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Out-of-work running back Ray Rice has issued a statement thanking the Baltimore Ravens and apologizing for his actions in a February 2014 elevator incident with his now-wife that struck a serious chord with the nation a year ago. Rice's high-profile case was the signature incident of a horrific domestic-violence swell among NFL players last season, and it raised awareness of what appeared to be a growing problem in the league. For his part, Rice apologized for his actions and thanked the city of Baltimore and the team, which released him last season once the full tape of Rice hitting his...

Rice had been suspended since Sept. 8 following the public disclosure of a videotape that showed Rice striking his then-fianceé in an Atlantic City elevator. Rice had been suspended for two games prior to the release of the videotape, but in the wake of public outrage — Rice knocked Janay Palmer unconscious with a punch — the NFL suspended Rice indefinitely.

Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has won the appeal of his indefinite suspension against the NFL and is eligible to return immediately, according to people familiar with the matter. Rice, who was indefinitely suspended in September after new evidence emerged in his domestic-violence case, can sign with a team immediately, though it isn’t clear if a team will do so with just a month left in the season. Rice was cut by the Ravens in September. The appeal was heard by Barbara Jones, a former U.S. District Court judge.

In this so-called ‘post-racial’ era, Halloween has become a new forum to push the envelope matters pertaining to race, free speech, and being funny, or what we think is funny. We’ve seen the images of the Ray Rice costume – complete with black face and a jersey dragging around a black female doll made to resemble his wife Janay. We’ve seen the image of someone dressed as a bullet ridden Trayvon Martin. We’ve seen the Halloween front yard featuring trees with lynched effigys. I’m pretty sure that an image of a Michael Brown, Darren Wilson or Eric ray riceGarner...

Maybe I’m a jerk for picking such a provocative title, or maybe this country is doomed because an utterly self-evident statement of the obvious has become provocative. Maybe both are true. In any case, I want to begin by telling you about a grown adult male who, last week, beat a woman to a bloody pulp in front of a cheering crowd. As he gloated about his physical dominance over this outmatched female, media outlets and advocacy groups hailed him as a pioneer. In fact, beating up women is literally this dude’s job. His latest victim ended up with a...

“Shocking Video!!!” This week the news and sports media, on behalf of those who need help with two plus two, revealed there are two kinds of domestic violence: The not-too-bad, the kind described only in words and a cost-you-only-two-games video of a woman being dragged from an elevator, and … The shocking, throw-the-bum-out kind, as seen in this week’s inside-the-elevator, what-happened-in-Atlantic City-didn’t-quite-stay-there Ray Rice video. Some of us, however, know better than to be shocked by common sense. After all, how else did the soon-to-be Mrs. Rice, as seen months ago in the first surveillance video, become unconscious, left for...

Probably the last person in the world who needs to be giving commentary on covering up crimes is Ray Lewis. But that’s exactly what he did this morning on ESPN.

How quickly the despicable media turned the theme of black male violence into an uncaring white guy scenario which blames the depravity of NFL thugs on Roger Goodell. Just consider the fact that Ray Rice punched his female partner so hard that her head was driven THREE FEET backward and into the wall of a casino elevator. Take a second look at this young lady being dragged out of the elevator, UNCONSCIOUS, while her feet are left across the track of doors that could quickly close. Janay Palmer Rice went back her abusive husband. But the violence of Black males,...

The Ravens and the NFL were reeling Friday night from an explosive report stating the team conducted a wide-ranging cover-up of Ray Rice's elevator assault almost immediately after it happened in February.

Domestic violence just doesn't happen on elevators. And it's not just committed by former NFL running backs. But don't tell that to the people who've been calling for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to quit over his fumbling of the Ray Rice case. Based on what's been on TV all week, you'd think pro football and its nearly 3,000 well-paid athletes have the monopoly on domestic violence in America. The U.S. Justice Department disagrees. According to its web site, "Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic...

This year, three National Football League players -- Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, and Greg Hardy -- have either admitted to or been convicted of domestic violence. Their stories coalesced into a storm this past week with the release of a damning new video of Ray Rice punching his wife (then fiancée) and the indictment of Adrian Peterson, debatably the NFL's best running back, for child abuse. The media onslaught of updates, analysis, and opinion on what has been called the National Football League's "worst week ever" leaves a distinct impression: the NFL is a league stocked full of criminals. Evidence,...

The powerful reaction to Ray Rice’s elevator assault against his then-fiancé raises an awkward question for the media and feminist groups. Where were they when news came out that Juanita Broderick was assaulted by Bill Clinton, and advised to “put some ice on it.”? The list of women abused by Clinton is long, and includes Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and the young star-struck intern Monica Lewinsky. Yet Bill Clinton remains a revered figure in Democrat circles, just yesterday lionized in Iowa as his wife made a “will I or won’t I?” appearance at a political event.

Anheuser-Busch, one of the NFL’s biggest sponsors, says it isn’t happy with the recent controversy that has engulfed the league. […] The league has come under fire for its handling of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s assault of his then-fiancée. The Minnesota Vikings have also been criticized for allowing Adrian Peterson to play while he faces a charge of abuse for spanking his 4-year-old son with a wooden switch. …

Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Monday called on the National Football League to increase its domestic violence penalties following the release of a video allegedly showing Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his now-wife. His statement Monday afternoon came minutes after the Ravens announced that the team had terminated Rice’s contract and around the time that an NFL official announced the league had suspended the player indefinitely. “It shouldn’t take a video to do the right thing,” the Connecticut Democrat wrote on Twitter. “I commend @Ravens but urge @nflcommish to act on harsher penalties for domestic abuse.” Earlier on Monday,...

On ESPN’s “SportsCenter” earlier this week, espnW columnist Kate Fagan argued that the big picture in the controversy surrounding former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s domestic violence allegations. According Fagan, the problem needs to be tackled at the so-called grassroots level when men are in their formative years. “Well, I think right now we're talking so much about firing Goodell or punishments. You know, should it be a three game, a two game, a six game, a full year ban? But I think that's a little reactive and not proactive. Domestic violence is something that happens in anger, in...

Starting off with the Ray Rice elevator knock-out incident.After the abuse Janay went through,you would assume she would of filed for divorce.But obviously we all know why she wont leave him.Janay probably has no real skills/talent where she could just walk away and move on with her life.Just like with Elin Woods and Huma Weiner.Three completely different scenarios,but in the end they all stayed with their scandalous husbands.My Man Could Of Killed Me In The Elevator!,but that's OK,he has a lot of money,therefore he gets a pass,I forgive him.No Big Deal.And another perfect example of a high profile woman not...

What is happening to us, and what can we do about it? Confronting violence starts with confronting our anxiety about it.I know, the world is a violent place. But doesn’t this summer, and the last few weeks, seem especially so? From the global scene to the most personal, we seem to have settled for violence as the “new normal” at every level. This week, we observed the 13th anniversary of 9/11. That terrible day affected all of us, each of us being able to describe where we were and what we felt as the Trade Center towers fell. Yet, 13...

Following the release of new footage that seems to show now former-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée in the face, it’s important to remember that the prosecutor who let Rice off with a slap on the wrist is now trying to throw the book at a young mother of two who tried to protect herself and her family from violence. Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain approved an application for admitting Rice into New Jersey’s Pre-Trial Intervention program that allowed the NFL star to avoid jail time. Instead, Rice has to undergo counseling and will be immediately incarcerated...

When the Baltimore Ravens released Ray Rice earlier this week, the NFL followed suit with its own punishment and suspended the running back indefinitely. How long that suspension may last is unclear, but it sounds like Rice plans to fight it. Citing multiple media reports, NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk says Rice intends to file an appeal Monday that "will be handled by the NFLPA and by an outside lawyer retained by Rice." Initially, Rice received a two-game suspension in July, after an initial video showed him dragging his unconscious then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, out of a casino elevator in New...

When Roger Goodell was growing up here, he had the best possible example of moral leadership. His father, a moderate New York Republican appointed by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to Bobby Kennedy’s Senate seat after the assassination, risked his career to come out against the Vietnam War... The two legacies from his dad, Bryan Curtis wrote in Grantland last year, could well be “a measure of his dad’s idealism, his contrarianism, his stubbornness. And I bet we’d also find a kind of defense mechanism that develops when you see your dad destroyed on a public stage. An instinct that makes you...