A legitimate question that can’t be answered yet about the indefinite Ray Rice domestic violence suspension is whether he’ll play in the NFL again.
An important variable, of course, will be how long the suspension turns out to be. “I think it will be at least two seasons,” said sports attorney and agent Anthony Caruso. “But I think (Commissioner Roger) Goodell will take extra time on making this announcement, maybe close to the playoffs.”
Rice would be 29 by then and one has to seriously question whether any team would be interested in signing a running back two years removed from the game. The closest precedent would be Michael Vick, who was imprisoned for almost two years for funding a dog-fighting ring but was signed by the Eagles upon his reinstatement.
“I don’t believe Ray Rice is the worst person on the planet Earth. We live in a very forgiving society so he’s not beyond redemption,” CEO Shawn Prez of marketing firm Power Moves, Inc., said. “He’s become the face of domestic violence and he’s going to have to wear that title.”
Both Caruso and Prez thought Rice deserved the punishment and agreed that, despite botching the case from the beginning, the NFL and the Ravens had no alternative but to distance themselves from him. “I don’t think it was the release of the (TMZ) video (Monday) as much as it was the public and media outrage to it. I don’t think they ever expected that,” Prez said.
The NFL’s mishandling of the incident, which initially saw Rice suspended for only two games, and the continuing controversy over whether the NFL had or sought access to the “new” video unfortunately has made Rice a scapegoat. “Goodell’s on the chopping block. At least he admitted he made a mistake but the NFL really blew this one,” Caruso said.
The fallout from the suspension also forced the league to draft a new domestic violence policy last month in which a first-time offender would be suspended six games without pay and a second offender would be banned for life. The state of New Jersey is treating Rice as a first-time offender allowing him to enter a pre-trial intervention program and Caruso said he’ll “likely avoid jail time”.
Which begs the question as to why he should be viewed more harshly in the NFL’s eyes than the eyes of the law. “There needs to be some uniformity in how this policy is administered,” Caruso said.
Will Rice get that proverbial second chance? “He can do a lot of good and, through hard work, can make a difference in someone’s life. He can recover from this but it will take time,” said Prez. “If he comes through this and shows he’s a winner, fans will embrace him.”