Ray Rice Legacy: It Was a Punch for Progress
It takes tinder like this for a society to wake up.
And like this doesn't necessarily mean Jayna Rice getting clocked by her fiancé in an elevator.
Like this means the release of a video memorializing that it happened.
Because until TMZ posted it, Ray and Jayna Rice were in the midst of just another domestic dispute. The kind that occurs so often in the USA that the national domestic abuse hotline couldn't handle 77,000 calls last year.
In fact, Jayna Rice taking a punch behind closed doors is laser-accurate symbolism for why those 77,000 calls went wanting.
So, is this statistic really any surprise?
It's so fitting for a league that views itself as a demi-god to be the focus of this firestorm. The NFL richly deserves to have its hypocritical veneer smashed as hard as Ray clobbered Jayna, because more than ever, the public has seen that all the NFL really cares about is itself.
And yes, the NFL will be right back, too, with its cred now always questioned unless the topic is about making more and more money, no matter whom it exploits.
What Jayna Rice endured is not exactly a Rosa Parks moment, but hopefully it'll be a bellwether for society actually committing to address domestic violence in an effective and lasting manner.
May it forever be held accountable for its arrogance.