WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence.
When discussing what is the utterly disastrous and staggeringly tone-deaf decision the Ravens made in honoring Ray Rice on Sunday as a “Legend of the Game,” a Ravens tradition that recognizes a former player for his accomplishments on and off the field, we need to go back in time. We need to go a dimly lit elevator at an Atlantic City hotel. We need to go to a moment that was so brutal it became one of the biggest stories in the country and was even addressed by the President of the United States.
We need to go to this moment so people don’t forget because apparently the Ravens have. Rice and his then fiancée, Janay Palmer, in February of 2014, got into a physical altercation. Rice punched Palmer so hard she was knocked unconscious, hitting her head against the elevator’s handrails.
What happened next would generate a national conversation about domestic violence. Rice was caught on video dragging Palmer from the elevator like she was a sack of potatoes. Video would later emerge of the assault itself inside, but it was the callousness of Rice as he pulled her unconscious body from the elevator that shocked everyone.
Rice was later indicted by a grand jury for third degree aggravated assault. The charges were dropped after Rice, who later married Palmer, agreed to court-supervised counseling. After the NFL massively screwed up how it initially handled the Rice assault, it later suspended Rice indefinitely. An arbitrator overturned the indefinite suspension in May of 2015 but at that point Rice’s career was effectively over. He’d never play in the NFL again.
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That act of violence would become so troubling, it was commented on by President Barack Obama. White House press secretary Josh Earnest released a statement from Obama not long after the initial elevator video became public.
‘The President is the father of two daughters,’ the statement said. ‘And like any American, he believes that domestic violence is contemptible and unacceptable in a civilized society. Hitting a woman is not something a real man does, and that’s true whether or not an act of violence happens in the public eye, or, far too often, behind closed doors. Stopping domestic violence is something that’s bigger than football – and all of us have a responsibility to put a stop to it.’
This is the man the Ravens are honoring as a ‘legend of the game.’
You can think Rice deserves forgiveness. You can believe enough time has passed. You can make any rational defense of Rice you’d like. I’m not here to tell you what to do.
But the Ravens aren’t doing any of that. They are taking the truly despicable step of honoring Rice as a Ravens hero. People can change. Time does shift perspectives. There can be context. Just not in this case. The Ravens aren’t confronting what Rice did. They aren’t acknowledging it. They are ignoring it. They are hoping everyone forgets about that moment and moves on. That’s not going to happen.
This is a totally self-inflicted organizational wound and you can tell the Ravens aren’t even fully into doing it. The announcement didn’t come months or even weeks ago, but almost literally hours ago. It came on the team’s website and in the Ravens’ story about it, Rice’s violence was whitewashed.
‘I truly understand why I was let go and why so many hearts changed. But hopefully people can see where I’m at now,’ Rice told the site. ‘They say people can change, right? I am not the same person I was 10-12 years ago. That’s just not who I am. Every time I stepped on the field, I gave it my all. But I couldn’t say the same for life. Now I’m trying to be the best version of me.’
Maybe he’s not the same person but, again, none of that changes what happened in that elevator, and you just don’t honor someone who did that as a team legend.
“He was also consistently in the community, giving back. Importantly, after Ray’s incident he owned it,” Ravens President Sashi Brown said. “On his own accord, Ray undertook critical work within himself and to bring awareness to and educate others on domestic violence. Nothing will change his past or make it right, but Ray’s work has allowed him to atone for his actions and rebuild relationships personally and professionally, including with the Ravens.”
The Ravens’ decision would be more palatable if in their announcement, the team said it had gotten feedback from domestic violence groups about their plans. Or team officials were made available to the national media to answer questions. In other words, if the team was more transparent.
So, as this happens, and as Rice is celebrated, on what will surely be presented as a wonderful moment in Ravens history, go back in time, to that moment in the elevator, a moment so many of us saw, and remember, and don’t do what the Ravens have apparently done.
Don’t bury it.