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Forget about a suspension, put Rice behind bars

In a time when scandals and off-the-field antics have just as much to do with the NFL?as the actual games, the league finally got something right.

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was cut loose by the team after the now-infamous in the elevator video of an altercation between Rice and his fiancee – now wife – was made public.

The video -?if you haven’t seen it, there’s no need to go looking for it because it’s utterly disgusting – shows Rice and Janay Rice apparently arguing in the compartment. Then Rice, the 218-pound running back punches his then-fiancee in the face and she hits her head on the elevator’s handrail as she goes to the floor.

Now, there’s no question that the NFL and football in general promote a certain amount of violence. The sport is popular because of the big hits and the gladiatoresque nature of the struggle between two teams.

It’s when this violence spills into everyday life that the sometimes ugly reality shows its true face.

There’s no question that Ray Rice, on the football field, is an elite athlete. He’s played in the Super Bowl, been to the Pro Bowl, was the 2012 NFL?Player of the Year.

But Rice as a player isn’t what this is about. This is about Ray Rice the man, if you can even call him that.

There are different opinions on what should happen to Rice. He was finally suspended by the Ravens – the NFL handed him a 2-game suspension following the release of the video of him dragging Janay from the elevator -?and the NFL suspended him indefinitely.

They finally got something right. In a league where substance abuse nets a player a 4-game seat on the bench, domestic violence was only worth 2 games??Come on NFL. Who are you trying to kid?

We think that Ray Rice should be punished like any other American who is bound by the arms of the law. He should go to prison. He should be mandated into anger management classes, domestic violence education classes. The fact that there’s even talk of “when he’ll play again” makes us sick. Put him behind bars.

The one good thing to come of this, the one small silver lining in the ominous cloud, is that now the NFL will have an acceptable policy on domestic violence.

It’s about time.

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