In a statement released Friday after the successful appeal and reinstatement of his client, Ray Rice's attorney ripped Roger Goodell and the NFL for "[ignoring] the League's worker's due process rights" and called on NFL owners to consider a change in leadership.
Ray Rice lawyer rips Roger Goodell, questions if NFL owners should ‘tolerate’ commissioner
Peter Ginsberg blasted the commissioner for his decision to suspend Rice indefinitely and suggested that NFL owners should give thought to finding new leadership.
Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
Peter Ginsberg, who also represented Jonathan Vilma during the Bountygate scandal, accused Goodell of ignoring the issue of domestic abuse "for years," then trying to cover up that failure by scapegoating Rice. Ginsberg came down particularly hard on the commissioner's decision to increase Rice's initial two-game suspension to an indefinite one, a decision a judge ruled arbitrary at the conclusion of the appeal hearing.
Ginsberg wrote that Goodell “punish[ed] [Rice] a second time for an offense about which Commissioner Goodell had been fully and completely aware when he imposed the original suspension.”
The commissioner maintained that Rice withheld key information about the Atlantic City assault during a June meeting and that the release of security footage showing the altercation provided the league with new information on which to increase the suspension. Rice -- along with his now-wife Janay and Baltimore Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, who were both present for the meeting -- claimed he came clean to the commissioner.
Ginsberg’s statement can be read in it’s entirety below.
It is a huge relief that Judge Barbara Jones has ruled that Ray can get back to work. That is the fair and legally correct result. The decision, however, certainly does not mean that this incident will be forgotten by anyone involved.
On a personal level, Ray, individually, and Ray and Janay, as a couple, are dealing with these events privately. On a professional level, it is time for Ray to prove himself again. Hopefully, the NFL will use this incident to learn and to improve.
On the heels of Bountygate, Commissioner Roger Goodell has shown once again that he does not follow the rules in his treatment of players and that his judgment cannot be trusted. Under his leadership, the NFL ignored for years the need to create a stronger and more constructive program to address domestic abuse. As we all know, the Rice incident is not an isolated one. It was only in the face of a public outcry, however, that the NFL finally took a step in the right direction with its new domestic violence policy.
But rather than admitting he had been ignoring the domestic violence issue for years, and had failed to subject past violators to real scrutiny, Commissioner Goodell turned his own failings on Ray by punishing him a second time for an offense about which Commissioner Goodell had been fully and completely aware when he imposed the original suspension. That action threatened to end Ray’s career. And in so doing, Commissioner Goodell ignored the basic principle that every worker must be treated in a manner consistent with past punishments and in accordance with published procedures.
Second punishments for the same conduct are unprecedented and not permitted as a matter of basic and fundamental principle. Perhaps now, finally, NFL owners will give real thought to whether the ‘NFL shield’ should tolerate a leader who fails to lead in important areas like domestic violence and who time and again ignores the League’s workers’ due process rights and the right to be treated with fundamental fairness. There are many lessons to be learned from this unfortunate event -- Ray is well on his way to learning his from this awful event. Time will tell whether the NFL and NFL owners are learning theirs as well.
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