Wife’s Perspective: How The NFL Failed All Women By Bungling Ray Rice Case

Dec 16, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

City of Champions co-editor Matt Gajtka welcomes his wife Jillian back for her “Wife’s Perspective” column. Read her previous piece on the NBA doing the right thing in ousting former Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

On Monday, the full video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out his then fiancée Janay Palmer in a casino elevator was released by TMZ.com. As I watched, I was sickened and enraged that the NFL did nothing earlier to adequately punish Rice.

The NFL held a press conference in May with Ray and Janay Rice to say Rice was suspended for a mere two games after the February incident. At the conference, they put Janay on the podium just a few feet from her abuser. Do you really think she was going to speak against him in front of a national TV audience? The short answer is no.

If she says anything bad, who knows what he could/would have done, as three women a day are killed when attempting to leave their abuser. She also could still love him despite everything that happened because a lot of abuse is emotional and the abuser will promise to never harm them again. Shame on the NFL for not asking her questions about the incident in a private setting. Shame on them for claiming they didn’t see the video until Monday like the rest of us.

By not taking appropriate actions earlier in the year, hundreds of kids who look up to NFL players, including Ray Rice, were effectively told that it was ok to hit a woman. They see that if they grow up to play football, and if they abuse a women, they can weasel their way out of suitable punishments. This just raises another generation of potentially violent individuals instead of taking a stance and educating fans on how to stop this.

The NFL only cared about saving face instead of saving women. The NFL owners now have a big decision. Just like the NBA owners took action to remove Donald Sterling after his racist remarks, the NFL owners now need to remove commissioner Roger Goodell for not doing more. If Goodell needs help investigating incidents, maybe he needs to hire TMZ since they didn’t have any trouble finding the entire elevator video.

Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Ravens and I will not be watching. I will also not watch any NFL games this year because I can’t support a league that is more concerned with punishing players getting high than those who abuse their significant others.

If you or someone you know is in a domestic violence situation, there are organizations out there that can help. You can contact the National Domestic Violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or check out your local women’s shelter. Together we can all try to educate others and put an end to this problem.

Jillian Gajtka is the Business Development Manager for Credit Union Student Choice. She has a personal connection to domestic violence as four of her family members were murdered in 2011 as a result of domestic violence. To read more about her cousin’s story, visit www.runningforjenny.org/herstory.