The Ray Rice incident has put a damper on the National Football League.

By now everyone has heard about the video showing the former Baltimore Ravens running back striking his then-fiancé Janay Palmer, knocking her unconscious in an Atlantic City hotel elevator.

Rice was originally suspended two games by the NFL and required to donate his third game check. Following the new video, Rice was cut from the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.

That wasn’t the end of the bad news for the league.

San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald was arrested on accusations of domestic violence days prior to the Rice video being released.

McDonald proceeded to play in the 49ers’ season opener, a move heavily scrutinized due to the fallout of the Rice video. Neither the league nor the 49ers have disciplined McDonald as the investigation into his case is still ongoing.

These two incidents turned up the heat on the Carolina Panthers’ Greg Hardy, who was convicted on charges of domestic violence and did not receive a stiff penalty from the NFL.

Hardy was deactivated just hours before the Panthers Week 2 matchup against the Detroit Lions amid growing protest against his being on the field. Hardy, like McDonald, played in Week 1.

Was deactivating Hardy the right thing to do? Likely so. Was Hardy deactivated because it was the right thing to do? Questionable.

To add insult to injury, the Minnesota Vikings’ star running back Adrian Peterson was indicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child against his son when he allegedly whipped him repeatedly with a tree branch.

What a week.

Pundits across the nation are questioning if the NFL has a violence problem and are ready to crucify these players as well as any player who commits such a crime.

As a heavy believer in the theory that most NFL players are on some type of performance-enhancing drugs that cause violent mood swings, to some degree, yes, I do agree that the NFL may have an anger issue.

I agree more, however, that the NFL has a Roger Goodell issue.

Goodell’s name has been relentlessly dragged through the mud this past week, and I think rightfully so.

Goodell sports an arrogant smirk and his inconsistent punishments have always been up for debate.

I’m willing to go a step further and agree with the critics who question his credibility.

Roger Goodell says he never saw the second Ray Rice video.

Roger Goodell is a liar.

That opinion is entirely my own, but I stand by it though it’s entirely plausible that Goodell could be telling the truth. I just don’t believe it.

According to Goodell, NFL officials requested the video footage from the elevator and it was never granted to them. Reports countering that claim have since surfaced.

Let’s assume that Goodell is telling the truth. The NFL and its infinite power could not retrieve an elevator video from the Atlantic City casino. Let’s assume that TMZ has greater influence than the league.

Let’s assume all of that and explain Spygate and the Bounty program.

Very secret stuff.

These were very in-depth investigations that the NFL went through to uncover these truths. I’m no expert and I have no insider information, but if such lengths were taken with these matters, I’d have to believe the NFL didn’t try hard enough to obtain the elevator footage.

Or, the NFL saw the footage and still handed the punishment of two games to Rice, which is the most probable outcome in my opinion.

To further complicate matters, the NFL is launching an investigation into the claims that the video was received and reviewed.

Repeat. The NFL is launching an investigation against the NFL.

Interesting.

As for the players on the field, no one ever wants to take money out of anyone’s pockets. At the same time, we do not want to absolve them of any wrongdoing. However, until these matters are resolved, it seems like the best solution would to be to deactivate them all.

In addition to that, a consistent and fair punishment policy needs to be established for all misconduct across the board and eliminate any retroactive activity except in extreme cases.  

As for Goodell, he should be suspended indefinitely.

Spencer is a senior in LAS. He can be reached at [email protected].