# What changed on the day the Ray Rice video went public? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 12, 2014, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272 "2014-09-12T10:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/21 "2014-09-12T16:14:10Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > 1. Before the video, it would be possible for people looking to excuse his behavior to think that maybe it wasn’t that brutal. I could imagine a situation where they were arguing, she slapped him, he defended himself or swatted back, but she slipped and banged her head on something (such as the railing that she did bang her head on). Once the video came out, it was clear that she hadn’t done much and he really wailed (whaled?) on her. Yep, I agree that this was the case for some people–i.e., they applied a “benefit of the doubt” assumption that said maybe it was bad, but it might have some extenuating circumstances. She attacked him, he shoved her and she slipped, whatever. But if that’s the case, doesn’t the NFL get the same benefit of the doubt (assuming they aren’t caught in a lie in saying they never saw the video)? They didn’t know it was a bad as it was, that is. Why the heated calls for Goodell’s resignation only after the video comes out? Again, I personally don’t care if they run him out of town. I’m just questioning the reaction. > [@](#): > > 1. People have a more visceral response to seeing that violence, rather than thinking about it in the abstract. That is, hearing about him punching his fiancee doesn’t have the same emotional impact as seeing him punch her. I think it’s this, mainly. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/22 "2014-09-12T16:14:52Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > What changed when we saw the video? We saw the video, that’s what changed. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/23 "2014-09-12T16:17:51Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > The fact is that there are lots of people who do not assume, when they hear that a man hit a woman – even if they hear that he “knocked her out” – that the man did what you can see Ray Rice doing on that video. There’s a cultural bias toward assuming, for lack of a better phrase, that it wasn’t that bad. I agree with this, that this bias exists. That sensibility, though, seems like it might have some level of sympathy for the NFL’s tone deafness in the first 2-game decision. But that’s not how it feels. Again, I’m not trying to drum up sympathy for the NFL and Goodell. Just seems like a non sequitur. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/24 "2014-09-12T16:24:12Z")
Well, people believe the story about the voicemail receipt from the NFL regarding the video. I don’t think that constitutes a logical error. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/25 "2014-09-12T16:27:50Z")
Nothing changes except we now had video of what we earlier had to picture in our heads. The news media had nothing new to talk about, but they did have this new clip, the new clip is being run and the aggrieved women’s advocates took up the cause anew, having suddenly being given more air time. The original punishment was far too light in my opinion and Goodell should resign over that, not the “new” video. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/26 "2014-09-12T16:36:07Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Well, people believe the story about the voicemail receipt from the NFL regarding the video. I don’t think that constitutes a logical error. People who believe that are, I think, logically consistent (or at least could be). I heard clamor for his resignation right out of the gate, though, before that voice mail data point came out. And I still hear people on the air who in the same speech chide the NFL for not being more aggressive in getting the video (if they didn’t see it) and saying that the video is essentially an irrelevancy, since we knew what happened all along. Just an anecdote, I know… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/27 "2014-09-12T17:06:17Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Substitute “evidence” for “video” and it becomes clearer, I think. I don’t see how much clearer it got. As **Really Not All That Bright** points out, we already knew he knocked out his girlfriend and dragged her off an elevator. Then we saw a video of him knocking out his girlfriend and dragging her off an elevator, and the suspension changed from two games to life. That’s like saying the penalty for armed robbery is two years, but if you are picked up by the surveillance camera you get five. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/28 "2014-09-12T17:08:13Z")
Right. Either he was guilty all along and should have received a harsh penalty or he shouldn’t have been penalized at all. You can’t give him two games because he _might_ have done it. For the record, he received an indefinite suspension, not a lifetime one. Based on past experience he will probably be reinstated in a year or two at the most (assuming Goodell keeps his job.) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/29 "2014-09-12T17:33:47Z")
What changed was that once the video was widely seen, a new question started to get asked: - Why did Rice only get a 2-game suspension for THAT? \ Goodell and the NFL came out swinging right away saying they did not see THAT part of the video until the rest of us did. That is where the heat is now - on the NFL - to explain that. FWIW, I am not an expert or anything, but Goodell’s rushed denial reeks of lying. He’s blinking like a mofo while he is saying “we never saw that part of the video until today”, and hardly looking the interviewer in the eye. Looking at past denials-turning-out-to-be-lies\*, ISTM Goodell is trying to lie his way out of this mess. - Lance Armstrong, that governor from S Carolina, Anthony Weiner, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/30 "2014-09-12T17:44:33Z")
As Astoran said, the justice system gave Rice a slap on the wrist. To people who want to believe in a just world, this means there must be some mitigating circumstance - she attacked him, it was an accident, whatever. The video showed this wasn’t really the case. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/31 "2014-09-12T18:02:14Z")
I just watched the video. She took a jab at him that didn’t connect (and wouldn’t have done anything if it did), he retreated and just lunged at him to take another worthless jab, and he dropped her with one punch without putting weight behind it. > **[NFL brings in former FBI director to probe Ray Rice punching case after law...](https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/nfl-received-video-ray-rice-punching-fiancee-april-source-article-1.1935368)** > > The sharks are circling around NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after a law enforcement source said the full video of Ray Rice knocking his fiancée unconscious in a casino elevator was sent to the league’s office five months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272/32 "2014-09-12T23:08:09Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > seeing him actually pound her to the ground I feel like I’m taking crazy pills here. Am I the _only one_ that notices that he hit her _one time_? He didn’t “beat the shit out of her,” he didn’t “pound her to the ground,” he didn’t “wail on her.” She lunged at him from across the elevator. He punched her one time. She had a glass jaw. KO. What changed was the video didn’t show her attacking him _enough_ to warrant a knockout blow, in people’s eyes. Before the video, we assumed she was smacking the shit out of him, especially after she admitted as much. We assumed she deserved it. That proved false. She only smacked him once or twice outside the elevator and then tried to attack him inside the elevator. People didn’t think that should’ve earned her a busted face. I don’t see what’s so hard about this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-on-the-day-the-ray-rice-video-went-public/698272.md?page=1)