Few people are defending Ray Rice, at least publicly, but it sounds like Floyd Mayweather may be one of them?
Everyone loves a one-punch knockout, except when it?s a running back separating his girlfriend from her senses.
Much has been written about Ray Rice, the star running back who was just fired by the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. He was charged with felony domestic battery seven months ago after a video emerged that showed him dragging Janay Palmer, his then girlfriend and current wife, from an elevator in an Atlantic City casino unconscious.
Because there?s celebrity justice and justice for everyone else, Ray Rice was given a slap on the wrist by the state, followed by a second slap on the wrist by the NFL who suspended him for two games.
There was an initial outcry, at which the NFL did some fancy footwork to quiet things down. But when a second video was released this week, showing the punch from inside the elevator, all hell broke loose. The NFL backtracked, none too gracefully this time, and administered a stiff sentence more in keeping with the offense.
But we haven?t heard the last of it.
Floyd Mayweather, who is fighting Marcos Maidana this weekend in Las Vegas, and according to court records has had some domestic battery issues of his own, was asked by Tim Smith of the NY Daily News about the Ray Rice matter, and his reply was serious if not always on point.
?I wish him nothing but the best,? Mayweather said. ?You know, when it?s all said and done, I wish something positive of it. You know, out of the situation, I?m not here to say anything negative about him. Things happen. You live and you learn. No one is perfect. If I?m not mistaken, they suspended him two games, whether they seen the tape or not. I truly believe a person should stick to their word. If you tell me you?re going to do something, do what you said you?re going to do. But once again I?m not in the field, so I can?t speak about the situation.?
For someone ?not in the field? and therefore not qualified to ?speak about the situation,? Floyd said a great deal. However couched in clich?s, his comment about people sticking to their word, while honorable on its face, suffers when compared to the issue at hand.
?I?m trying to be a better person each and every day,? he continued. ?Like I said, no one is perfect, so it?s only for the NFL to handle the situation they way they want to handle it. I seen the video. There?s lots of other worse things goes on in other people?s houses also. It?s just not caught on video. I wish Ray Rice nothing but the best. I know he?s probably going through a lot right now, because football is his passion, football is his love. It?s no different than with me being in the fight game and they told me, ?Floyd, you got the biggest deal in sports history,? and a couple of months later say, ?You know what? Your deal is taken away from you.? Oh man. It?s really not just the money. It?s the love for the sport, the passion. I?d hurt. And I know it?s probably drastic on him, and his wife.?
Few people are defending Ray Rice, at least publicly, but it sounds like Floyd Mayweather may be one of them. It may be true that ?worse things goes on in other people?s houses,? but that defense won?t hold up in a court of law or the court of public opinion.
When asked about his own brushes with the law for allegedly committing a similar offense, Floyd has his story and is sticking to it.
?I?m pretty sure that my situation, like I said in the past, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing. With O.J. and Nicole you seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna you seen pictures. With Ochocinco and Evelyn you seen pictures. You guys have yet to see any pictures of a battered woman, a woman who claims she was kicked and beat. So I just try to live my life and stay positive and like I say, try to be a better person every day.?
If Ray Rice is forbidden from playing pro football again, and that?s a very big if, he can, considering his gifts, try boxing. But the rules of the game guarantee, or half-heartedly promise, a fair fight, which might be more than Ray Rice bargained for.
