Rob Long: Real Life
With the Ray Rice story being front and center right now, it's cast a dark cloud over Baltimore sports. Lost in all of this is the fact that the Baltimore Ravens lost on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday and have another game Thursday at home against another divisional opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Also lost in all of the Rice talk is the fact that with multiple injuries to key players, the Baltimore Orioles continue to hold a strangle hold on the American League East as they poise themselves toward post-season play.
Yes, all of that gets lost because there's a story that involves one of the city's sports heroes that actually transcends the game. Ray Rice's criminal domestic violence case reminds us that after the lights go out, these athletes deal with some of the same issues as their fans.
I've been around Ray Rice off the field. He's taken pictures with my kids. Never would I have envisioned him doing what I saw on that video. No, that's not judgmental, that's just not the kind of person I saw when I spoke with him. My heart goes out to him and his family but the Baltimore Ravens did what they had to do for so many reasons.
We've referred to the National Football League as "The Shield" for decades. That's what it is and the league and it's franchises will do WHATEVER has to be done to protect "The Shield". That's why the decision was made on Monday to terminate the contract of Ray Rice and the NFL's decision to suspend him indefinitely.
Monday's decision was business, not personal. The National Football League is a business and just like in most businesses, the people who are held to high esteem are held to higher standards. No, it doesn't seem fair but that's what they sign up for when they accept the fame. The Ravens did not make this decision alone. They had an assist as soon as the video of Ray Rice assaulting his fiance went public. The organization was backed into a corner at that moment. As I wrote yesterday before the announcement was made, the Ravens were "On the clock" as soon as TMZ released the video.
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