NFL Thread

[xaxat]

I think in the end this will all be irrelevant anyways. Ray will go to the corner and sit in timeout and be back on the field next year. He's too talented and the NFL is above all, a business.

 

I think he's done. He's in his declining years (and will be a year older) playing a position that has decreased in importance over the course of his career. Every GM around now thinks they can find a starting running back in the third round.

[Minneapple]

Rice is finished. He's a running back, which is as disposable a position as you'll find these days. And he's no Adrian Peterson at that. He was averaging what, 3 yards a carry last year?

[Danny Franks]

Rice is finished. He's a running back, which is as disposable a position as you'll find these days. And he's no Adrian Peterson at that. He was averaging what, 3 yards a carry last year?

 

He wasn't good last year, but there was a combination of factors at play. He was hurt, for most of the year, with a hip injury. And the O-line was terrible, and couldn't block for the run or the pass. Rice seemed to have some problems adapting to the new inside zone blocking as well.  There was also the feeling that he was too heavy, and had packed on too much muscle.

 

Coming into this year, he dropped 15 to 20lbs, and was healthy. Who knows how he'd have performed, because he has carried the ball a lot, in the NFL and in college. That wears the body down. We'll never know whether he was over the hill or not, really. But he has been a top echelon RB, for most of his NFL career.

[BitterApple]

Well let's at least hope Ray and his family live within their means. That sucker punch in the elevator cost him what, 30 mil? That's a big chunk of change to lose, especially when these guys spend money like it will last forever.

[merylinkid]

By being on the roster in March, after the incident, he got $25 million guaranteed.   He may not make anymore, but that is hardly chump change.  Plus you just know he is going to go on the redemption circuit and get paid thousands of dollars per speech to talk about how this incident changed him and he is better person for it.   Until a new video surfaces.

[xaxat]

NFL is about to lose its fight to save TV blackout rules

[Snowprince]

 Have they forgotten how to wrap people up and tackle? 

EVERYBODY has forgotten how to wrap up and tackle. Players today all want to make the "big hit" and be the highlight on Sportscenter later that night. The lucky ones just bounce off and cause the ball carrier to fall from the impact. The not so lucky ones get run over and wobble back to the bench with concussions. I sometimes wonder if good solid form tackling is even still coached today. I can hear dear old Vince now. "Nobody tackling, everybody just grabbing! GRAB GRAB GRAB!"

 

Now you kids get off my lawn and go hit the blocking sleds....... :) 

[merylinkid]

Oy the tackling.   Yes,  wrap them up.   Then you don't have to worry about spearing, head hits, too high, too low, or anything.   And you end the play.    What more could you ask for?

[DrSpaceman]

A year out for Rice does most likely mean he is done. A 30 year old or so running back missing a year means he isn't likely to return to near his peak. ANd yes baltimore was moving away from him and to Pierce and others anyway

Looks horrible for Goodell and the league. They either saw the video and are lying OR they didn't see the video as they say and should have tried much harder to find out what was in it, even if they could not see it.

exciting opening weekend though. I know its one week but I think the Pats are in bigger trouble than people are letting on. Brady was averaging less than 5 yards a pass that game. They got by last year with a strong multivaried run game and Brady doing what he could with limited WRs. I don't know that will happen this year and trading away your best OL doesn't help sustain a run game. They probably still win the division, but still can't see them having enough offense to beat Denver if they meet again in the playoffs.

Really after week one I think we are in the same spot as after the SB. Seattle is clearly the best team and Denver is the best of the weaker conference, but still not sure its enough to close the gap with seattle.

Edited September 10, 2014 by DrSpaceman

[topanga]

 

EVERYBODY has forgotten how to wrap up and tackle. Players today all want to make the "big hit" and be the highlight on Sportscenter later that night.

The Seahawks are still making good wrap up tackles. That's one of the things that stood out from Thursday's game.

[DrSpaceman]

And the NFL blackout rules are a relic of a bygone era for both TV and the league, they need to go. 

[Snowprince]

You're right Topanga, the 'Hawks seem to be one of the few exceptions to the current 'big hit' trend and are excellent tacklers.

 

For those of you who haven't seen it, this is what I was referring to in my previous post:

 

Edited September 10, 2014 by Snowprince

[Danny Franks]

Oy the tackling.   Yes,  wrap them up.   Then you don't have to worry about spearing, head hits, too high, too low, or anything.   And you end the play.    What more could you ask for?

 

Well, if you're a player like Brandon Meriweather, you're not just trying to end the play, you're trying to hurt your opponent. Which is why he spears without attempting to wrap up. Funniest moment of the whole of last season was when he tried to take James Starks out with one of his trademark 'tackles', and ended up concussing himself.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Danny Franks

[Fukui San]

Well, if you're a player like Brandon Meriweather, you're not just trying to end the play, you're trying to hurt your opponent. Which is why he spears without attempting to wrap up. Funniest moment of the whole of last season was when he tried to take James Starks out with one of his trademark 'tackle's, and ended up concussing himself.

The "funniest" Brandon Merriwether hit was in practice when he was fielding punts or long passes for some reason, and ran full steam into a teammate standing in the end zone minding his own business.  Both guys got injured and missed the rest of the season for the Redskins.

[Bastet]

In Eli's defense, his offensive line gave him little protection, he's working under a new offensive system with these crazy hand signals that many of the receivers don't understand or see, and his defense wasn't helping him at all.

 

The defense definitely did not help, and the entire offense has to sit right next to Eli Manning when we're counting up who was responsible for that performance.  Eric Davis said this morning on NFL AM that it was bad enough on television, but when you watch the coaches' film you can see that, over and over again, offensive players are not in the right spot.  Ben McAdoo's new scheme didn't work at camp, it didn't work in the preseason and it's still not working yet -- they have the same old problems in a new way.  Time will tell, but it's rough to watch.

[merylinkid]

Who the hell had the idea for Eli to use hand signals to indicate changes to the play but then not teach the offensive line to be watching him?  Instead of course watching the opponent to be set for what they are going to do?    No wonder no one is in the right place if they don't even know the play because they are looking where the should be looking instead of where they are supposed to (if that makes sense).

[topanga]

 

No wonder no one is in the right place if they don't even know the play because they are looking where the should be looking instead of where they are supposed to (if that makes sense).

Makes perfect sense.

[Danny Franks]

The "funniest" Brandon Merriwether hit was in practice when he was fielding punts or long passes for some reason, and ran full steam into a teammate standing in the end zone minding his own business.  Both guys got injured and missed the rest of the season for the Redskins.

 

Oh I hope that can be found on youtube. Although I feel bad for the teammate. Meriweather probably just saw someone in football pads facing his direction, and instinct took over. He just had to try and hurt him!

 

Ben McAdoo's new scheme didn't work at camp, it didn't work in the preseason and it's still not working yet -- they have the same old problems in a new way.  Time will tell, but it's rough to watch.

 

 

Honestly, I don't think Eli is going to make it work. Asking him to learn a new system at this stage in his career is a long shot, especially when it seems to be one he doesn't have much of an affinity for. But if the Giants post a losing record this season, I think they go QB in the draft anyway. They rebuilt their O-line (though it seems the kinks aren't ironed out yet), they drafted Odell Beckham Jr to lineup with Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle. The pieces are there for a rookie QB with talent.

[Rick Kitchen]

Does anybody really think that Ray Rice would have been suspended "indefinitely" if he was a star athlete at the peak of his career?

[Dejana]

AP: NFL received Ray Rice video in April

 

A law enforcement official told the AP he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee to an NFL executive five months ago. The league and Commissioner Roger Goodell have been adamant they didn't see the violent images until this week.

 

The person played the Associated Press a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirming the video arrived. A female voice expresses thanks and says: "You're right. It's terrible."

Edited September 10, 2014 by Dejana

[Minneapple]

From the Huffington Post: Ray Rice Video Causes Huge Spike In Calls To Domestic Violence Hotline

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/10/ray-rice-domestic-violence-hotline_n_5798462.html?1410369898

 

"We had an outpouring of women saying, 'Oh my god, I didn't realize this happened to other people.' They thought they were living a life that was very unique to them," Ray-Jones told The Huffington Post. "One woman called in who is married to a [mixed martial arts] fighter. She said, 'I just saw that video, and I know my husband could do worse, and I need help."

 

If people are wondering if there's a benefit to all this talk about Ray Rice and releasing the video, well, I guess this is it.

[HalcyonDays]

Does anybody really think that Ray Rice would have been suspended "indefinitely" if he was a star athlete at the peak of his career?

 

Nope. Not a chance. Hell, he isn't even in the peak of his career and he initially only got a two game suspension.

*shakes head in disgust*  As usual, money trumps all.

[DollEyes]

"Disgusting" is the kindest word I've got for Ray Rice. He's a disgrace to football, his former team and the human race. Where this mess is concerned, there's plenty of "Fuck You"'s to go around. First of all, fuck you, Ray Rice, for hitting the woman whom you claim to love. Next, fuck you, Roger Goodall, for turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to what was going on and giving Rice less than a slap on the wrist. That you've apparently known about the video for six months proves to me that you shouldn't quit-you should be fired. That goes double for the judge and the prosecutor. Fuck you, Baltimore Ravens for the same reasons, especially you, Bryant McKinnie, for saying that Rice is the victim, just because social media's been mean to him. Bitch, please! As far as I'm concerned, Rice not only deserves all the Hell he's catching for this, he's brought it all on himself. As for Floyd Mayweather and Michael Vick, Rice's other defenders, fuck y'all, too. That you would try to trivialize Rice's crimes, given your own histories of violence against humans and animals (respectively), doesn't surprise me.  Re the NFL's treatment of domestic violence, I believe that there must be a "Zero Tolerance" policy. If a player is accused of it, they should be suspended indefinitely, pending a full investigation. If they're found guilty of it, they should be fired. Anyone in the league who covers it up should also be fired.  As for the victims and their families, the NFL should pay any medical bills, legal bills and therapy bills in full. 

 

  As for Janel Palmer, Rice's wife, I feel sorry for her and I agree that that he media can be and is guilty of sensationalism on numerous occasions including this one, but her totally blaming the media has a bit of a "shoot the messenger" feel. The video shouldn't be played over and over again, but if it wasn't for Rice's assault, the video wouldn't be getting played in the first place. That the video is bringing domestic violence back into the spotlight is definitely a good thing.  About the fight itself, Janel may have yelled at and even shoved Rice a couple of times, but she didn't hit him, not the way he hit her. She didn't knock him out and drag him into the lobby. Just because Rice "worked his ass off," that doesn't give him the right to beat Janel's. Leaving an abusive relationship is much easier said than done. Often the victim's self-esteem is so low that they fear they can't live without their abuser and worse, the abuser won't let them go. Worst of all is the toll that abuse takes on the children mentally, emotionally and physically. Janel needs to realize that leaving an abuser doesn't send the wrong message; staying does.  I hope that Janel gets the help that IMO she clearly needs for her sake and her daughter's as well. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by DollEyes

[Danny Franks]

There should be consistency of punishment, not the witch-hunt and castigation of one man, while others go unnoticed. If this is the punishment Ray Rice deserves, then it should also happen to Greg Hardy and Ray MacDonald (any casual fans out there even know who those guys are and what they're accused of?). If they don't receive the punishment of being blackballed from the league and erased from existence, then neither should Ray Rice.

 

And Bryant McKinnie hasn't been a Raven for a while. Nor is he ever a great source to go to when asking for a comment on issues regarding women. The guy ran up a $300,000 bill in a strip club in Miami, four or five years ago.

 

For me, I think Steve Bisciotti summed up the main problems with dealing with cases like this:

 

"We have a tendency to hear what we want to hear and see what we want to see and so the misdemeanor, the explanation that he hit her with an open hand, the facts that she was aggressive — I was picturing her wailing on him and him smacking her, and maybe her head was this far from the wall, and with her inebriation, dropped. So why did I conclude all of that? Because I wanted to, because I loved him, because he had a stellar record and the cops had already seen video. So I assumed it wasn’t a forceful blow that moved her head 3 feet into that wall. That’s what I regret.”

 

 

I think he's been more honest about his own shortcomings in this case than anyone else, so far.

 

And I still think that painting Janay as a battered wife, under the thumb of a brutal husband and thus culpable for not leaving him, is an easy oversimplification of a serious issue that requires more serious thought than just grasping for the easiest answer, and condemning her too. No wonder no progress is made on issues like domestic violence, when people take such a black and white attitude to it.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Danny Franks

[BabyVegas]

Danny Franks, I'm totally with you that the punishment should fit the crime. If I rember correctly, the victim in Ray McDonald's case is pregnant, or was at the time of the assault, which should come with its own set of multipliers. Ray Rice knocked Janay Rice the hell out. Ironically enough, someone in the NFL should know the dangers of head trauma probably better than your average bear, so I have no sympathy for the Ravens in assuming that Janay Evans got knocked out but hey, it was with an open hand so probably no big deal.

Goodell cannot take the job of overseeing discipline within the league and somehow not be culpable when that discipline is. He cannot demand power but abdicate responsibility.

[bosawks]

Is the NFL really trying to sell the idea that the reason Goodell didn't pursue the investigation with vigor is because he wanted to spare Janay further shame through the convenient AP story with an unspecified owner as a source?!?!?!

So, once again this is all the wife's fault.

Real nice.

[Minneapple]

Well, tonight's game is going to be an epic disaster. You have the Ravens (Ray Rice's old team) and the Steelers (who Ben Roethlisberger plays for). The program was supposed to open with a performance by Rihanna. Well, that's been pulled and instead CBS is going to lead with some kind of report about Goodell.

 

Yup, trainwreck. I'm pretty sure the announcers have been warned to think before they say anything about, well, anything tonight.

[merylinkid]

Thanks a lot Steelers.   You were supposed to take advantage of the distracted Ravens.   Who were not all that distracted. WTH?

[Bastet]

Good night, Irene, I know it's only week two, but I am not having a good football season so far.  Sure, the Patriots and Cowboys both lost, and I always enjoy seeing that, but what I really enjoy is seeing teams I like win.  So far, not so much. 

[Elsydeon]

Ugh. Watching these two teams play is awful, because I want both to lose.

[HalcyonDays]

Thanks a lot Steelers.   You were supposed to take advantage of the distracted Ravens.   Who were not all that distracted. WTH?

 

So depressed...I cannot believe that the Raven's won. And won decisively. I guess they felt they had something to prove.

Or maybe the Steelers felt they didn't have to "show up" to win.

[Snowprince]

That was just a good old fashioned ass kickin. I hope that's not the case, but the Steelers might just have to play the rest of the season with one of their goals being saving Mike Tomlin's job.

[Danny Franks]

That was just a good old fashioned ass kickin. I hope that's not the case, but the Steelers might just have to play the rest of the season with one of their goals being saving Mike Tomlin's job.

 

The Steelers just look bad on defense. The players are either ageing fast, or just not good enough. This is one of the downsides of letting so many talented free agents walk, rather than paying them. You can only do that if you're drafting well enough to replace them, and the Steelers haven't been.

 

Meanwhile, the Ravens told a whole bunch of people to stick it, which delights me. Both the media 'experts' who seem to enjoy little better than writing this team off, year after year, and also the people who have little interest in the sport, but are now wishing for the Ravens to lose, because of recent media coverage. Funnily enough, I'd bet that a lot of those same people were professing affection for the Ravens a year ago, when they were supporting Brendan Ayanbadejo's stance on gay marriage, in the face of criticism from local politicians. How short memories are....

[DollEyes]

  ITA that the punishment should fit the crime and that those punishments should be consistent re domestic violence. I also agree that Ray Rice shouldn't be made into a scapegoat while other players who are guilty of the same crime get away with it, but I don't consider this a "witch hunt" because Ray Rice not only isn't innocent, there's been reports that he admitted he was guilty, but the NFL covered it up anyway. Of course, the Ravens aren't the only team dealing with issues of domestic violence. There's the 49ers, whose announcer was suspended for calling Janel Palmer "pathetic" for staying with Rice while still letting Ray McDonald, who was convicted of domestic violence, play. That announcer used a poor choice of words, but at least his tackiness wasn't criminal.

 

  Then there's Carolina Panthers owner Terry Richardson, who got all choked up when talking about the Ray Rice case. Talk about pathetic! That performance-which, IMO, is what it was-made me roll my eyes to the point of blindness. Just when it seemed like this story couldn't get any weirder, it does. Richardson's crying jag reminded me of disgraced former minister Jimmy Swaggart's infamous "I have sinned" speech. This from a man who still lets Greg Hardy-another abuser-play for his team. In the cases of the 49ers and the Panthers, the hypocrisy is breathtaking. They need to clean their own houses before they criticize anyone else's, as far as I'm concerned.

[BitterApple]

DollEyes, I think the hypocrisy is what has fans rolling their eyes and saying give me an effing break. Every team in the NFL has their share of dirtbags, and it all goes ignored as long as these guys show up and perform on Sundays. Wasn't it the Cincinnati Bengals who had an insane amount of players arrested in one year?

 

My concern regarding the domestic violence policy is this: If lots of players start receiving lifetime bans, I think a dynamic could develop where these women DON'T report abuse out of fear their husbands would lose income. It sounds all great and good to have a twenty million dollar contract, but when you figure half of that goes to taxes, a percentage goes to your agent, you have to pay for lawyers, accountants etc., it's not all that much money in the long run, especially with the lifestyles these guys live.

[xaxat]

The Greg Hardy thing is totally inexcusable. The guy was found guilty in a court of law, not in the media, not in public opinion, yet Richardson and the league continue to let him play.

 

The reason for the event that Jerry Richardson broke down at? He was receiving The Echo Award Against Indifference.

[King of Birds]

That was just a good old fashioned ass kickin.

Look, I know both teams just played last Sunday but I detest Thursday night football so freaking much that -- It's not an Ass-kickin' if it's Thursday Night. Just stop that idea. Fuck the NFL for this shit for brains money grab by playing on Thursday.

[Danny Franks]

DollEyes, I think the hypocrisy is what has fans rolling their eyes and saying give me an effing break. Every team in the NFL has their share of dirtbags, and it all goes ignored as long as these guys show up and perform on Sundays. Wasn't it the Cincinnati Bengals who had an insane amount of players arrested in one year?

 

This. The Bengals became famous for players getting arrested, though they have cleaned up their act over the last couple of years.

 

But take last night's game as an example. Neutrals cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers, against the mean old Ravens. The Pittsburgh Steelers, whose star QB was accused of rape twice, and settled out of court on one of the charges. Whose starting Center is an unashamed supporter of Aaron Hernandez, and who has been connected to a shooting that Hernandez is alleged to have been involved in. No team in the NFL can boast a clean image, and trying to weigh them against one another using that as a criteria is absurd.

 

Let's go off on a bit of a tangent and talk about Chad Johnson (no longer Ochocinco). A man with undeniable charisma and charm, very popular with media types. He even appeared on Dancing With the Stars, I believe. Chad headbutted his wife during an argument and was arrested for it. Yes, the Miami Dolphins cut him (though he wasn't a lock for their roster anyway), but the league did nothing. What's he doing now? Playing in the same CFL that turned its nose up at Ray Rice this week.

 

I said just a few pages ago in this thread that it was absolutely shocking, the amount of NFL players who get arrested. And for the American media, it's the opposite of shocking. It's normal and accepted, until one case catches the public eye, and suddenly the league is a terrible, awful, no good organisation, and the teams are all negligent and enabling of thugs. If that's true now, it was true a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago.

 

But there are still players to admire. Players who behave the right way, and take their responsibilities as role models and public figures seriously. Someone like Joe Flacco, for example, who is just too dull to ever commit a crime. Or Torrey Smith, a bright, articulate guy who no one ever has anything but praise for, and who is probably being hated by some people now because he won't disavow Ray Rice as a friend. Both those guys are Ravens players. Every team has their 'bad guys', but every team has their good guys too.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Danny Franks

[xaxat]

NFL players are arrested at half the rate of men 25-29. Arrests peaked in the mid-2000s, and are way down this year.. (The database used was started in 2000.)

 

None of that excuses the actions of any individual that breaks the law or the frequently inadequate responses from the league, but I think the perception that things are out of control and have never been worse is incorrect. 

[galax-arena]

who is probably being hated by some people now because he won't disavow Ray Rice as a friend.

Meh, I’ll judge Torrey Smith all I want for pulling the ~who are we to judge them?~ card. He’s not victim-blaming, which is a plus, but it’s still a wishy-washy cop-out for a lot of people who don’t have the cojones to take a hardline stance against domestic violence when their friends are involved.

 

xaxat, those are interesting stats. Still have to read it more in-depth, but I notice that the article makes a point of saying that the lower arrest rates make sense, given the affluence of NFL players. So it makes me wonder how much of the lower arrest rates has to do with these guys’ wealth/prominence; it’s not an uncontroversial idea that the rich and powerful get away with a lot more. (Ahem, OJ Simpson.) Then again, how much prominence does a third-string linebacker really have?

Edited September 12, 2014 by galax-arena

[Danny Franks]

Meh, I’ll judge Torrey Smith all I want for pulling the ~who are we to judge them?~ card. He’s not victim-blaming, which is a plus, but it’s still a wishy-washy cop-out for a lot of people who don’t have the cojones to take a hardline stance against domestic violence when their friends are involved.

 

 

And I'll see Torrey as someone who knows Ray Rice, and Janay Rice, better than I, or the vast majority of people, ever will.  He and many teammates have said that they hate what Ray Rice did, but they don't hate Ray Rice. Does one act define a person? If he made a habit of this, would he be as friendly with a man who has said that his wife and Janay are "like sisters"?

 

This has been the crux of the issue for all of the Baltimore Ravens players and officials, as far as I can tell. None of them believed Ray Rice would ever do something like this, so they handled it badly when he did (just read the truly embarrassing blog post by Kevin Byrne for evidence of that). When someone you love does something wrong, it's incredibly hard to put your feelings aside and look at it objectively.

 

Torrey actually said "who are we to judge?" in February, when it first happened. And the question was valid then, because no one knew all that had happened. What he said this week is, "I can't say the punishment doesn't fit the crime.... What matters is what you see.... And it wasn't a pleasant sight. We tend to forget, we all focus on Ray, but there's still a victim in that, in Janay.... Everyone's stunned. It's not a good looking video at all." He also said, "that's the punishment. He has to deal with it." 

 

And here's  the video of it. Doesn't seem wishy washy to me. Seems like a guy who is hurt and feeling betrayed, but isn't going to abandon his friend. I say those are the qualities of a good man.

 

That's about as vehement as you'll hear Torrey Smith get on the issue, I'd say. Anything else would probably be kept private, and said to Ray Rice in person. It's easy for people who have never met him or Janay to say whatever they like, and make whatever judgements they like.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Danny Franks

[Bastet]

I thought I had posted this Tuesday, but apparently got caught up in something and forgot.  Dave Zirin gave a wonderful interview on Democracy Now, a 20-minute exploration of just about every issue implicated by Rice's actions and the response to them.

[Danny Franks]

I thought I had posted this Tuesday, but apparently got caught up in something and forgot.  Dave Zirin gave a wonderful interview on Democracy Now, a 20-minute exploration of just about every issue implicated by Rice's actions and the response to them.

 

So now it's the game that encourages violence against women? Sorry, but this guy is going way too far, and trying to tar all football players with the same brush. Jovan Belcher didn't shoot his girlfriend and then himself because he's a football player. Ray Rice, Ray MacDonald and Greg Hardy didn't attack their spouses/partners because they're football players. The violence of the sport has little to do with violence outside it, and I think the gang culture in America, and the violence that probably gets far too little coverage in the media, is committed by plenty of people who have never played a game of football in their lives. If a gang member goes out and kills someone, then it turns out he once played high school football, is the game still to blame? Aaron Hernandez appears to have been involved in several murders, since being drafted into the league. Is the game to blame for those?

 

This is patently unfair to the many, many professional and ex-professional football players who have never been involved in domestic violence, and who have never committed any other crimes. But I'm glad he made the cases of Ray MacDonald and Greg Hardy clear, and that he pointed out there are other domestic violence culprits in the league, and in the Hall of Fame. Ray Rice is not an ogre, to be cast out into the wilderness and shunned, he shouldn't be made an example of just because there's a video. If he's out of the league, those other guys should be too.

 

And I've said before that I believe the biggest issue with football players is that they are taught, from an early age, to think that talent is enough to get you out of trouble. That if you screw up, whether it's on a test or by driving drunk, or by doing things worse than that, it's okay if you're a good football player. People will help you out, teachers will 'help' you with your work, cops will turn a blind eye to 'youthful exuberance', witness and victims will be discredited. Thankfully, plenty of them genuinely are good people, and hopefully don't take advantage of this privileged position too much. But this isn't stuff these boys learn in the NFL, it happens a long time before that. It happens at high school and at college. The NFL is part of the system, and the end goal of all these kids, but it cannot be blamed for everything people want to blame it for.

 

But at least someone finally asked why the prosecutors of the case didn't take the case forward. Because I've been wondering why everyone is pointing fingers at the NFL and no one is asking anything of the police, prosecutors and courts. And this guy wonders why the NFL treats this as a public relations issue.

 

I still find it pretty ludicrous to imagine that Goodell and the NFL saw this tape, then only applied a 2 game suspension. Because they would have known this would happen, if the tape ever got out. And, as we've seen recently, private, secret things have a tendency to get leaked, one way or another. That just doesn't hold water, for me. No way Goodell would expose the NFL to that big a risk, just to give one player a soft punishment. No way would he put his career, and the last eight years of his life, on the line for an ageing running back from a team that, while consistently amongst the contenders, really doesn't have much of a national following. It's a silly suggestion.

 

One point that must be disputed: "the videotape is the only thing that's making people believe Janay Rice". No. Not true. Janay Rice has not been asking people to believe anything other than that she shares responsibility and that Ray Rice should not be punished any further. Say she's lying if you like, say she's a battered woman who is terrified of her husband (I don't believe that's true), but don't misrepresent her so casually.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Danny Franks

[BitterApple]

Wow, so now Adrian Peterson has been arrested for child abuse? Roger Goodell must be crapping his pants right now.

Edited September 13, 2014 by BitterApple

[Jx223]

Wow, so now Adrian Peterson has been arrested for child abuse? Roger Goodell must be crapping his pants right not.

 

I had just saw on Sportscenter a statement made by Adrian's lawyer, that said that the charges against him come from him using a switch to spank his son. After learning about his indictment, his team has deactivated him for Sunday's game.

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-adrian-peterson-indicted-child-abuse-20140912-story.html

[crimsongrl]

Adrian Peterson Indicted For Child Abuse, Will Not Play Sunday

 

Can someone explain how in the summer a grand jury dropped the case but then another decided to charge him?

 

I don't have an issue with spanking but taking a switch to a 4yr. old seems excessive.

[Danny Franks]

"Weapons may form but won't prosper!" Peterson wrote. "God has you covered don't stress or worry."

 

 

Probably not the smartest thing to tweet, Adrian.

 

From what I've read about this case so far, it seems to be one of those things where many people will feel it's child abuse, but some will see it as part of a Southern, working class culture, and 'it won't do the boy any harm'. Well, my dad would give me a clip 'round the ear when I was up to no good, as a kid, and I behaved because I didn't want him to do it again. But that's not quite the same as thrashing a four year old child with a switch. If Adrian Peterson has actually inflicted the injuries shown in photos, then he has to have gone way over the top, with whatever discipline he thought he was instilling.

 

Meanwhile, Janay Rice has unwisely weighed in on the issue as well. Roger Goodell must be wondering if the ghost of Pete Rozelle has it in for him, right about now.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Danny Franks

[merylinkid]

While I believe in physical discpline, taking a switch to the bare bottom of a 4 year old and hitting him repeatedly crosses the line.   And for what?   He shoved one of his siblings while they were playing video games.    You swat him with your bare hand on his covered butt and tell him no more video games.   The punishment was way out of proportion to the problem.

 

Peterson should really have known better.   Last year one of his kids died after being beaten by the mother's boyfriend.   

 

As for the indictment being no billed then re-presented, it was done this week after the Ray Rice video came out.   So there may be less of a "NFL players are special" attitude now.

[KerleyQ]

Peterson should really have known better.   Last year one of his kids died after being beaten by the mother's boyfriend.

 

 

That's what really gets me the most in this whole sick, sad story - after your child was literally beaten to death, how could you ever bring yourself to hit one of your kids?  And not only hit him, but repeatedly whip him with a branch, leaving him bruised and bloodied.  

 

Roger must really be crapping his pants now - one of the biggest stars in the league has done something so heinous that there's no way he can let it go with a slap on the wrist.  

 

 

[xaxat]

In a normal week, this would have been kind of big news. N.F.L. Agrees: Brain Trauma in 1 in 3 Players. 

 

 

The National Football League, which for years disputed evidence that its players had a high rate of severe brain damage, has stated in federal court documents that it expects nearly a third of retired players to develop long-term cognitive problems and that the conditions are likely to emerge at “notably younger ages” than in the general population.