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Ray Rice and NFLPA Appeal May Spell More Trouble for Roger Goodell

Late Tuesday, Ray Rice and the NFL Players Association formally appealed the indefinite suspension of Ray Rice by Roger Goodell and the NFL. The NFL originally suspended Rice for two games due to his arrest for domestic violence against his now wife Janay Palmer. However, last week, TMZ released a video from inside the elevator showing Rice punching Palmer putting into motion a series of events that led to this appeal.

The immediate public outcry that followed caused the Baltimore Ravens to release Rice that same day. Following the Ravens release, the NFL and Goodell announced that Rice had been indefinitely suspended based upon the new information allegedly learned from viewing the TMZ video for the first time.

The NFLPA statement reported by Brian McIntyre of NFL.com indicated that the appeal was filed by the union to “protect the due process rights of all NFL players.” Further, the statement specifically noted the “lack of a fair and impartial process, including the role of the office of the Commissioner of the NFL.” Additionally, the appeal indicated that “under governing labor law, an employee cannot be punished twice for the same action when all of the relevant facts were available to the employer at the time of the first punishment.”

This appeal is problematic for Goodell in that it strikes right at the heart of Goodell’s defense of why the Rice suspension was increased from two games to an indefinite one. Goodell had insisted in an interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS This Morning that no one in the NFL “to his knowledge” had seen the video prior to the TMZ release.

Goodell’s statement was immediately questioned when the Associated Press released a 12-second voicemail purportedly from an NFL executive acknowledging that she had received and viewed the TMZ video from inside the elevator.

In addition, Rice stated that he had told Goodell and the Ravens exactly what had occurred inside the elevator whether or not the NFL viewed the video or not. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com reported that Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome stated that “what we saw on the video was what Ray said…Ray didn’t lie to me. He didn’t lie to me.”

If Rice and Newsome are telling the truth, then the NFL and Goodell are going to have a hard time justifying why they increased the suspension of Rice. Based upon the public outcry, the two game suspension was likely far too short. However, the appellate issue is whether the NFL and Goodell had all of the relevant information available at the time they made the decision to suspend Rice for two games, not whether it was the correct decision.

If Rice did not lie and was completely truthful to Goodell, it seems hard to justify why the release of the video could change the amount of discipline. Rice should have been suspended for his conduct, not whether there was a video of the incident. At best, this whole saga seems to indicate that the NFL was acting in an ad-hoc and uneven manner.

Worse, Goodell appears to have been untruthful in his public statements. At a minimum, Goodell has a credibility problem with the public at this time. The Rice appeal will only serve to highlight and worsen Goodell’s credibility issue and possibly lead to Goodell’s resignation as NFL Commissioner.

 

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Main Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

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