2014 NFL Season Thread

[wonderbread]

My two hopes for this are that 1) the Ravens get the same cap hit they would have if Rice was still on the team. They shouldn't benefit from cutting him in this situation; and 2) the Ravens donate remaining money he would have been paid to women's shelters. Also, the NFL should probably make some commercials with players saying "real men don't hit women," for what little impact they might actually have.

I doubt any of those things happen, however.

Why should the ravens have to pay for ray rices horrible actions outside of the cap hit they would get like they would have had for releasing any other player?

[Dalcowboyfan92]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000391538/article/ray-rice-released-by-ravens-indefinitely-suspended

Not sure if anyone posted this but Ravens released Ray Rice and Commissioner Goodell indefinitely suspended him.

Will Rice ever get back onto the playing field? I don't think so.

[MadmanLA]

As far as Goodell, this doesn't make the most disliked commissioner in sports history (maybe since Judge Landis), then I don't know who is. Just given the fact he waited and waited to finally do something makes him about as cupable as

Rice.

Gary Bettman will like to have a word with you.

Still though, just bad all around. Goodell won't resign, though he should.

I'm probably a casual-at-best hockey fan, but thanks for reminding me about Bettman.

[Sport]

I know everybody's focused on the Ray Rice thing right now and for good reason, but I want to talk about something that happened yesterday.

The Cleveland Browns lost their 10th consecutive season opener. That's an NFL record. They're 1-15 in season openers since their expansion into the NFL in 1999. 13 of those losses have been at home. That's astonishing.

[kewp80]

As far as Goodell, this doesn't make the most disliked commissioner in sports history (maybe since Judge Landis), then I don't know who is. Just given the fact he waited and waited to finally do something makes him about as cupable as

Rice.

Gary Bettman will like to have a word with you.

Still though, just bad all around. Goodell won't resign, though he should.

And during his time was Kenesaw Mountain Landis all that disliked? He really cleaned up the game and brought it into it's heyday.

[Chicageaux]

My two hopes for this are that 1) the Ravens get the same cap hit they would have if Rice was still on the team. They shouldn't benefit from cutting him in this situation; and 2) the Ravens donate remaining money he would have been paid to women's shelters. Also, the NFL should probably make some commercials with players saying "real men don't hit women," for what little impact they might actually have.

I doubt any of those things happen, however.

Why should the ravens have to pay for ray rices horrible actions outside of the cap hit they would get like they would have had for releasing any other player?

My understanding is an unnamed Ravens player came out and said, "Ray Rice lied to us." While the question remains if Goodell saw the actual video, it's quite possible that the Ravens did not and were just going by what Rice told them and the NFL's decision coinciding with that.

In that case, I don't believe the Ravens should be punished. Even though Janay should not have spoken at the press conference but that is what it is. Ravens and the NFL should do something as a whole against domestic violence though. I do like the "Real men don't hit women" idea.

[kewp80]

I know everybody's focused on the Ray Rice thing right now and for good reason, but I want to talk about something that happened yesterday.

The Cleveland Browns lost their 10th consecutive season opener. That's an NFL record. They're 1-15 in season openers since their expansion into the NFL in 1999. 13 of those losses have been at home. That's astonishing.

Seems unfair having them get 13 out of 16 season openers at home.

[DS729]

I really hope Goddell resigns after this incident, especially if he saw that video. 2 games for that was ludicrous to begin with, and I'm glad he won't be playing another down after this incident.

[MadmanLA]

As far as Goodell, this doesn't make the most disliked commissioner in sports history (maybe since Judge Landis), then I don't know who is. Just given the fact he waited and waited to finally do something makes him about as cupable as

Rice.

Gary Bettman will like to have a word with you.

Still though, just bad all around. Goodell won't resign, though he should.

And during his time was Kenesaw Mountain Landis all that disliked? He really cleaned up the game and brought it into it's heyday.

Landis may have cleaned up baseball, but he did kept men of color out of MLB during his tenure as commissioner.

[CS85]

The NFL, Goodell, and the Ravens absolutely saw the tape just after the beating occurred. Even if they didn't, they knew every detail of what happened in that elevator. Ray Rice himself admitted he knocked her out. This was months ago. Months.

I'd like to say that Goodell and the NFL/Ravens will be held accountable via some truly damning and destructive force, but the truth this that nothing will come of this. Rice's banishment to the football netherrealm will be the end of it all, and Goodell will go HAM during Pinktober to effectively gloss over their incredible failure with Rice with several coats of sanctimony.

[kewp80]

As far as Goodell, this doesn't make the most disliked commissioner in sports history (maybe since Judge Landis), then I don't know who is. Just given the fact he waited and waited to finally do something makes him about as cupable as

Rice.

Gary Bettman will like to have a word with you.

Still though, just bad all around. Goodell won't resign, though he should.

And during his time was Kenesaw Mountain Landis all that disliked? He really cleaned up the game and brought it into it's heyday.

Landis may have cleaned up baseball, but he did kept men of color out of MLB during his tenure as commissioner.

It's a controversial issue with Landis. He was part of the post-Civil War generation. I feel he was perpetuating the status quo of how America felt about the race issue at the time. After WWII things change dramatically.

He may be disliked now, but he certainly wasn't when he was commissioner. Hell he suspended a Yankee for ten days for saying the N word.

Goodell and Bettman however, completely hated by most fans of the sports during their tenure.

[Alex Houston]

So where does Rice go from here? CFL? Hiatus then analyst? UFC?

[IceCap]

The CFL has a rule against signing players who are under suspension or banishment in the NFL.

I'm not sure who'd pick him up as an analyst. Not even ESPN is that tone def.

As for the UFC? Nah. They'd insist he fight men.

[nuordr]

As far as Goodell, this doesn't make the most disliked commissioner in sports history (maybe since Judge Landis), then I don't know who is. Just given the fact he waited and waited to finally do something makes him about as cupable as

Rice.

Gary Bettman will like to have a word with you.

Still though, just bad all around. Goodell won't resign, though he should.

The only issue I have with Goodell is that Rice's ban should have been bumped up to the 6-game suspension as that is the new rule and he should not have banned him today. I do understand why Goodell banned him, but if you set a precedence, then you need to follow it.

[kewp80]

Maybe he can go be a guinea pig in the Xperimental league

[Dnice]

In other news, bad news for the Colts D...

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/08/robert-mathis-tears-achilles-tendon/

[DG_ThenNowForever]

CFL for a few years then back to the NFL; likely the Raiders, Dolphins or Jets.

[CS85]

The problem with this is that Ray Rice can't go to prison. Vick murdered dogs but at least he served his time. Rice should've been prosecuted for felony assault, but instead this horse crap 'intervention' nonsense gave him a golden ticket. that noise.

He should fall on every sword available, sacrifice his reputation fully. Donate the majority of his pay to an esteemed domestic violence charity, and show the world that he's trying to change and to reach out to help others.

But this is all coming way too late in the game for him to restore an NFL career in his prime years. He's dead to every franchise at the moment (and in the redundant shackles of indefinite suspension, anyway).

The NFL needs an enema. I love the sport, but this is all coming to a head. There will be a reckoning someday.

edit: really? No.

[infrared41]

http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/08/ray-rice-elevator-knockout-fiancee-takes-crushing-punch-video/

So to all of those people who said "we don't know what happened"...can I finally call Ray Rice a deplorable human being without you running to his defence?

You sure can.

With regard to the NFL, they botched this thing from the start. To quote Dan Patrick - "what did the NFL think happened in that elevator?" Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled this deplorable human being got what he deserved, but that video only showed what we already knew. It's like Goodell couldn't connect point A to point B. It took him actually seeing Ray Rice beating a woman unconscious for the NFL Commissioner to finally figure out how bad it actually was. When he couldn't see it, the beating was only worth two games. Now? "Well gosh, folks, had I known it was this bad..." Only in our beloved NFL. Goodell's resignation might not be the worst idea.

[TheOldRoman]

My two hopes for this are that 1) the Ravens get the same cap hit they would have if Rice was still on the team. They shouldn't benefit from cutting him in this situation; and 2) the Ravens donate remaining money he would have been paid to women's shelters. Also, the NFL should probably make some commercials with players saying "real men don't hit women," for what little impact they might actually have.

I doubt any of those things happen, however.

Why should the ravens have to pay for ray rices horrible actions outside of the cap hit they would get like they would have had for releasing any other player?

As is my understanding, when the Ravens release him, he'll only get a certain amount of his contract, and they'll get some cap relief. Even though they aren't paying him, it seems wrong for them to benefit financially for cutting him in this situation. His numbers plummeted last year even before this happened, and he may very well have been done as a productive back. It's almost like the Ravens "got lucky" that he knocked out his wife, because it'll save them cap space. And with the NFL suspending him today, the Ravens might not receive any cap hit (I'm not sure how that works).

I just think they should receive the cap hit they would have had he still been on the team. And the situation is less grave, but I was very angry the Yankees got lucky with A-Rod getting suspended. Not only did it save them $28 million this year, but MLB took his would-be salary off their ledger, which allowed them to go nuts in free agency without going into the luxury tax. They signed a roider, they should have at very least had that amount counted towards their pool.