Regardless of what did, or didn’t, happen during Ray Rice’s press-conference-that-wasn’t, the NFL eventually will take action against the Ravens running back, who has entered a diversion program to resolve charges of aggravated assault against his former fianceé, who’s now his wife.
Despite quarterback Joe Flacco’s confidence that Rice won’t be suspended, we’re told it’s only a question of when and how much, not if, Rice receives a suspension under the league’s personal-conduct policy.
Eventually, Rice will be summoned to the league office, for a meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell. Unlike Rice’s press-conference-that-wasn’t, he’ll have to answer questions.
Frankly, Rice should have waited until the meeting with the Commissioner to say anything. Today’s press-conference-that-wasn’t doesn’t help Rice at all, either from the perspective of the league or in the eyes of the public. The timing of the event, on the cusp of the first unofficial bad news dump of summer, suggests that someone in Rice’s camp was determined to have a press-conference-that-wasn’t, and that someone else who didn’t want to proceed with it was able to steer the thing to a point where it would get the least possible attention.
