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You can't blame the NFL. They are a business, they have to sell tickets and games, and they are subject to scrutiny by an irresponsible group of sportswriters, who consist mostly of people who were inadequate at journalism or sports, and assuage their egos in the former case, by trying to perform social commentary and break big scandals like real reporters, and in the latter case by trashing the groups whose ranks they failed to break into, and in practice, holding professional athletes to the highest moral and personal standards of any entertainers in modern society.

You can, and should, blame Ray Rice, who knew he was in the public eye, should have known there would be consequences to his actions, and should have known better than to be in a relationship with a violently abusive woman. About 10 years or so back, another professional athlete was a victim of domestic violence, and according to all accounts, acted with absolutely proper behavior, calling the police, and not taking any action in his own self-defense. For which he was roundly mocked and subjected to sly digs for months. Even non-critical accounts of the incident included references to their respective heights (6'6" to 5'4" ). With that sort of precedent, a public figure ought to know he should not be in a relationship with anyone he cannot trust absolutely to refrain from such behavior. It's not like this is a newly pro-female climate either. When I was still in high school I was warned to take extra care, even when joking around, because in a case of he-said/she-said, the woman would always be believed without other evidence.

But the person you absolutely can't blame is Janay Rice nee Parker. She might have married and bore a child to a guy who had knocked her out in an elevator, but that is her private decision, which she has every right to do. Disgruntled that this does not exactly fit the model of the Lifetime movie narrative, some commentors have expressed backhanded disagreement with that decision, but it was hers to make, based on information no one else was privy to, and assessments no one else was in a position to make.

Like, and contemporaneously with, Ray Rice, and my brother, she went to Rutgers University. Unlike my brother, she is a woman of color, burdened with a child, and thus with reduced economic prospects. My brother puts his Rutgers degree to work as a bartender and waiter of irregular employment, and he doesn't have a kid to take care of. He is not married to a recently unemployed, and for intents and purposes unemployable, person. But NFL players are known for their wise financial planning and foresight, so I'm sure he has plenty of money socked away that she will have access to and the ability to live off of, amiright?

If the NFL and Baltimore Ravens were serious about making this situation right, rather than caving to public pressure, instead of terminating Rice's contract, instead of suspending him against the express wishes of his victim (unless she was coerced into expressing such wishes, in which case, the implicit character ramifications bode even less well for her future prosperity), they should award Mrs Rice the balance of her abuser's contract, with all performance bonuses, under some sort of circumstances that would prevent Ray from accessing it even under a divorce settlement or inheritance. The NFL should grant an exemption to Baltimore's salary cap to encourage this, so none of Rice's teammates or fans are hurt by his actions. The NFLPA should give her the same sort of benefits that accrue to disabled players.

IMO, if you want to take a stand on interpersonal violence, do something for the victim, rather than make her situation worse, while, in effect, washing your hands of the problem and throwing an alleged perpetrator under the bus, regardless of his guilt or innocence under the law.