The National Football League

Poncier said:

Yep, Rice got 2 initially, then suspended "indefinitely" after TMZ showed everyone Rice knocking out his wife (then fiancée). He was reinstated later after appeal cause he was punished twice for same offense which violated the CBA. But because he was already in decline he never played again, not worth the PR headache for a team since he wasn't very good any longer (unlike Kareem Hunt being snatched up in no time by the Browns cause he's in his prime).

The big issue is the lack of a consistent and objective suspension system. Compare Zeke Elliott and Tyreek Hill.
Elliot was suspended 6 games, the supposed minimum for domestic abuse even though the league's investigator (a woman) recommended no suspension after interviewing his accuser, saying there was no grounds. Hill got off with nothing after all the recent stuff with his child... no proof but more of a smoking gun than Elliot.(Plus Hill had a known history of domestic abuse in college)

Not to mention the Josh Brown situation: after talking big about a zero tolerance approach to domestic violence, John Mara & the Giants extended Brown AFTER NFL security had to remove him from his hotel room at the Pro Bowl for kicking the shit out of his wife.

The league initially suspended him for only one game (despite multiple incidents according to Brown's wife and despite a league mandated 6 game minimum suspension for domestic violence), and then the bombshell dropped that the Giants knew about this in advance of signing him.

Somehow the Giants and Mara escaped widespread scrutiny for that, and to this day that franchise with the Steelers are media darlings and considered the gold standard in the NFL.  

It's funny how media coverage of certain teams shapes the way the general public perceives them.

Poncier said:

Yep, no doubt that was Goodell playing favorites toward the Mara family.

Oh, it wasn't just Roger Goodell. Peter King, who can't carry enough water for Goodell (& Mara & Peyton & Archie Manning & others) had the balls to print the following:

"The Giants kept him in part—I believe—because like his father, the late Wellington Mara, club CEO John Mara is a staunch Catholic and a Father Flanagan* type who wants to see players turn their lives around."

https://www.si.com/mmqb/2016/10/26/josh-brown-release-new-york-giants-nfl-blame

To recap: in the wake of the Ray Rice situation, Mara called for zero tolerance towards players involved in domestic violence, but when it came to his Pro Bowl kicker, he tried to sweep it under the rug. When Mara's advance knowledge of the domestic abuse was brought to light, the NFL media was more than willing to go to bat for him, going so far as to paint him as a selfless Catholic trying to rescue his fellow man, not an NFL team owner trying to win championships.

What a f'n joke.

*If you don't know who Father Flanagan is, I suggest you look him up, the comparison is both comical and nauseating.