Steve Davis: Reaction To Rice Suspension
My thoughts on Rice as of 3:45 pm Monday, subject to change as we get more information. I find it hard to believe the NFL didn't see the Rice video as it claims in this statement: "We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today."
Here's my line of thinking:
Okay, so law enforcement didn't give it to you. Then get it from Ray Rice and his attorney. Now, the attorney doesn't want you to see it, so you tell Rice and the attorney that you are going to issue a stiff suspension unless you can corroborate Rice's story that she initiated it and it wasn't that big of a deal. That was the story that was put out there, correct? If they show you the video, clearly you can't suspend him for 2 games. If they don't show you the video, then you can't believe their story and you issue a much more stringent suspension.
This tells me they did a poor job investigating. Roger Goodell should be held accountable for that. I can't believe I am saying this, but why wouldn't NFL owners (and their wives) question the judgment and competence of Goodell. The NFL can run on auto-pilot; he can be replaced.
As far as the Ravens saying they didn't see the video, my line of thinking is the same. If the prosecution wouldn't share it, and I can understand why they wouldn't, they have no obligation to help the NFL, then demand it from Rice. Tell him there is no way you can support him without having all the information. If he tells them a plausible story, just say, hey, that sounds great, but we need to see the video just to be sure. It's like applying to college. You tell them you got straight A's in high school. The college says that is awesome, but we still need to see your transcript. How could the Ravens support him without watching the video just to make sure?
There are some stories here that are just hard to believe.
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