After this morning’s release of Ray Rice’s domestic violence elevator video by TMZ the Baltimore Ravens have decide to terminate his contract making him a free agent.
Originally the organization stood behind Rice and his wife but the video evidence proved to be too much for them to overlook. Ray has served 1 game of his 2 game suspension and he’s free to sign with any NFL team after next weekend.
Rice is a hot button issue today but in a few weeks game will have been played, teams will have moved on, and even more important starting running backs will be injured. It’ll be interesting to see if teams will choose winning over moral fiber. Rice is a 3-down running back that can still elevate a playoff contending team.
Imagine the Broncos losing Monte Ball to injury or Marshawn Lynch going down in Seattle. Those are two respected organizations and two strong locker rooms that could look at filling the hole with Rice. Of course this is all hypothetical but this will be the next chapter in this Ray Rice saga. He’s only 27 years old and he will be immediately available to teams chasing a title.
It’s not too early to wonder whether this outrage is a product of the release of today’s video. The true test will be whether the strong stance against domestic violence will supersede the chase for a Lombardi Trophy.