Thursday November 6th, 2014
Day 2 of the nasty Ray Rice arbitration hearing in New York.
Commissioner Roger Goodell grilled for two hours by NFL Union Attorney Jeffrey Kesslar, about what he knew, when he knew it, and the double jeopardy discipline handed down…the two game suspension that was turned into an indefinite suspension after the second video of Rice’s knockout punch surfaced.
Today, Rice will testify as will his wife, with the NFL lawyers likely hammering away at what Rice told Goodell in their private meeting, and what he said during his disciplinary hearing.
The question of semantics now moves front and center. Did Rice say he slapped his wife? Did he say he punched his wife? Did he tell Goodell about each spitting on each other, cursing each other, and what was the trigger point of the argument?
Also to be discussed, what the NFL knew or did not know of the second video, and how hard they worked to obtain it? Did the NFL rely on police to do the investigation, and believe it was a minor incident because police never filed felony charges against the Ravens player.
Also to testify will be Ravens President Dick Cass, and GM-Ozzie Newsome, about the depth of the information they obtained, and how they arrived at their decision to release Rice after the second video surfaced.
Judge Barbara Jones will likely rule quickly on whether Rice is to be reinstated, because he was penalized twice for the same incident, or whether the seriousness of the incident, after the second video became public, allowed the NFL to re-think its position.
She will also rule whether Rice gets reinstated immediately, and whether he is due back pay for unjustly being given his release by the NFL team.
Friday could be a very interesting day when the hearing is completed.
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