Baltimore Ravens: NFLPA Represents Ray Rice

No matter what they’ve done or how wrong they are, some people will not go quietly into the night. And neither is Ray Rice. In February 2014, surveillance footage surfaced of Ray Rice assaulting his then girlfriend now wife, Janay Palmer. If you were as stunned as I was, you didn’t believe what you just saw. But it was real and a very serious matter. I honestly thought lynch mobs were going to form.

To make matters worse we watched our commissioner, Rodger Goddell, hand down a measly two-game suspension to Rice causing us to face-palm with the strength to test the structural integrity of our skulls, “Oh my god, tell me he didn’t just do that.” Don’t even get me started on why Goddell needs to resign. After more footage surfaced showing what Ray Rice had already confessed to doing, a harsher punishment of an indefinite suspension followed, and Baltimore released number 27 and cut all ties.

And this is where Ray Rice won’t give up without a fight.

The former Baltimore Ravens running back this week filed an appeal to his suspension. It would seem odd that the NFLPA is representing Rice in his appeal despite the fact that protecting players rights to fair and impartial due process is exactly what they do. I mean you would think anything associated with Rice now gets a bad reputation, but fair is fair and everyone gets a defense.

Ray Rice most likely would’ve benefited by giving the issue some time. Domestic violence is a crime and Rice is going to have deal with this for some time before he can even think about playing football again.

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The NFLPA said that the collective bargaining agreement (just a fancy term for managers and employees negotiating) has a hearing set 10 days from the appeal. The agreement also requires a neutral arbitrator to decide when information was available to the NFL in determining Ray Rice’s punishment.

The NFL has been under a magnifying glass and heavy scrutiny as of late. Does the NFLPA really want to fight this battle? With all the controversy surrounding Roger Goddell, should the NFLPA defend Ray Rice for his actions? Pay close attention to this matter, everyone. It’s going to change the NFL.