Much has been said about the NFL's decision to suspend Ray Rice for two games.
The national reaction, for the most part, has been that two games is not enough for a domestic violence incident. Local reaction in the media has pretty much been the same, which includes The Baltimore Sun's Mike Preston writing that the NFL had a chance to take a stand on violence against women and failed to do so.
Down I-95, The Washington Post's Cindy Boren wrote that the NFL now has a woman problem with this fairly light punishment.
And now, former Ravens receiver Derrick Mason, once a teammate of Rice's has chimed in on the issue. Speaking to The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec, Mason said Rice should have received a stiffer suspension.
"It seems like the NFL kind of takes the old-school mentality, ‘We’re not going to get involved in family matters.’ But I think what you do off the field should be more than what you do on the field," Mason said. "You should get fined or penalized more for the things that you do off the field, because that’s just not affecting your football team. That’s affecting your way of living, that’s affecting your family, others that look up to you.
"I think the NFL needs to take a harsher stance when you’re dealing with domestic violence. People, especially on the outside, are looking at this and saying: ‘Hey, you just gave [Rice] a slap on the wrist. It’s almost like you are condoning what he did.'"
He has a point. But the NFL, you'd think, knows more about the actual situation than the general public. Or possibly, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell just wanted to avoid an issue with the NFLPA, which would have certainly gone after the league with an appeal if Rice would have gotten a four-to-six game suspension.
So what do you guys think? Take the purple and black blinders off for just one second and vote below in the poll as to whether Rice got a fair suspension, too lenient of one, or too much.