The NFL In Crisis Mode: Still An Offshoot of Ray Rice’s Disastrous Valentine’s Day Date

By Kara Michelle Sep 24, 2014 07:43 AM EDT

The NFL In Crisis Mode: Still An Offshoot of Ray Rice's Disastrous Valentine's Day Date

On February 14, former Baltimore Ravens running back 27-year-old Ray Rice and his then fiancee, 26-year-old Janay Palmer celebrated Valentine's Day at the Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City with close friends over dinner and wine, following which they shared at least one bottle of tequila. By 2 AM, the then already intoxicated Ray and Janay were reportedly arguing inside the hotel elevator about, among other things, the guest list for their upcoming wedding. The drunk Ray then punched the also drunk Janay unconscious. Then he dragged her limp body out of the elevator. Everything that transpired was caught on the hotel security cameras. Footage from the incident was released to the press. Ray was criminally charged. He was also eventually fired from his team and indefinitely suspended from the league. Between Valentine's Day and his termination from his job, Ray and Janay made peace and got married.

Seven months after the incident, the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens are still under fire for how they have handled the Ray Rice affair. They were accused of foot-dragging, of making cover ups and of partiality towards their player. The Ray Rice Valentine's Day aftermath also brought to the public spotlight how they have or will be handling other similar incidence of recent domestic violence like Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dryer head-butting his wife and throwing a shoe at his son, and Minnesota Vikings superstar Adrian Peterson whipping his four-year-old son with a switch cut from a tree, and Carolina Panthers defensive-end Greg Hardy assaulting a former girlfriend and threatening to kill her, and San Francisco 49ers defender Ray McDonald hitting his pregnant girlfriend, and so on.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday addressed the media about the perceived spate of domestic violence and child abuse cases around the league. Said he: "I think we can make some changes, and I think there will be positive, in the domestic violence and sexual assault areas, child abuse areas, those are things we think that we can make a big difference on at some point." He promised that everyone involved with the NFL, from teams to front office staff, will be going through educational and training programs to be more aware of the sensitivity of the issues involved. He apologized and admitted they may have made a mistake in how the Ray Rice case was handled. He said, "We will get our house in order first.... The same mistakes can never be repeated."