Savannah Cordova
UNIV 111
Analise Adams
Rules vs. Morals
On February 15th of 2014, Ray Rice, former running back of the Baltimore Raven, and
his then fiancée, Janay Palmer were involved in a domestic altercation in the elevator of a hotel
in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Both of them were arrested and both of them charged with simple
assault. February 19th: TMZ releases the surveillance video of Rice dragging Palmer out of the
Atlantic City elevator. Between this and Ray Rice’s indictment for third degree aggravated
assault on March 27th, the Ravens stood behind their star running back, doing everything they
could to defend him. March 28th, Ray Rice and Janay Palmer tied the knot. May 1st through
August 28th held significant events such as Rice pleading not guilty and applying to a program
for first time offenders to be cleared of the incident within a year, Rice apologizing to the media,
Janay relaying her regrets regarding her part in the events that transpired that night, Roger
Goodell meeting with Rice, the NFL announcing that Ray Rice would be suspended for two
games, and the NFL strengthening their consequences for domestic violence. Everything seemed
to be going slowly but steadily in favor of Ray Rice, there was still hope of this blowing over and
staying a contained catastrophe. On September 8th, that all changed, TMZ released the
surveillance video showing the actual altercation from inside the elevator. Within hours of the
release of that video, the Ravens terminated Ray Rice’s contract and Roger Goodell suspended
Rice indefinitely from the NFL. This is an ethical issue for very obvious reasons, it is arguable
and very easy to see the different perspectives that could arise from such an issue. On one hand,
you have the rules and regulations set forth by the NFL and by following those Ray Rice should
be preparing for the next Ravens game right now. However, many fans of the NFL believe that
domestic violence should not be tolerated and the men in the NFL should be held at a higher
standard and held accountable for their actions despite their high position in society.
In an article by Mike Freeman, he makes the claim that Ray Rice should never be
allowed to play in the NFL again, he states that Ray Rice is “radioactive” so he would never be
picked up any other franchise, and that the NFL, the judicial system, but mostly the Ravens fell
short of holding the former Ravens running back accountable. He defends his stand by pointing
out that he had misled his teammates into believing that he had no choice but to defend himself
in that elevator, this was proven to be a sorry excuse when TMZ released the video of the
ferocious punch. Throughout the argument Freeman uses tweets from players. One tweet was
from the co-captain of the Denver Broncos “That man should be thrown out of the nfl and
thrown into jail. Shame on those deciding his punishment” – Terrence Knighton. He goes on to
say that Rice would not be signed by a team anyway because of the nature of his actions, to
prove this he says he spoke to three general managers and feeling was unanimous. Because of
the video, this heinous act will not soon be forgotten, he says the video will perpetuate the bad
reputation that he has made for himself. Freeman also brings in the point of accountability,
stating that Roger Goodell’s indefinite suspension was too little too late and that the court
systems failed by letting Rice slip through the cracks. However, Freeman sees the biggest culprit
as the Ravens organization, stating that they had blamed the victim, Janay Palmer, constantly and
“disgustingly” defending Ray Rice, and holding press conferences hoping that the use of positive
media would solve the issue at hand. He relates his claim in this article by using social media and
videos depicting the incident and by calling on the morality of the reader through his language
and tone which was a very powerful tool in this argument. He even goes so far as to call for mass
firings throughout the NFL. His credibility is established as a lead writer for the NFL. Overall,
his argument is solid, it may be too much of a rant at times, his passion on the topic is powerful
but can be negative at times, but it is definitely persuasive to the reader.
Rick Ritter, reporter for CBS Baltimore, states that Ray Rice was punished for the same
crime twice and that his contract with the Ravens was wrongfully terminated. Ray Rice was
suspended for two games but after the release of the video he suspended indefinitely because it
was said to be “new evidence”. Kraig Long and the rest of “Rice’s legal team is claiming double
jeopardy” Long said “If you were punished the first time, that’s the punishment. You live with
that punishment. You can’t come back and increase the punishment later”. It is also stated that
Rice is going after the rest of the money owed to him by the Ravens, $3.5 million dollars. This
article is effective because of its subtlety. It states the facts and seems unbiased as Ritter simply
breaks down the situation. He includes numbers, words from Ray Rice’s legal team, and
testimony from a fan. His credibility is established as a reporter for CBS from Baltimore himself.
This argument could have been more powerful had he appealed to the emotions of the reader in
the way that Freeman did.
Between the two articles, it is clear which one was a more effective tool in persuading the
audience. Mike Freeman connects with the audience on an emotional making the argument much
more relevant to them. He also offer solutions to the issues he presents, giving a sense of finality
to his argument. In the end, this ethical issue has no one right answer, but instead perspective
changes from each person and their view will sometimes be different depending on where they
stand.
References
Almasy, S., (Sept. 16, 2014). Key events in the Ray Rice story. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/09/us/ray-rice-timeline/
Freeman, M., (Sept. 8, 2014). Ray Rice Will Never Play in NFL Again, but Accountability
Shouldn't Stop There. Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2191104-ravens-shoulddeactivate-ray-rice-for-remainder-of-season
Ritter, R., (Oct. 22, 2014). Ray Rice Fights Back Against Ravens for Wrongful Termination.
Retrieved from http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/10/22/ray-rice-fights-back-against-ravens-inwrongful-termination-grievance/