Worst Day in Franchise History?

[ForceEight]

Today has been a bad day. Let's summarize.

 

----------

 

Our star RB, who was suspended for what most considered too short of a sentence, becomes a world headline again when video emerges of the actual punch of his wife months earlier (which none of us have ever seen).

 

The Ravens initially report no reactions (as evidenced by Hensley when he sought information this morning).

 

Then they decide to cut him, announced around 2 P.M.

 

The NFL announces minutes later that Rice is indefinitely suspended from the league. This appears to be some sort of "obstruction of justice" reaction, obviously because playing double jeopardy would be especially disastrous when the result (for the second time) doesn't fit the crime or the outlined suspension guidelines (e.g. a suspension "correction" would have been six games given the new domestic violence rule).

 

Ray Lewis, our Ray Rice of 2000 and fairly inarguably still the team's face, speaks publicly about how different he is and how disappointed he is.

 

The team schedules a late-evening press conference for Harbaugh, who vaguely and retrospectively answered questions. No other persons form management or ownership were present or provided comment.

 

The team is found to have deleted tweets previously involving the case (specifically, the tweet insinuating that Palmer was a victim by stating that she was sorry for her actions).

 

News swirls that the team, the NFL, and of course obviously Rice and his attorney, knew about the video and may or may not have seen it. Calls for Goodell's resignation and boycotting of all future Ravens games (made by Olbermann on ESPN; I'm not going to provide him any more attention with a video link) sprout.

 

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Now, can you point to even one event that happened today surrounding this situation that could in any way be considered a "good" thing or even the right thing to do, or a thing that was done in honesty and integrity?

 

I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed by something I've invested so much in. I can't think of many other situations where a team and/or the league more deserved the ill will coming to it, to be perfectly honest.

 

Can you?

[TBird]

Things are sure different from when I was a boy following the Baltimore Colts. The worse scandals back in the 60s were when Paul Horning and Alex Karas were suspended for betting on games. Horning said he needed to bet to augment his measely salary but he bet on his own team. Betting was wide spread and he even threatened Pete Rozelle the comish to blow the lid off if he acted. Pete called his bluff and suspended him anyway.

 

Colts owner was widely known for betting and on his own team. During the 58 sudden death

championship game he was on the side line forcing the coach to go for the 6 points instead of

an easy FG to win it at the end of OT. A FG wouldn't cover the spread but a TD would and he

got the TD. Players even got envelopes under their doors as part of the payoff from the guy who

lost. All that is in Steadman's book, FROM COLTS TO RAVENS.

 

Rosey finally died when he drowned off his beach front estate. Arty Donovan called Unitas and

said mafia frog men just got Rosey. He owed a lot to Vegas and there was a police investigation

with his wife being questioned as a possible suspect. Nothing happened to her and she got the

team and moved them to St Louis.

 

 

Now its domestic violence which wasn't even a term back then. Today it's murder charges, beatings, drugs, assault, even bullying teammates, steriods not to mention the gun cult in the NFL. One player accidently shot himself in a club with a gun in his pants.

 

Yup, the game sure has changed and it's an embarrassment. Everyone outside of Bmore thinks Ray is a murderer even though charges were dropped and the co-defendents were acquitted. Now Rice

who really is guilty.

 

All this hurts the organization for sure. Makes me sick.

[Spen]

Pretty spot on post Force.

[varaven45]

Yep. This is a tough pill to swallow for sure. It hurts like hell right now but it too will pass.

[oldno82]

I grew up with the old Colts and, excepting for Irsay, never felt so embarrassed and let down by a local team.

 

I don't think anyone or any organization acted appropriately and at the right time during this whole mess. Frankly, the NFL and the Ravens look just awful.

 

I don't think the Ravens recover this year or next year as a winning franchise and I'm not just talking wins and losses. I'm talking about class and the lack of it too.

 

One thing that has always bothered me about this team is the bad-ass image they seem to have cultivated. And now the chickens are coming to roost.

 

It's a disgraceful day for the team, their loyal fans, and the City.

[Spen]

Also not everyone in Baltimore thinks Ray is innocent. I don't necessarily think he held the knife, but I would be amazed if he didn't know what happened.

[oldno82]

Same here. And now his statue stands next to Johnny U. In front of M&T.

[Tornado700]

Way to pile on guys. Like a pack of cowardly dogs. I as a fan, am not disgraced. I wasn't the one who knocked out my fiancee on an elevator. The city of Baltimore either. The Raven players either. Get a fucking grip.

[TBird]

Also not everyone in Baltimore thinks Ray is innocent. I don't necessarily think he held the knife, but I would be amazed if he didn't know what happened.

During the trial Ray testified as part of the deal and he described how they used the knives. They weren't big ones like the ones you normally think of and they didn't come down with the blow. It was really weird but the co defendants got off because it was self defense. The Ohio boys had guns. They shot the limo up including shooting the tire out. Ray's boys had knives. The knives won.

 

The Ohio boys started the fight inside the Cobalt Lounge. Ray got his guys out and into the limo fast but they followed them calling them every dirty name in the book. A guy got out of the car and was hit in the head with a champaign bottle. Once the jury saw an example of the bottle, it was all over for the

prosecution. Case closed.

 

Ray had blood all over his white fur coat so he was in the middle of it. He said he was stopping it

but nobody out of Bmore believes it. There was one other guy who ran off and he was never found.

he was the guy Ray was scared of and that's why Ray lied to the cops.

[TBird]

Way to pile on guys. Like a pack of cowardly dogs. I as a fan, am not disgraced. I wasn't the one who knocked out my fiancee on an elevator. The city of Baltimore either. The Raven players either. Get a fucking grip.

Cowardly dogs? Bull shit.

 

The coward was the guy who slugged his woman - twice. The entire city is upset and it makes everyone

look bad. The organization really looked bad leaving HARBs all alone to meet the press to explain things.

Where was the owner and Oz and Cass.

 

They are the disgrace.

[oldno82]

Cowardly dogs? Bull shit.

 

The coward was the guy who slugged his woman - twice. The entire city is upset and it makes everyone

look bad. The organization really looked bad leaving HARBs all alone to meet the press to explain things.

Where was the owner and Oz and Cass.

 

They are the disgrace.

You are spot on., TBird. And I have no idea what was going through their minds when they left Harbs out to twist in the wind.

[TBird]

Thanks, man. I knew you were an old Colts fan with that #82 but Berry broke my heart going to Indy. He

didn't give a rat's ass how we felt about them stealing our team. Screw him.

 

Back to Rice and piling on.

 

Hell, no one trusted him anymore once it was out he lied. The locker room didn't trust him nor did

the front office after he deceived them. They stood by him in the beginning just like with Ray and even

after the trial. He played in the pre-season games and had a good camp.

 

Once the vid showed he lied and he decked her twice they couldn't trust him anymore. Nobody

could including his teammates.

[TBird]

Talk about piling on? Here's Canty uttering his complete disgust with Ray and understands why the team

cut him. Canty is a Christian and understands that Ray's a sinner and he loves the sinner but not the sin

but he still can't understand him doing that.

 

So here's his teammate piling on like a cowardly dog. (sarcasm)

 

The locker room didn't trust him and neither did the front office.

 

As Canty said, we're preparing for the Steelers and this business puts us in a tight spot.

 

 

 

http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2014/9/8/6124811/nearly-in-tears-chris-canty-comments-on-ray-rice-video

[thundercleetz]

I have to agree with a lot of the posts in this topic, I have to say this is the worst day in franchise history considering it will take years to repair our reputation. Other fans of the NFL are going to hate the Ravens and boo us and root against us for years simply because of what was revealed yesterday.

[vmax]

Yea...it's more like the worst few months.

 

Cutting Rice quickly sends a strong message that the Ravens won't tolerate this kind of behavior. The organization did the right thing.

 

This is like Watergate.

The speculation is spinning out of control like "Goodell and the Ravens saw this video and really knew what happened and gave Rice a slap on the wrist and then a hug. They have no respect for women."

I don't buy that.

 

I do think that Rice and possibly Janay lied to them or down played what happened in the elevator. His name, reputation, career and a ton of money was on the line. The video blew open the lie.

[cravnravn]

It was a somber day down here, I new I would hear flack about it when I went to work since I come in contact with fans of different teams and we like to shoot the bs back and forth..I had no come backs yesterday, there was nothing to defend.

 

Im more po'ed at Ray & Janay, they obviously knew that a video in the elevator existed, and one day somewhere somehow it would hit the airways, They should have been more truthful, It bit them in the ass yesterday.

[RavenMad]

I agree Crav. It's hard to get over because Ray lied to us all. The first crime was the punches but the 2nd was not owning up to his mistake and instead trying to justify his actions and telling lies to us all. If he was such a stand up guy like he was portrayed before this incident he would have not went along with this charade.

[vmax]

As a fan of this team I am not going to let the conduct of 1 player influence my thoughts, feelings and support of the other players.

There are way too many good men on this team and in this organization.

And in this city. You saw fan reaction....

 

Dick's Sporting Goods pulled Rice jerseys from its Baltimore-area stores, and fans quickly filed into stores seeking to return their Rice jerseys.http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/president-barack-obama-ray-rice-releases-statement-domestic-violence-tmz-video-elevator-090814

 

A large contingent of Baltimore fans were going to throw their Rice jerseys on the field Thursday night.

Nobody approves of what he did. Most can't stand it.

 

The rest of the players need us. They didn't do anything wrong, but the media will hold a hate fest for the Haters.

They will judge and condemn the whole based on the actions of one.

Us too.

 

I will be there Thursday night, with others, to let the Ravens players know they are not alone and that we have their back.

[tsylvester]

Today has been a bad day. Let's summarize.

 

----------

 

Our star RB, who was suspended for what most considered too short of a sentence, becomes a world headline again when video emerges of the actual punch of his wife months earlier (which none of us have ever seen).

 

The Ravens initially report no reactions (as evidenced by Hensley when he sought information this morning).

 

Then they decide to cut him, announced around 2 P.M.

 

The NFL announces minutes later that Rice is indefinitely suspended from the league. This appears to be some sort of "obstruction of justice" reaction, obviously because playing double jeopardy would be especially disastrous when the result (for the second time) doesn't fit the crime or the outlined suspension guidelines (e.g. a suspension "correction" would have been six games given the new domestic violence rule).

 

Ray Lewis, our Ray Rice of 2000 and fairly inarguably still the team's face, speaks publicly about how different he is and how disappointed he is.

 

The team schedules a late-evening press conference for Harbaugh, who vaguely and retrospectively answered questions. No other persons form management or ownership were present or provided comment.

 

The team is found to have deleted tweets previously involving the case (specifically, the tweet insinuating that Palmer was a victim by stating that she was sorry for her actions).

 

News swirls that the team, the NFL, and of course obviously Rice and his attorney, knew about the video and may or may not have seen it. Calls for Goodell's resignation and boycotting of all future Ravens games (made by Olbermann on ESPN; I'm not going to provide him any more attention with a video link) sprout.

 

----------

 

Now, can you point to even one event that happened today surrounding this situation that could in any way be considered a "good" thing or even the right thing to do, or a thing that was done in honesty and integrity?

 

I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed by something I've invested so much in. I can't think of many other situations where a team and/or the league more deserved the ill will coming to it, to be perfectly honest.

 

Can you?

 

 

 

Excellant post sir, excellant. As I said yesterday, unless the tem and the league explain to my satisfaction, I will be done with both of them. I know, I won't be alone.

[cravnravn]

 

 

 

Excellant post sir, excellant. As I said yesterday, unless the tem and the league explain to my satisfaction, I will be done with both of them. I know, I won't be alone.

 

I bought 17 tickets for the tampa game, I dont know if i feel safe going there in Ravens gear...Sadly thats the crap going through my mind now.

[tsylvester]

 

I bought 17 tickets for the tampa game, I dont know if i feel safe going there in Ravens gear...Sadly thats the crap going through my mind now.

 

 

 

Oh you will be safe as long as you ignore the insults, just like we had to do during the Ray Lewis incident. Easier said than done though, even for us old timers with a pep in our step....

[papasmurfbell]

Normally Kevin Byrne is so good with PR. Either he really fumbled the ball or Steve gave orders how the narrative would play out.

[TBird]

Probably Bisciotti gave orders on how to play it out.

 

 

I'M GOING TO BE A HANDS OFF OWNER. STEVE BISCIOTTI

[papasmurfbell]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/08/ravens-finally-deleted-their-victim-blaming-tweet/

Ravens finally deleted their victim-blaming tweet

The process of scrubbing any vestige of Ray Rice from the Ravens organization has begun.

This afternoon, the Ravens finally deleted the tweet from the initial Ray and Janay Rice press conference, that charming one where they documented her apology for getting punched in the face and knocked unconscious.

Fortunately, we figured this might happen so we took a screenshot of it this afternoon when it was still up.

For the record, PR chief Kevin Byrne’s 1,200-word opus on why he likes Ray Rice is still on the team website.

That tweet might be as stark a reminder as any of how poorly they handled this case throughout.

There’s a certain element of circling the wagons a team is expected to do, but blaming the victim of domestic violence was ridiculous then, ridiculous now, and shameful even as they try to distance themselves from it.

 

 

Why do groups think deleting tweets will make it go away?

[Spen]

 

I bought 17 tickets for the tampa game, I dont know if i feel safe going there in Ravens gear...Sadly thats the crap going through my mind now.

With the gun laws there you'll be fine.