sports // 18

» What Ray Rice’s case says about
domestic abuse in the NFL

 

, Angela Espinoza

b F News Editor
E- pai

Minews
@theotherpress.ca
n February 15, Baltimore
Ravens running back Ray
Rice was caught on tape in an
Atlantic City casino elevator
punching his then-fiancée,
now wife, Janay Palmer uncon-
scious. There were two separate
collections of footage as a result:
one inside the elevator, and one
outside. The outside footage
was released immediately,
showing Rice dragging an
unconscious Palmer out from
the elevator. The inside footage
wasn't released publicly until
September 8, by TMZ no less.
In the updated video, Rice
and Palmer can be seen arguing
with each other upon entering
the elevator. Before the elevator
doors even close, Rice hits
Palmer in the face. Palmer then

 

her again, causing her head
to hita guardrail; Palmer lies

unconscious on the ground. Rice
: the inside-elevator footage was
: sent toan NFL executive backin :
: April, contradicting Goodell’s
: claims that the NFL asked for
: and never received any video.

then spends an undetermined
amount of time trying to drag
Palmer’s body out of the eleva-
tor. After Palmer is moved out-
side, her feet are still within the
open elevator doors; Rice can
be seen nudging her body with
his feet. Rice tries lifting her up,
only to leave her head between
the now-closing elevator doors;
a worker at the casino holds the
doors open. Eventually, Palmer
wakes up; she begins crying and
a crowd forms around her; an

unknown person tries to console :
: “To make us relive a moment
: in our lives that we regret

her. When Palmer finally
stands up, Rice’s hand can be

The ethics of sports entertainment

» Condoning behaviour through support and passivity

| Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

 

Mi? entertainment orga-
nizations, particularly

ones in the sports industry,
are often subject to scrutiny.
Every employee is expected
to reflect a good standard for
the organization, and scandals
can be harmful to reputations
of their companies as a whole.
The amount of damage
caused in lost business, bad
publicity, and loss of jobs
causes all organizations and
customers to be vigilant in
their tolerance policies.
However, it’s impossible
to get rid of all the controversy,

: no matter how well-regarded

: acorporation may be. In

: particular, pro-sports leagues
: are hit with bad press all the

: time: drugs, racism, assault,

: abuse, bigotry, bribes, and

: corruption are all too com-

: mon for these organizations

: with values of teamwork and

: honesty. Whether or not the

: blame lies within the stressful
: and competitive nature of

: the industry, the policies in

: practice for the league, players, :
: coaches, and executives them-
: selves are still debated today.

We must remember that

: scandals perpetrated within

: sports organizations are

: not reflective ofthe entire

: league, no matter how many

: people seem to be involved.

: Recently, NFL player Ray Rice

: ofthe Baltimore Ravens was

: indefinitely suspended and

: charged after a video surfaced
: of him punching and knocking :
: out his then-fiancée. Such

: incidents are never justified,
: should be treated with noth-
: ing but contempt, and are

: sadly far too common in the

: entertainment and sports

: world. The incident has led

: toa lot of discussion about

: the NFL's response to assault

and other crimes committed

: bytheir players, with many

: feeling the company does

: little to prevent or respond to
: such situations. Some have

: called for a boycott to the

: Ravens or evenall ofthe NFL.

Large-scale boycotts or

: denouncing organizations :
: after controversies not onlydo :

: little to improve the condi-
: tions, but may contribute to
: the non-progressive policies in

: dentis shining bad publicity

: onthe NFLat every level.

: Understandably, the organiza-
: tion wants the incident behind
: itselfand wishes it had never

: happened. The NFL’ goal is

: to continue to orchestrate

: football games for millions

: of viewers to enjoy—many of

: whom have little knowledge of
: the incident in question. Due

: to the vocal criticism hurting

: itsreputation, defenders of

: the league (employees or

: customers) may seek to shut

: the critics up as quickly as

: possible, setting aside the

: reasons for the criticism.

: seen reaching out to Palmer,
: who slaps his hand away.

Prior to the original

: outside-elevator video release

: on February 19, both Rice

: and Palmer were arrested,

: leaving Rice charged with

: assault. On March 27, Rice

: was ultimately charged with

: third-degree aggravated assault
: bya grand jury; Rice and

: Palmer married on March 28.
The NFLs response to Rice’s :
: charges was a mere two-game

: suspension. Rice meanwhile

: is currently taking partina

: pretrial program, which, if he

: completes over the next six

: months, will see his aggravated
: assault charges dropped.

In the days since the

: September 8 full-video release,
: social media- and journalis-

: tic-chaos has erupted. Rice

: wasimmediately cut from

: the Ravens and suspended

: indefinitely by the NFL. NFL

: Commissioner Roger Goodell
runs towards Rice, who punches has repeatedly stated he did

: not see the September 8 video

: until its public release; however,

associated press revealed that

Palmer, who has since

: taken Rice’s name, has spoken
: out about the case in the

: days since the inside-eleva-

: tor video release. Initially

: Palmer took to Instagram to

: express her discouragement

: with the media’s response

to the video. Ina post from

September 9g, Palmer wrote,

place. This particular inci-

Anentire boycott of the

theotherpress.ca

: everyday isa horrible thing.”

: Palmer has appeared

: with Rice at press events,

: and has defended him since

: the original video release.

: The case has inspired the

: #WhyIStayed movement on

: social media, in which women
: detail why they stayed with

: their abusive partners.

: Ina since-deleted tweet

: from May, the Ravens went

so far as to partially blame

: Palmer for her assault: “Janay

: Rice says she deeply regrets

: the role that she played the

: night of the incident.”

: There are several layers

: tothis story that make it

: emotionally complicated to

: hear and think about. The first
: layer, of course, is that Rice

: assaulted his partner, and only
: nowistruly being punished

: for the act. The second is that

: Palmer has stayed with and

: defended Rice since, and has

: been blamed in part for the

: attack. The third is Goodell’s

: continued excuses and defences
: for his lack of action until the

: inside-elevator video was actu-
: ally made public. The fourth

: is the NFLs handling of the

: entire situation, of all situations
: regarding football players and
: (domestic) assault cases—the
: Rice case is only one of the 85

: acknowledged domestic assault
: cases by NFL players since
: 2000, as outlined by USA Today.
: Between Ray Rice, Carolina
: Panthers’ Greg Hardy, and

: San Francisco 49ers’ Ray

: McDonald, there have been

: three NFL domestic assault

: cases this year. Despite Rice’s

: cut and suspension, Hardy and
: McDonald are still playing.

: NFLis obviously incredibly

: unlikely to happen, but

: well-reasoned critiques of

: aparticular policy change,

: with enough support, would

: better help the league prevent
: and respond to scandals in

: the future—more so than an

: unfocussed boycott would.

At its heart, no organiza-

: tionis fundamentally wrong.

: The NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB,

: and any other entertainment/
: sports network provides jobs

: and entertainment to millions
: of people. Working together

: to create appropriate policies

: andan open, safe league is in

: everyone's best interests—and
: it’s only when we take a very

: specific look at the problems

: in question that it can happen.