The world as Ray Rice once knew it is crumbling. Over the past 24 hours, Rice has been released by the Baltimore Ravens, suspended indefinitely by the NFL, and seen a number of companies cut ties with him. On Tuesday, EA Sports announced that Rice will be removed from Madden NFL 15 later this week. His endorsement deal with Nike has also been terminated.
Remember, we all knew Rice was guilty of domestic violence before TMZ released footage of him knocking his wife unconscious on Monday. Apparently the Ravens, NFL, Nike, EA Sports and several others were willing to continue their relationship with Rice until they saw — or the public saw — him actually throwing a punch.
In addition to the aforementioned business moves, the Ravens have also announced that they will offer an exchange for Rice jerseys at their stadium Pro Shops. The New England Patriots did the same thing after Aaron Hernandez was arrested and charged with murder. Dick’s Sporting Goods store in the Baltimore area have also been asked to clear Rice jerseys from their shelves.
Again, a video has suddenly changed everything. How did all of these people think Palmer ended up unconscious with Rice dragging her out of an elevator when the original video was released? I guess seeing really is believing.
