Jan. 10--At 2:47 a.m. on Feb. 15 at an Atlantic City casino, a man and woman argued while walking to an elevator bank: The man spat at the woman, and once inside the elevator struck her twice, the second blow knocking her unconscious. During the remaining 10 seconds of the elevator ride, the man stood over the motionless woman. When the elevator arrived at the first floor, he dragged her through the doors. Casino security personnel -- alerted by a live video feed from inside the elevator -- arrived to find the woman slumped on the floor next to the man, who claimed to have no recollection of what just happened.
If you came across that account of a horrific domestic violence incident, you would expect that the man was punished harshly. He wasn't.
Our synopsis of the attack emerges from the report, released Thursday by the National Football League, on how the league handled the disgusting case of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.
Rice battered his then-fiancee ... and got a two-game suspension from the league and entry into an intervention program -- no prison time -- from a judge. And that would have been it -- until the damning elevator video surfaced in September on TMZ. Then Rice was cut by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
Former FBI chief Robert Mueller headed the investigation into how the NFL handled the Rice incident. The most serious question: Did NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or others see the elevator video before September and cover up their knowledge? Mueller found no evidence of that, but he makes it clear league executives could have found the video. They just didn't look very hard.
NFL executives, Mueller wrote, knew from police reports that Rice knocked out his fiancee. They saw her unconscious body via outside-the-elevator video. But they never asked authorities, Rice, his attorney or the casino if they could watch the full video.
Last month, the NFL introduced a new protocol for how it will handle future charges of violence, including domestic abuse or sexual assault, made against any player (or league employee).
The accused player will be put on paid leave until the charges are resolved. If the charges are proved, punishment will be a six-game suspension without pay. Aggravating factors such as hitting a child or repeatedly striking a victim could mean a longer suspension. A second offense would mean banishment from the league.
The NFL says it will launch its own investigation when it becomes aware of possible conduct code violations, and can impose a penalty even if an employee doesn't face a criminal charge or conviction.
The new policy, on paper, could be effective. The test won't be words on paper, though. It will be in how the leaders of the NFL handle the next serious case.
This is playoff season for the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens (minus Rice) play the New England Patriots on Saturday. Fans will cheer. They won't give much thought to NFL violence protocols. But the NFL shouldn't think it has yet won over anybody on the issue of player conduct. It's on Goodell and the team owners to prove they won't embarrass themselves the next time and wink at domestic violence.
