Ray Rice’s Wife, Janay Rice, Lashes Out At NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

Ray Rice’s wife, Janay Rice, is accusing NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the rest of the league of attempting to intervene in their marriage and claims the indefinite suspension of Rice from the Baltimore Raven is a hardship on their family.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, ESPN’s Hannah Storm was almost teary-eyed as she described how she had to tell her three daughters about the Ray Rice video and the circumstances behind it. Furthermore, she called out the NFL, saying that the organization needs to draw a hard line on NFL players when it comes to domestic violence. On the other side of the issue, Michael Vick claims everyone, including Ray Rice, deserves a second chance.

Ray Rice’s wife was known as Janay Palmer at the time of the elevator video since the two did not become married until March 28 and the case of domestic violence occurred in February. It’s claimed that the NFL had seen the video months before TMZ ever leaked it, and some say NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell should be fired for how the NFL handled the situation.

“The thing that bothered me most is Roger Goodell at one point tried to play essentially a marriage counselor with the victim and the perpetrator, Janay and Ray Rice,” said Washington Post sports columnist Mike Wise on CNN’s State of the Union. “He put the victim and the perpetrator together. Every domestic violence agency, every law enforcement agency, that’s a no-no. She is sitting, telling her story in front of the person who essentially abused her. And it’s the tone deafness of those types of things that show me that this commissioner does not take domestic violence seriously enough.”

Ruth M. Glenn, interim executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, confirms that with such incidences “there should never be an opportunity where that inquiry occurs when they’re both present.” At the same time, Goodell was not conducting a criminal investigation, which had already been conducted by police.

At this point, some say it’s the public outrage at actually seeing the Ray Rice video that is dictating decisions by the NFL, which would make the indefinite suspension a PR response. The NFL Player’s Union has officially appealed the suspension.

“This action taken by our union is to protect the due process rights of all NFL players,” the NFLPA said in a statement. “The NFLPA appeal is based on supporting facts that reveal a lack of a fair and impartial process, including the role of the office of the Commissioner of the NFL. We have asked that a neutral and jointly selected arbitrator hear this case as the Commissioner and his staff will be essential witnesses in the proceeding and thus cannot serve as impartial arbitrators.”

There are two overriding factors in this appeal. The NFLPA points out that “under governing labor law an employee cannot be punished twice for the same action when all of the relevant facts were available to the employer at the time of the first punishment.” Ray Rice’s wife will also play a major factor since she continues to defend her husband.

Ray Rice’s wife also says the suspension represents a hardship on the family since the Rice’s will not receive any pay until the issue is resolved. Although Ray Rice’s net worth is estimated at $14 million, celebrity football players tend to have extravagant monthly expenses, especially considering he signed a $40 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens after the 2011 season. Since his career started in 2008, Ray has earned a total of $38 million in NFL salary and bonuses, and the suspension represents at least a $10 million loss, not including the endorsement deals that were lost with companies like Nike. So it is really possible the Rice family could be burning through their cash fairly quickly.

[Image via The Blaze]