The hits keep coming for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the latest one may undermine his existence as the league’s disciplinarian.
Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was suspended indefinitely this year after punching his fiancee, won his appeal on Friday, meaning he could return to the league.
Rice, the face of the domestic-violence problem in the NFL, is now a free agent and is eligible to sign with another team, the NFL Players Association said Friday.
Rice, 27, had been sacked by the Ravens and kicked out of the NFL indefinitely in September after the emergence of video showing him punching his fiancee Janay in a casino lift in February, knocking her unconscious.
Goodell had initially barred Rice for only two games, then extended the ban after video of the episode emerged. The former federal judge who was the arbitrator in the appeal, Barbara S Jones, said that was not fair and that the league could not punish someone twice for the same offence. She is right.
The decision is a huge setback for Goodell, who was criticised for his handling of the case from the very beginning. Jones included a line in her ruling that was probably a very painful “if” for Goodell: “If this were a matter where the first discipline imposed was an indefinite suspension, an arbitrator would be hard-pressed to find that the commissioner had abused his discretion. But that is not the case before me.”
Goodell has been breaking the rules that he has been making up as he goes along.
Instead of a strong leader when the league needs it most, Goodell has been an inconsistent and weak one.
agray@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
