How did Goodell mess this up so badly?

[InfiniteBaskets]

Where's the outrage at the law enforcement?

The NFL is a business and should not be in the business of imposing their morals on their customers.

Yeah but the law enforcement didn't lie. There was some minor backlash against the attorney general or whomever conducted the case against Ray Rice, but all he got was like anger management or something silly. The reason was apparently "This is a very typical punishment for all first time domestic abusers."

I'm not so sure about that, but I'm not well versed on how first time abusers are punished in the court. I also would imagine Janey's testimony helped her husband's case at the time anyways.

Goodell literally could have been like "We've suspended 2 games because historically we've suspended all first time domestic violence abusers 2 games and we're not going to let public opinion sway that." Or even "We usually suspend 2 games for these types of things but our punishments are antiquated and we need a higher suspension limit so we're going to go with 8 and set the standard here on out".

But he literally did the worst thing he could have, and that was lie and then react based on public sentiment. It's a big fumble on his part and makes him look like a stooge.

[boozehound]

Punishment too light? Employers don't punish players it is up to the legal system to punish them. The NFL is just like all of us, we all have differing opinions on the situation. I don't think that beating was that bad and I think she provoked him. The NFL probably felt the same way as I do.

You can judge the court of law on whether the punishment fits the crime but the you cannot hold the NFL with the same standards as the courts.

not in something like the nfl. That is the whole point of the cba. the nfl has its own punishments and of course we can have an opinion on it.

and, of course this scumbag doesnt think it was that bad to knock your baby mama the **** out because she provoked you.

[Jailblazers7]

And the same people complaining about inaction now were the ones complaining about his action then.

The public just needs something to whine about to pass the time. God forbid they should go get a life or pick up a hobby.

Not denying that but Goodell is the one who established the standards by which he is being judged. Sure, plenty of people are just voices looking to shout an opinion but a lot of people are genuinely upset (and have good reason to be). I'm not saying he had to adopt a scorched earth policy but he failed in his stated goal of cleaning up NFL behavior and may have went out of his way to cover up the situation in doing so.

I think the Ravens deserve a lot more criticism for not responding more thoroughly especially since Ozzie Newsome stated that Ray told him the entire truth about the event. I think the focus should be more on Rice and the history of violence against women in the NFL. Shit, there should even be discussion about the PED culture in the NFL that leads to wildly imbalanced players that lash out violently (something that Goodell has done almost nothing to address). But these stories are often about people and scapegoats...not systemic causes.