The problem is that you are looking at this as two cases.
The softness of rices penalty is inconsistent with EVERY CASE. Never mind Ben.
Is smoking dope worse than punching a woman?
Thus the outrage from all corners.
I can indeed compare Ben to every other case and know how it happened. Goodell is concerned with "perceptions" not justice. Nothing to do with race.
Rice is the exception not the rule. Rice is inconsistent with his ENTIRE track record.
Now "I" am going to take a POV I have never taken and have argued against.
Many have accused Goodell of having a soft spot for the Ravens. For the first time I believe it.
In view of the fact that Mike Tomlin has matched Cowhers record I give him the designation:
TCFCLTC-
The Coach Formerly Considered Less Than Cowher
I agree that Goodell is more concerned with perceptions than justice or what's good for the game. I wonder what his response will be to all of the public outrage regarding his latest decision.
As far as this case, my comments regarding Roethlisberger are removing the focus from where it should be...the ridiculous discipline for a very heinous act. I hope both Rice and Goodell are justly and widely criticized from coast to coast.
You can't compare this case to the drug policy (either recreational or performance-enhancing). The drug policy is collectively bargained. Players know in advance what the penalties are for a first offense and for any subsequant offenses. I don't have a problem with the drug policy or how it's enforced at this point (other than the fact the league and the union both agreed to address HGH 3 years ago, but neither side has seeming made any progress toward actual Olympics-style testing, but that is an argument for another day).
While the drug policy is consistent, enforcement of the "personal conduct" policy is anything but consistent. It's entirely in one man's hands, and he has been known to waver dramatically based on public sentiment and how much negative publicity an incident garners.
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
It's from Bleacher Report, so take it with a grain of salt, but thought this was an interesting theory:
The smartest person I know associated with professional football, a former high-ranking team executive, theorized the Rice punishment was soft because it provides cover for a potentially light suspension of Jim Irsay. If the suspension of Rice was severe, the theory goes, and Irsay's, by comparison, isn't, the league would be accused of protecting ownership.
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