OPINION

By now, most people are fully aware of what took place regarding Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. The 27-year-old was shown dragging his unconscious (then) fiancee out of an elevator. It's not exactly known what happened or took place before that point, but we do know that a physical confrontation occurred between both Ray Rice and Janay Palmer, who is 26 years old.

Less than a month after the incident, it was announced that Palmer and Rice were set to get married. They eventually did.

Recently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Rice for the first two games of the regular season and he will be fined more than half of one million dollars. Many people believe this punishment is too lenient and falls short of Goodell's strict personal conduct policy he has in place. So did Goodell make the correct decision with his handling of the Ray Rice situation?

I think he did.

The biggest thing to remember here is Janay Rice. She hasn't pressed any charges against Rice for the incident. As a matter of fact, she joined Ray Rice in meeting with Goodell and apologized for the actions that took place. She was in favor of a soft punishment and is very much still with Ray. It's hard for others to try and push for justice when the alleged victim is claiming everything is alright. If Janay isn't bothered by what took place, then why should anybody else?

Some people have even gone so far as to compare this to the Josh Gordon situation. Gordon will most likely be suspended for all 16 games for his off-the-field activities. People have to remember, Gordon has failed four (known) drug tests in college and the NFL and even has a Driving While Impaired charge lingering. Rice has never been suspended before. The Gordon-Rice comparison is apples to oranges, so let's keep things in its proper perspective.

Rice will still miss two games, both of which are against divisional opponents, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In no way shape or form am I saying Rice's actions were the right ones or that hitting a woman is acceptable. But again, the fact remains that just weeks after that incident in Atlantic City, Janay decided they had BOTH made mistakes and a marriage would take place. We still haven't seen the videotape of what happened before their elevator exit. Most reports have told us that Janay struck Rice initially and Rice hit her back. Of course, self defense only goes so far, but we can only guess what happened.

With Janay defending every move that Rice makes, this has become a somewhat ironic situation. Much of the public, fans, and media are calling for Rice's head while Janay is defending him. Janay didn't want to see Ray Rice suspended a single game. In all honesty, this has become more of a personal issue than a legal one.

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