This Looks Bad

One of the first posts I saw on Twitter this morning concerning the Ray Rice video read quite simply:

This looks bad.

That could be the understatement of the year. The video, the second to surface since the incident last February in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino, is an irrefutable indictment of Ray Rice. The footage shows Rice violently striking his then-fiancee (now wife) Janay Palmer, knocking her unconscious. Those facts, as a prosecutor would say, are indisputable.

A star athlete caught on video in an act of domestic violence. This looks bad.

When the NFL initially disciplined the Baltimore Ravens' running back, it was for a mere two games. What followed was a media and public outcry that essentially forced the league to amend its own policy and the suspension grew to six games.

Then came today's video. Rice has subsequently been released by the Ravens and faces an indefinite ban from the NFL.

It looks as bad for Rice as it does for the NFL, who must now deal with the question: had they or had they not seen the second video? One could easily presume that both versions of the surveillance footage would have come from the same source, which on the surface casts doubt of any claim of ignorance.

A damning video the NFL denies seeing. This looks bad.

The problem is, in a society obsessed with optics, the facts are often quickly kicked to the curb. They are superfluous in the eyes of the spin-doctors whose purview is not justice, but how incidents affect the brand.

A two-game suspension seemed a reasonable response to the NFL, but when the heat was on a contrite Roger Goodell stood before the cameras to concede the league had 'got it wrong.' Now in the face of universal disgust at Rice's actions, and with virtually no other choice, the league has issued its strongest punishment.

A professional sports league slow to react to the criminal behaviour of its players. This looks bad.

What is most unsettling is that, without the video, the disciplinary action most likely doesn't happen. The media would only have hearsay and eyewitness accounts to pursue the story, and the incident would fade into the shadows beyond the spotlight of professional football.

We didn't see it, therefore it doesn't look bad, we move on, forget the whole thing and go back to our Sunday sports ritual guilt-free. The NFL brand lives to cash another cheque.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm fairly certain Janay Palmer and all victims of domestic violence could give a good Goddamn about the NFL brand. In Janay Palmer's case she had the media and TMZ to do her fighting for her, but only because she's a high-profile figure. Most assuredly the plight of the vast majority of domestic abuse victims go unreported and unacknowledged.

It doesn't just look bad, it is bad. It's about time organizations stopped focusing on how things look and address the issue of domestic violence for what it is.

Unacceptable.