Rob Long: Ray Rice Video; What Now?
Now that the video has been released and everyone knows what happened on that elevator, what does or can the National Football League do? There is no more speculation that leads to the public defense of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.
The NFL issued Rice a two-game suspension as a result of what they knew. Since then the NFL admitted they handled the situation wrong and established a six-game suspension for first time domestic violence incidence and a lifetime ban on the second incident with an appeal after a year.
The NFL claims they did not see the video that TMZ released this morning until this morning. Now that they have, what next? Since the punishment has already been handed out, what can they do? What do the Baltimore Ravens do? There has been speculation around the league that the team could possibly cut Rice after seeing the video. Didn't seem to be an option initially but now it doesn't seem that far-fetched.
The Baltimore Ravens are in the business of football which DOES include public perception. Yes, you may think it's just about winning championships but when you're not doing that, you need to pack your stadium and sell merchandise. It's tough to do that when you have a player on your roster who has given you and the league such negative publicity.
I know Ray Rice is trying to turn the page and I hope he does, but the Ravens need to do the same thing. It's tough to turn the page with Rice coming out of that tunnel at M&T Bank Stadium on Sundays or having the national media talk about the incident every time he touches the ball during the games. The world is watching and the Baltimore Ravens are on the clock.