Connelly: Protection of NFL shield disgusting

With TMZ’s release of new surveillance video showing former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out his then-fianc e, now wife Janay Palmer on Monday, we now know just what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is willing to do to “protect the shield.”

And it’s disgusting.

The video, the initial two-game suspension handed down by the league, the Ravens organization having Palmer talk about the incident at a news conference, fans giving Rice a standing ovation at training camp — all of it. It’s all sickening.

We heard how sorry Rice was, how the couple was working out their problems and how the league was going to be tougher on domestic violence offenders in the future. And for some reason that was going to be good enough.

That was until we all actually saw what Rice did to Palmer in an Atlantic City casino elevator in February.

We learned how powerful the spoken word can be in April, when accused racist and former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers Donald Sterling was recorded making racist remarks. Now we know what the power of video can do.

But why is that?

Why would Sterling still be sitting courtside at Clippers games and Rice be suiting up for the Ravens next week if it weren’t for TMZ?

Power can be a dangerous bully and I think we’re seeing that play out now more than ever in an age where everything’s recorded.

With the Rice incident, Goodell had a chance to bring down the hammer and let his stance on domestic violence be known. He did one out of the two.

He revealed his stance that the shield takes precedent over not just one woman’s well-being, but that of wives and girlfriends of players across the league.

I didn’t need to see Rice’s fist actually strike Palmer’s jaw to know what went on in that elevator. And the league shouldn’t have either — as it claimed on Monday with some bogus story about how it tried to obtain video of the incident but was unable to get it.

That’s about as believable as Rice’s attorney’s original claim that it was self-defense.

Finally, all the dirt Goodell, the NFL and the Ravens tried to sweep under the rug was revealed to the public in a powerful revelation.

The Ravens had no choice but to terminate Rice’s contract. However, they should have made that choice in July when the first surveillance video of Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer was made public. Instead, they screwed it up.

So yes, I applaud the Ravens for finally doing the right thing. But by no means do they get a pat on the back for this.

For all we know the NFL called the Ravens and demanded they cut Rice. However the final decision came to be, every party involved has a lot to learn — the Atlantic City Police Department included.

You mean to tell me they looked at the video and gave it the old “nothing to see here” and went on their merry way?

Pittsburgh plays in Baltimore on Thursday night. CBS should bury the Ravens, in front of a primetime, national television audience, in the very grave they dug themselves.

Don’t expect that to happen, though, because the shield wouldn’t like that very much.

Kevin Connelly is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at kconnelly@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @Connelly_Vindy.