Giants co-owner John Mara might not have liked the way the Ray Rice case was handled initially, but he has no problems with the job NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is doing now.
Mara issued a statement which followed the league’s position that efforts were made to obtain the video of the former Ravens running back knocking his wife unconscious, but led off with the fact he thought the punishment was too light to begin with.
“Many of us were dissatisfied with the original two-game suspension of Ray Rice,” Mara said. “The Commissioner took responsibility for that in his August 28th memo to the owners when he stated, ‘I didn’t get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will.’ He then took appropriate steps to address this matter. Our policy now on domestic violence has been strengthened. We have all learned a valuable lesson from this episode. We now have a strong partnership with anti-domestic violence groups, and we will be a better League for it going forward.
“My understanding is that the League and the Ravens made repeated requests to obtain the video of the Ray Rice incident and were denied each time. The notion that the League should have gone around law enforcement to obtain the video is, in my opinion, misguided, as is the notion that the Commissioner‘s job is now in jeopardy. The video is appalling, and I believe that the team and the League took appropriate action after they finally had the opportunity to view it.
“There is no place for domestic violence in our sport or in our society, and we are committed to doing our part to prevent such heinous acts going forward.”
That part about the job not being in jeopardy is the key here.
Goodell has made his bosses plenty of money, and he has support in all the right corners.
Having influential owners like Mara and Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones and Jerry Richardson in his corner is a solid position, for a guy whose steps have been anything but steady lately.