Rite of Passage for Biscotti

[varaven45]

Isn't it amazing how the Rice situation has potentially derailed the season and cast serious doubts on the franchise.

It certainly puts team image, character and chemistry into a unique perspective.

 

I don't know how long it will take to restore and rebuild this organization but I sincerely hope and trust this organization has a plan moving forward.

 

We will find out a lot about this organization in how it responds in the coming days and weeks.

 

I think Biscotti and Co are on the clock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Robjr83]

I guess winning solves everything, but there image was rightfully tarnished....... The original presser was a joke. If Ray felt he needed to clear the air FINE, but do it at his home not with the logo in the background making it look like a team sanctioned apology. The Ravens press department putting out propaganda pieces... and now Oz and Biscuit throwing Harbs under the bus. I hope the FO comes clean and takes whatever licks it deserves, not more lies and whitewash.

[tsylvester]

Fans by & large are sheepales, the majority of them will get over this as soon as the team gets a win, others, a bit longer. Afterall, look at boxing fans who fork out hundreds to watch Maywether fight and how many times has he gone to jail, been sued for abusing women? Fans don't care....they just react.

[papasmurfbell]

Isn't it amazing how the Rice situation has potentially derailed the season and cast serious doubts on the franchise.

It certainly puts team image, character and chemistry into a unique perspective.

 

I don't know how long it will take to restore and rebuild this organization but I sincerely hope and trust this organization has a plan moving forward.

 

We will find out a lot about this organization in how it responds in the coming days and weeks.

 

I think Biscotti and Co are on the clock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been questioning Steve for yrs but not on stuff like this. Now I think he is just a guy who looks to win and get return on investment. If the time comes he would sell out bmore for a better offer I think now.

 

 

 

I guess winning solves everything, but there image was rightfully tarnished....... The original presser was a joke. If Ray felt he needed to clear the air FINE, but do it at his home not with the logo in the background making it look like a team sanctioned apology. The Ravens press department putting out propaganda pieces... and now Oz and Biscuit throwing Harbs under the bus. I hope the FO comes clean and takes whatever licks it deserves, not more lies and whitewash.

 

 

 

Fans by & large are sheepales, the majority of them will get over this as soon as the team gets a win, others, a bit longer. Afterall, look at boxing fans who fork out hundreds to watch Maywether fight and how many times has he gone to jail, been sued for abusing women? Fans don't care....they just react.

[varaven45]

In the short term, winning will solve many things but serve only as a band-aid. In the longer term, it will take some time to restore a positive image, rebuild fan trust and create a positive atmosphere that wins championships.

It wont happen overnight - it may even take this season or next to right the ship- but winning is a good start and will certainly help.

[vmax]

They were just about back and clean when they won the Super Bowl.

Now it's back to square one.

[vmax]

 

 

Dear Ravens Stakeholder:

You deserve an explanation.

What happened with the Ray Rice incident? How could it come to this? Why didn’t we act earlier?

As a PSL holder, suite owner, sponsor and supporter, you have a stake in us. You have invested in us – emotionally as well as financially, trusted us, and believed in us. We value that trust and owe you full disclosure.

First, let us say that we did not do all we should have done and no amount of explanation can remedy that. What we can do now is share with you everything that occurred and vow to learn from all that has happened.

Here is how the situation unfolded, and here are our thoughts behind the decisions we made.

On the morning of Feb. 15, we learned that Ray and his then fiancé, Janay, had been arrested at an Atlantic City casino, and both had been charged with “simple assault” resulting from an altercation with each other. After the couple was taken to police headquarters, and after a report was written, they were allowed to leave together.

A number of Ravens’ representatives talked with Ray during the course of that day. His explanation was that after he and Janay had consumed a great deal of alcohol, they had had an argument and that they struck each other.

We at the Ravens organization issued a statement to the media that we were aware of the incident, that we had talked with Ray, and that he deserved the due process of law.

We then began our own process to discover as much as we could about what happened. We talked with representatives of the casino, the police who arrested the couple, the prosecutor and a lawyer who represented both Ray and Janay in the case. Soon after, the video of Janay and Ray coming out of the elevator became public.

We contacted the casino management and asked if there was video of the incident from inside the elevator that we could see. The casino would not share such video. We asked the local New Jersey police and the police refused as well. We asked the prosecutor’s office and that office refused. It was our understanding at that time that Ray’s attorney had not yet seen the video. NFL officials had been informed, and we know they were also trying to retrieve and/or see the video.

Assessing the situation at of the end of February, this is what we knew: A player who had been a model citizen in the community and terrific teammate for six seasons had been charged with simple assault against his fiancé. At that time, his fiancé Janay had been similarly charged.

Ray and Janay both told us nothing like this had happened before. He was showing great remorse; they were meeting regularly with our team chaplain and were diligently attending couples counseling.

In March, the prosecutor dropped the case against Janay, but elevated the charge against Ray from simple assault to aggravated assault. At this point, we decided to defer action until completion of the court proceedings. We stopped seeking to view or obtain a copy of the video. We halted our fact-finding. That was a mistake on our part.

In May, the prosecutor recommended, and the judge agreed, that Ray should be accepted into a pre-trial intervention program that will eventually have the assault charge dismissed from his record, pending a year of good behavior.

The police had seen video from inside the elevator. The prosecutor and the judge, who had also seen such video, allowed Ray into the program that would eventually clear him of the assault charge.

On June 16, Ray and Janay met with Commissioner Roger Goodell, who then announced on July 27 that Ray Rice would be suspended for the first two games of the season. Ray subsequently met with the media and answered questions.

Yesterday morning Sept 8, all of us saw the video from inside the elevator. It is violent and horrifying. I immediately came to the office and called a meeting with Dick Cass, Ozzie Newsome, John Harbaugh and Kevin Byrne. The meeting was relatively short. The decision to let Ray Rice go was unanimous. Seeing that video changed everything. We should have seen it earlier. We should have pursued our own investigation more vigorously. We didn’t and we were wrong.

We are moving forward and believe we can help put more of a spotlight on intimate partner violence, while increasing education and awareness to this issue to all in our organization. Our recently announced partnership with the House of Ruth is a start.

We view ourselves as a family. Like families, we have used tough love in the past (fines, benching and releases) with repeat offenders. Because of his positive contributions on and off the field over the last six years, Ray had earned every benefit of the doubt from our organization. We took everything we knew and decided to support Ray Rice until we could not.

We hope that Ray will continue to work to be the best husband, father and person he can be, and he will turn this awful situation into something positive. We also have learned a great deal and will continue to strive to be an organization and team you and Baltimore will be proud of. I am sorry we let you down.

Sincerely,

Stephen J. Bisciotti

Owner, Baltimore Ravens

 

[papasmurfbell]

Didn't Harbs say last night that Ray described exactly what we saw in the vid? If so I am not getting what changed for them.

[Robjr83]

I even hate the letter idea. You can't ask a letter questions. You can't see shame/remorse on a letters face.

[papasmurfbell]

Good point.

[thundercleetz]

I really don't know what to think. I have respect Bisciotti and I feel like he's earned our respect. However, this letter seems like a poor attempt to close an issue that is far from over. Bisciotti sending Harbaugh out alone to handle the press conference left a bad taste in my mouth. I obviously don't know what's going on behind the scenes, but I certainly don't feel the transparency that Bisciotti is referencing in his letter. This team's reputation is permanently damaged with fans of the league, whether it is justified or not.

[Tornado700]

I'd just like to stop all the hating.

[ForceEight]

The letter itself doesn't really feel very honest, either. It's a long list of "should have", which should kind of highlight to him how egregious this is, and how a letter wasn't going to fix it.

[cravnravn]

I dont buy into the letter at all

[varaven45]

After last years debacle - relinquishing the post SB home opener (which I will never totally understand even with Os & PA's power) - that initiated bad karma for the entire year and

led to bad feelings from the fan base, the Biscuit needs to deliver a powerful, genuine verbal presentation to the City and fans.

 

He needs to hit a home run, if not a grand slam . He can do it . He's still on the clock !

[TBird]

Isn't it amazing how the Rice situation has potentially derailed the season and cast serious doubts on the franchise.

It certainly puts team image, character and chemistry into a unique perspective.

 

I don't know how long it will take to restore and rebuild this organization but I sincerely hope and trust this organization has a plan moving forward.

 

We will find out a lot about this organization in how it responds in the coming days and weeks.

 

I think Biscotti and Co are on the clock.

 

 

 

A win tonight could go a long way to restoring order..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[papasmurfbell]

Ozzie is not standing by this narrative. Could this end up leading to him being out the door?

[papasmurfbell]

http://www.wbaltv.com/sports/ravens-owner-steve-bisciotti-speaks-on-rice-incident/27986982

Steve's Interview

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/10/ozzie-newsome-ray-didnt-lie-to-me-regarding-description-of-video/

 

 

“Ray had given a story to John [Harbaugh] and I,” Newsome said, according to theSun. “And what we saw on the video was what Ray said. Ray didn’t lie to me. He didn’t lie to me.

So who is lying, Steve or Ozzie?

 

So now Biscotti is blaming the legal system that does what they did in this case all the time.

 

I am having a feeling that Ozzie will be out because of this.

[varaven45]

And as much as I love Ozzie, his recent dismal track record and belief the game maybe passing him by, it may be time to pass the GM baton.

[Tornado700]

Ozzie is not standing by this narrative. Could this end up leading to him being out the door?

 

No, but I'm sure that is what you are hoping for.

So sad.

[papasmurfbell]

In this instance I am for Ozzie. I think Steve is lying through his teeth. It would actually be a shame to see Harbs and Ozzie leave the Ravens under this cloud.

[ForceEight]

In this instance I am for Ozzie. I think Steve is lying through his teeth. It would actually be a shame to see Harbs and Ozzie leave the Ravens under this cloud.

Agreed.

[tsylvester]

Biscut never talked to Rice? Really? The man you claimed you loved as a son is in deep trouble and you:"never talkd with him" ?

[papasmurfbell]

The lies ontop of lies.

[tsylvester]

The lies ontop of lies.

 

 

Oh in a major & number of ways. According to Ozzie and to three unnamed sources who not only read the transcripts, but reportedly were in the room when Goody interviewed Ray & Janay, Ray was clear, there was no soft coating i what happen. He clearly said he punched his wife and nocked her out.

 

My guess, this circle the waggons Biscut called for yesterday with all the staff was to get their stories straight since Biscut and Ozzie have differen versions.

 

Some great owner huh? By the way, a good game going on right now between North texas & La Tech, a number of good NFL prospects playing, CBS sports line.... This should be a good game, no need to give my ratings to Biscut or the NFL., pssss