Peterson/Rice

Pending a ruling by the NFL and Rodger Goodell, Ray Rice may be able to return to the NFL at the very least, next season. Although that is very unlikely, because no team would want to sign him, especially how brutally he hit his wife in the Atlantic City casino in February. He appealed to the NFL saying that the NFL punishment was "too harsh." The solution by the court could be to sign Rice to a team, and let him sit out the rest of the season, including playoffs. However, I believe the signing of Rice would bring chaos to the whole fan base not just in Baltimore but around the country. Human rights activists would be against Ray Rice signing back with the team after abusing his wife, however, it was mentioned that it was not as severe as other cases that played out throughout the season with Adrian Peterson and Ray McDonald, who brutalized their victims for more time than Rice had done in the few moments he was in the elevator, and when he dragged his wife out. The possibility of Ray Rice returning to the NFL is also highly unlikely because he was cut shortly after the TMZ video was released, and has well below average numbers compared to Adrian Peterson. Adrian Peterson would be eligible to return to the Minnesota Vikings because he was not released by the team, and is the teams best player, so they almost had to keep him under salary. His punishment for his crime was far less significant compared to Rice, and he was ruled guilty for 4 counts of a misdemeanor. Even if you look at both cases together, both players deserve to be given a second chance, because if you look at what Ben Roethlisberger did back in 2010, when he was accused of sexually assaulted a 20 year old girl and was only suspended for 6 games. It was reduced however, because the evidence was insufficient. His crime was much worse than Rice's and Peterson's, but he was only suspended for 4 games, while both Peterson and Rice have been out for 10+ weeks, and probably for the rest of the 2014 season. As for the NFL, every day, their standards are always evolving, and are never consistent. They rely too heavily on past cases, and fail to recognize what punishments are appropriate.