Official Non NFC North NFL News 2014 (Unofficial Johnny Manziel)

[Guiness]

The argument that he hit her, but not hard enough to knock her out is too precious for words.

Rice is dumb enough to get baited into a criminal act by someone spending his money. That is a special kind of fool. The kind of fool who can be manipulated by someone who is nearly blackout drunk. If this story is even partially true, he is dumber than he first appeared to be. That he isn't smart enough to leave that trouble behind that night, indeed, that he is dumb enough to stay with it, should be reason enough to get a larger suspension.

They both should have spent the night locked up.

But I am not comparing Rice and Gordon as people. I am comparing the punishments for their actions. Rice hit someone and gets 2 games. Gordon, apparently from a contact buzz (which seems almost too ludicrous to believe but I have not seen any insistence to the contrary) gets 1 year.

While I somewhat agree with you in your assessment of Rice, you have to know there are some pretty big caveats in there. It wasn't just anyone manipulating him, it was his fiance. She was nearly blackout drunk, and so was he. That makes it a very volatile situation. I doubt there are many of us who can not say we had a drunken squabble with out gf/fiance/wife/lover/etc and said and done some pretty regrettable things.

[pbmax]

While I somewhat agree with you in your assessment of Rice, you have to know there are some pretty big caveats in there. It wasn't just anyone manipulating him, it was his fiance. She was nearly blackout drunk, and so was he. That makes it a very volatile situation. I doubt there are many of us who can not say we had a drunken squabble with out gf/fiance/wife/lover/etc and said and done some pretty regrettable things.

Of course. But the more you lean on the blackout/gambling/spending side of the problems with the fiancé, the less well Rice comes off. The question becomes when did he exercise worse judgement, hitting her or getting involved with her? So its a caveat that cuts the same way. He (and she) is an idiot.

But the NFL doesn't have the job of fixing Rice's choice of girlfriends. It needs a punishment that hurts more than 2 paychecks. His reported remorse does nothing to explain his unsound judgement.

I am actually more amenable to the idea that Gordon deserved the year because of multiple mis-steps (even if those mis-steps were more about a low threshold than an uncontrollable habit). Perhaps that is correct. But Rice deserves more precisely because this is who he chooses to spend time with. He's not recreational user of wedding buffets and she isn't some random drunk with alcohol-fueled courage.

[Guiness]

Of course. But the more you lean on the blackout/gambling/spending side of the problems with the fiancé, the less well Rice comes off. The question becomes when did he exercise worse judgement, hitting her or getting involved with her? So its a caveat that cuts the same way. He (and she) is an idiot.

But the NFL doesn't have the job of fixing Rice's choice of girlfriends. It needs a punishment that hurts more than 2 paychecks. His reported remorse does nothing to explain his unsound judgement.

I am actually more amenable to the idea that Gordon deserved the year because of multiple mis-steps (even if those mis-steps were more about a low threshold than an uncontrollable habit). Perhaps that is correct. But Rice deserves more precisely because this is who he chooses to spend time with. He's not recreational user of wedding buffets and she isn't some random drunk with alcohol-fueled courage.

Does he come off worse? I guess he does, but you're right that it's for bad judgement, not necessarily spousal abuse. I just can't shake the vision of something you posted when this came out

Sounds like a Buster Keaton movie. Door opens, he is punching her. Door closes/opens again, she is punching him. Close/Open, she drags him out. Close/Open, he runs back in, then drags her out.