Steinberg: NFL Rice hearing threatens to reignite furor
The last thing the NFL needed was for the Ray Rice appeal of his indefinite suspension to take center stage this week.
The initial discipline and later release of the graphic tape of Rice punching his girlfriend touched the middle rail of nationwide fury. It dominated national news for three weeks. It was one of the rare issues that transcends sports fans and became media, water cooler and beauty shop dominating topics. The NFL is busy preparing a new domestic policy approach, ads featuring players warning against domestic violence are running, and domestic violence has been moved front and center as a national concern.
The NFL is in the midst of another season that highlights the League as the No. 1 entertainment source in America. Several weeks ago, the top seven rated Nielsen television shows were NFL nighttime football. This was unprecedented and showed NFL football to be not simply the favorite sport, but the favorite prime time viewing option. As many as 40 million people are playing fantasy football each week, and computers during business hours are being used to play fantasy in large numbers. And now the Rice hearing, which will be heavily covered in a press sense, reintroduces the controversy once again.
Rice will argue that the commissioner had every relevant fact available to him on June 16 in the original disciplinary hearing. The police report said that the defendant had punched the victim in the face and knocked her unconscious. The first tape showed Rice dragging his then fiancé by the hair. Rice says he was totally open with the Commissioner and described everything that occurred. Ravens VP, Ozzie Newsome, said that Rice told him everything that happened accurately in the second tape. Rice is represented by Jeffrey Kessler, who has zealously battled the NFL before.
Goodell and the League will argue that new facts emerged after the initial suspension that made it necessary to assess new discipline. Much will depend on the testimony. I have argued since the second discipline that it constituted double jeopardy — one incident, one penalty. Depending on the criteria arbitrator Federal Judge Barbara Jones uses — Rice should win. He has already served more games than the new domestic policy guidelines call for, so he should be reinstated. Was the Raven termination legal if they already knew the facts for months? Rice will either return there or be a free agent.
History is replete with examples of athletes who were involved in controversial misbehavior returning to play. Ray Lewis comes to mind. If enough time passes and there is true repentance, the public gives second chances. If Rice is a free agent and no one signs him, then that gives rise to collusion assertions. It only exacerbates the situation that Viking running back star, Adrian Peterson, will probably be back on the Vikings soon, since he has served sufficient games for whatever the discipline is.
Press coverage is likely to be intense. This is a different, more investigative bent press than 50 years ago. In those days, writers took gifts and amenities from sports teams and generally toed the company line. This press matches prior statements to current ones, highlights the inconsistencies, and digs for facts. That poses a higher risk for anyone testifying in justifying their behavior.
Football fans bifurcated their reactions to the prior controversy. They condemned Rice, domestic violence and league handling of the matter, but watched games, attended games, played fantasy football in record numbers.
Domestic violence is a scourge that needs to be eliminated. For years it was swept under the rug, woman were victimized when they reported it and were often victimized by the legal system. Anything that puts focus on prevention and justice for victims is helpful. Hopefully, lessons were learned in September that are now being responded to by the NFL.
The Rice hearing threatens to rock the NFL once again.
LEIGH STEINBERG is a renowned sports agent, author, advocate, speaker and humanitarian. Follow Leigh on Twitter: @steinbergsports.