Before I start let me say that there are many fumbles in regard to the Ray Rice situation (such as Roger Goodell and the Baltimore Ravens’ handling of it), but I want to focus on Monday’s overreaction to the Ray Rice incident and how it reflects poorly on us as people.

If the Ravens had cut him from the beginning and the NFL suspended him indefinitely I’d be OK with that. In fact, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell probably should have given Ray Rice six or eight games, but they didn’t. The Ravens chose to stand behind him and support him on his way to rehabilitation, which I’m all for, and Goodell handed down a weak two-game suspension. Everyone knew when Goodell gave Rice that short suspension, it was wrong. Fans and critics alike called for a lengthier suspension, but that didn’t come, until now.

The video of Ray Rice’s knockout punch against his then-fiance went viral Monday morning and all hell broke loose. Fans, critics, everybody called for Rice’s head. Some, such as ESPN’s Keith Olbermann, believed that Goodell himself should be fired for his mishandling of this situation.

Until Monday, Goodell said he hadn’t seen the video released by TMZ. Allegedly, Goodell was basing his initial suspension of Ray Rice for two games on the fact that Ray Rice and Janay Rice told him that it was a mutual fight. However, even if that was true, which in a sense it is, it wasn’t an EVEN fight. Even without seeing the recently released video, Goodell saw the video of Janay Rice knocked out cold, that should have been enough. A man should never hit a woman nor should a woman hit a man, but if a woman does hit a man, knocking her out isn’t the way to go about defending oneself. Janay Rice getting knocked out like she was in a fight with Mike Tyson should have been enough for a lengthy suspension and possibly jail time.

You shouldn’t have to see a video to empathize with domestic violence, or any act of violence for that matter. If anything, a video should only fuel your rage. That’s sort of what happened on Monday, but it speaks volumes about how we as Americans hear about these things and push them under a rug. We get on our respective soapboxes per issue and go on about our business the next day, as if a few tweets or one Facebook post with 100 likes has done the job.

It hasn’t, and it never will. Some of us make light of the situation, and reel off a few jokes on Twitter. That’s even worse. Where was all this backlash when the same information the video showed was reported?
Everything that video showed had already been reported. Nothing new came of that, so why did it take a video for the world to act like this?

It’s because no one cared until they saw it, that’s the problem. Now, I think people are going over the top to tear Ray Rice apart. Where were you six months ago? It doesn’t matter if you’re right to tear him down or not, what matters is the consistency in your actions.

Do you feel the same way about Greg Hardy and Ray McDonald? How about Ben Roethlisberger and Brandon Marshall? Keeping it consistent is how you get rid of things like domestic violence.
In the case of Ray McDonald, he was arrested on felony domestic violence charges on Aug. 31, days after the NFL announced its new policy on domestic violence.

The new policy states that after a first offense, the players will be suspended for six games and after a second offense the player will be banned from the league. McDonald is yet to be convicted, so of course judging him should be delayed until the legal process is complete. If he is convicted, then what?

If we’re going to do this, then let’s keep it consistent. Greg Hardy was arrested in May on two misdemeanor charges after he allegedly assaulted and threatened his ex-girlfriend. According to si.com, the report said that Hardy dragged his ex-girlfriend into his bedroom, choked her, and picked her up and threw her on a couch covered with assault rifles and/or shotguns. Hardy is currently appealing his convictions. Do you need a video of that to know what should happen next if he is convicted?

I hope that Ray Rice’s situation is the beginning of a trend of consistent harsh penalties for domestic violence cases. I also hope Rice finds his way on an NFL team eventually. America is the land of second chances, after all. Just ask Big Ben or Brandon Marshall.