I hate how the National Football League has found a way to never pay taxes even though the League brings in Billions of dollars each year. I hate how the National Football League hires Cheerleaders for the games, treats them worse than prostitutes and pays them next to nothing and now I hate how the National Football League flip flops on its policy on the players and their tendency to physically abuse their wives and kids. We need to focus on the recent events and time line of the life of Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens. TMZ found a video tape of him punching his wife in the face, her falling to the ground out cold and then him callously dragging her out the elevator dumping her and leaving her on the floor.

We know football is a violent sport and sometimes these guys can’t shut off their violent tendencies but the league can‘t let these guys still get paid like nothing happened. Our kids need famous role models in sports not violent criminal types to look up to. Janay Palmer was his fiance at the time of the assault in the elevator and then she marries him anyway. Should she be a role model for young women that says get beat up and marry the guy anyway? It all happened in an Atlantic City elevator on February 15. Wow some real unusual Valentines Present he dishes out. Katie Ray-Jones the CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hot line points out that he never stops to see if she is breathing after the assault.

On March 27^th Rice is indicted for Aggravated Assault charges. The very next day they get married.  On May 1^stRice pleads not-guilty and applies for a program for first time offenders that cleared him of charges in as few as six months. Any criminal defense lawyer would figure out that the prosecutor must have evaluated that the injuries were not serious. On May 23^rd Rice finally speaks about the incident at a press conference where for some reason she is apologizing .July 24^t the NFL finally announces a penalty for Rice in the form of a two game suspension. Everyone is upset that Rice gets less than the six game suspension that players get when they find out they are using banned substances.

You can’t have a League that has over a 40% female fan-base and tell them that marijuana use is more important than domestic violence.  On August 28 the NFL announces a new domestic violence policy making the punishment for Assault Battery, Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault a mandatory six game suspension and then once the video is being shown everywhere, a total flip-flop with Ray Rice by being cut from the team and being suspended from the NFL indefinitely. He immediately goes from being the face of the team to being cut from all football. How about paying some taxes Mr. NFL Commissioner?

Victims often love the abuser and claim that they aren’t often violent all the time. However, it is hard to not to believe that the NFL did not know about this violence before TMC decided to share it with the general public. I do not rush to judge Janay Palmer but I do judge the NFL for continued flip-flopping in its decisions. Domestic Violence accounts for 48% of arrests and crimes among NFL players. For now Rice, one of the league’s best running backs is now sidelined forever.  He is not out of a job because he hit his wife. He is out of a job because there is video of it.