Ray Rice Cut After Knockout Video Surfaces; Mike Valenti Says Goodell Has Ruined His Credibility, Should Be Fired
By Christy Strawser, CBS Detroit
DETROIT (CBS Detroit/AP) The new release of security camera footage that shows NFL star Ray Rice cold cocking his then-fiancee in the face should cost NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell his job, according to 97.1 afternoon show host Mike Valenti.
The footage, gathered by TMZ, shows Rice's then-fiancee, now wife, cracking her head against the wall of an elevator as she falls, passed out cold, after he sucker punched her in the face.
Rice got a two-game suspension for the infraction; he was cut from the team after the video surfaced, and later indefinitely suspended by the league.
And because of the poor quality of that penalty decision, Goodell should hit the bricks, Valenti said, firing up his audience.
"It's worse than anyone could imagine," Valenti said. "He punched her like he was in a bar brawl, she didn't have her hands up .. and he spit on her -- it's unbelievable."
Co-host Terry Foster added: "When he cold cocked her, he did it like he'd done it before, like it was no big deal ... It was like this is what he does for a living."
The bottom line for Valenti is this: "He (Goodell) absolutely ruined his credibility as the commissioner of the league ...Every Jimmy and every Joe has seen that video and now that whole new two game suspension deal has gone from theater of the absurd to somebody has to (pay.)"
Valenti added that after the video surfaced, Goodell should have re-visited the penalty. "You have to be able to do better ... You're telling me this video goes public, he can't go back and get Ray Rice?
"Goddell should be forced out because he either lied or made the worst decision in history or both. He failed in his duties as commissioner. How do you sit there as a fan of the NFL, watch that video and go 'oh, well?"
"Foster said "he's doing what his bosses want him to do, adding Goddell "works for the owners."
Goodell had announced tougher penalties for players accused of domestic violence, including six weeks for a first offense and at least a year for a second.
In a letter recently sent to all 32 team owners Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press, Goodell never mentions Rice by name but makes clear references to the Baltimore player who was charged with assault after being caught on video dragging his then-fiancee off a casino elevator.
"My disciplinary decision led the public to question our sincerity, our commitment, and whether we understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families. I take responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our actions in the future properly reflect our values," Goodell wrote. "I didn't get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will."
Since January 2000, 77 players have been involved in 85 domestic violence incidents with six being cut by their teams, according to USA Today's NFL Arrests Database. The NFL suspended six players for one game each, and Rice was the second player to be suspended for two games, according to the AP.
Will Rice get picked up? "Nobody picks him up," Foster predicted.
