transform the culture of violence against women that pervades the NFL.”

– Goodell not fearful of firing –

Goodell said Tuesday in an interview with CBS that no one in the NFL had seen the video before Monday and that he does not believe his job is in jeopardy over his handling of the Rice affair.

“I’m used to criticism. I’m used to that. Every day, I have to earn my stripes,” Goodell said.

“Every day I have to do a better job. And that’s my responsibility to the game, to the NFL and to what I see as society. People expect a lot from the NFL. We accept that. We embrace that.”

Heller was disturbed at the NFL’s claim it could not obtain the video of Rice’s punch before TMZ.

“I am extremely concerned given the resources of the NFL that not one person within your organization knew anything about the existence of the elevator video before it surfaced,” Heller wrote.

“I am highly disappointed the NFL’s reaction was only heightened once the public witnessed the elevator video. By waiting to act until it was made public you effectively condoned the action of the perpetrator himself. I cannot and will not tolerate that position by anybody let alone the NFL.”

Heller also cited 85 of 713 arrests of NFL players since 2000 being for domestic violence and questioned if Goodell’s role as sole imposer of NFL punishments “provides the necessary transparency to properly hold those associated with the NFL accountable for acts of domestic violence.”

O’Neill cited NFL players’ position as role models.

“The NFL sets the example for college, high school, middle school and even elementary school football programs. And the example it is setting right now is simply unacceptable,” she said.

AFP Photo/Elsa

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