A timeline of Ray Rice’s assault case

Ray Rice was released by the Baltimore Ravens this afternoon following a day full of anger, scrutiny, and disbelief in regards to Rice himself, Roger Goodell, the Baltimore Ravens, and the National Football League.  While his release was the culmination of multiple events, let’s take a look back at exactly how we got here.

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In February, Ray Rice and his then fiance, Janay Palmer found themselves at the heart of a very sad situation.  Palmer had become victim of an alleged domestic abuse, and Rice was the supposed culprit.  Days later, a video surfaced of Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer from a hotel elevator.

Despite what the video showed, Rice suggested that he was merely retaliating to mutual frustration, and that there was more to the story.

The Ravens and his coach stood behind Rice in the situation.  Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh said “you guys know his character, so you start with that.”

On March 27, Ray Rice was indicted on aggravated assault charges.  Palmer had all charges against her dropped, and she indicated she didn’t want to proceed with any prosecution, but the state went forward with their findings.

On March 28, the two were married. Ray Rice and Janay Palmer had decided to go through with their marriage and continue on with their lives.

In early May, Rice rejected a plea deal and applied for a pretrial intervention program. This would require Rice to undergo counseling and stay out of trouble. Rice was accepted and this allowed him to avoid going to trial. Prior to entering the program, Rice said, “Sometimes in life you will fail, but I won’t call myself a failure. One thing that I do know is that I am working every day to be a better father, a better husband, a better role model.”

No matter what took place, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell knew they needed to act upon the situation.  Though they took their time in deciding a punishment, it was announced in late July that a two game suspension would be the cause of action.  Rice would be ineligible for the first two weeks of the regular season. Rice would also be admitted into a first time offenders program that would allow him to clear his criminal record should he meet certain conditions.

Then, near the end of August, Roger Goodell broke his silence on a matter he had so deservedly been criticized for.

In a letter sent to each NFL team, Roger Goodell instated a new domestic violence policy.  Noting that he should have penalized Rice to a further extent, Goodell apologized for the shortcoming.  The new policy also defined the terms of action following a domestic abuse.  For first time offenders, a six game suspension would be the cause of action, and for those committing a second offense, a lifetime ban from the NFL would ensue.

"“My disciplinary decision led the public to question our sincerity, our commitment, and whether we understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families. I take responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our actions in the future properly reflect our values. I didn’t get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will,” Goodell said."

Following week one for the Baltimore Ravens, Rice was set to begin his second and final week of his suspension, however a new video surfaced courtesy of TMZ.  In the new video released on September 8, Rice is seen brutally punching Palmer and knocking her out in the elevator.

The fallout from the newly surfaced video made the initial video look like child’s play.  With anger stemming from NFL players, both former and current, in regards to the new video, the NFL was once again under fire. Although months had gone by from the original incident, the NFL had another decision to make today.

Despite originally standing by Rice, roughly six hours after the video was released by TMZ, Chris Mortenson reported that the Ravens had terminated Ray Rice’s contract, making him a free agent.

While it looked like Rice would now be without an employer until someone else decided to sign him, the NFL went one step further.

Despite his suspension set to end Friday, the NFL changed the terms to an indefinite suspension, barring him from being employed by any NFL team in the near future.

A situation that spanned across a timeline of seven months has now finally reached a proper conclusion.  Despite the fact that the NFL initially got it wrong, justice has been served in the case of Ray Rice.  With things standing where they do now however, the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens should be the last organizations seeking any sort of praise.

Today showed that the NFL may still not be at the front of player conduct policies.  Despite conflicting reports as to whether or not the league had access to the newly released video when evaluating Rice’s suspension, TMZ had access to it.  Somehow, a tabloid news outlet was able to get their hands on a piece of evidence the NFL couldn’t in regards to its own employee.

What’s worse, is that the video being released was the only thing that caused a further form of action.