Quote Originally Posted by Guiness View Post
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.