Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti says the NFL should have always had a policy specifically to deal with domestic violence, rather than lumping in domestic violence incidents with other personal-conduct policy violations.
“I think that we were pretty stupid not to recognize domestic violence as a category by itself,” Bisciotti told Ravens season-ticket holders, via ESPN. “No other infractions -- failed drug tests, bar fights or DUIs -- nothing to me should rise to that level. I’m embarrassed to say that they were lumped together. So, I’m happy that we found ourselves comfortable taking that categorically and putting it into at the top of the list as something that is just unacceptable.”
The NFL and the Ravens were initially caught flatfooted by the Ray Rice case, with the league suspending Rice only two games and the Ravens standing by him. Only after the infamous elevator video emerged did the Ravens release Rice and the NFL reacted to the public outcry by creating new rules about dealing with domestic violence arrests.
“We did the best we can,” Bisciotti said. “I can’t say I don’t have regrets. I said back then, my regret was not cutting him. My regret was not demanding to see the video. I believe we could’ve gotten it. If we had seen the video back in the spring, I think we would have a different circumstance. We would’ve released him. We should have seen the video in May and not in September.”
Bisciotti says the Ravens now take players with domestic violence incidents in their past off their draft board, and avoid signing such players in free agency.