SI cover: The Ray Rice video and what it exposes about the NFL

Author:
SI Wire
Publish date:
Sep 9, 2014

ray-rice-sports-illustrated-cover — TMZ.com/Splash News/Corbis

This week, Sports Illustrated focuses on former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, whose punching out of his then-fiancee and now wife in an Atlantic City casino elevator in February ignited a national conversation about domestic violence and the NFL's lenient reaction to it.

That discussion gained fresh force on Monday, when TMZ released a videotape showing Rice knocking his now-wife unconscious with a single punch. Later in the day, the Ravens terminated Rice's contract and the NFL suspended him. Those moves did not stem a growing wave of criticism of the NFL, law enforcement and the Ravens for their handing of the situation.

Complete Ray Rice Coverage

In his cover story SI senior writer Phil Taylor goes further, saying "the suddenly and appropriately harsh justice underscored after Rice's brutality, the other major problem with this saga: the NFL's tendency to face problems head-on only after they've become threats to its carefully polished public relations machine."

"It was unclear if Goodell and his aides had seen the footage before TMZ posted it," Taylor writes. "If they did, their failure to come down harder on Rice before the clip became an Internet staple is shameful. If they didn’t, the league is guilty at the least of some very lackadaisical investigating. The idea that the Atlantic City police department and TMZ could scoop the NFL’s vaunted security apparatus strains credulity, especially considering the lengths the league seems willing to go to stamp out excessive end zone celebrations and the tiniest infringements of its sponsor-friendly uniform policies."

SI executive editor L. Jon Wertheim wrote about former Ravens cornerback and Rice teammate Chris Johnson, whose sister was murdered by an estranged boyfriend in 2011. Johnson, who addressed the Ravens on the issue in 2012, spoke strongly against Rice and domestic violence after seeing the casino videotape. "I don't have respect for a man who puts his hands on a woman. At all."

For more on Rice, check out this week's Sports Illustrated (subscribe here).

- Scooby Axson

2014 Sports Illustrated Covers

2014 Sports Illustrated Covers

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Jason Parkhurst/SI (Ole Miss), Simon Bruty/SI

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Jonathan Bielaski/SI (Jones), Simon Bruty/SI (Ovechkin)

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Trevor Paulhus/SI (Romo); Al Tielemans/SI (Foles)

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Rod Mar/SI (Wilson); Robert Beck/SI (Kaepernick)

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William Widmer SI (Brees); Al Tielemans/SI (Ryan)

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Simon Bruty/SI (Cutler); Joe Vaughn SI (Stafford)

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Mark Kauffman/Sports Illustrated; Photomosaic by Robert Silvers

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Dustin Snipes/SI; Illustration by: Nicole Zigmont

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Simon Bruty/SI; Illustration by: Nicole Zigmont

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Carlos M. Saaverda/SI; Illustration by: Nicole Zigmont

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Jeff Hanisch/USA Today Sports; Illustration by: Nicole Zigmont

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Stanley Cup

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Robert Beck/SI, Greg Nelson/SI. Inset photos by: Robert Beck/SI and John W. McDonough/SI

June 16, 2014 | The cover of Sports Illustrated this week announces the NHL's return to that most coveted of all states: hotness. The league has reached this scorching status for, presumably, the first time since 1994, when the cover on which this week's issue riffs ? WHY THE NHL'S HOT AND THE NBA'S NOT ? originally ran as an SI cover.

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June 9, 2014

Luis Suarez

June 9, 2014

Lionel Messi

June 9, 2014

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Painting by Tim O'Brien, photo reference by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

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140513110302-20covv12-durant-promo-single-image-cut.jpg — John McDonough/SI

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Brad Penner/USA Today, Michael J. Lebrecht II/SI (background)

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Max Scherzer

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Boston Strong

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Connecticut

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Kentucky

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Wisconsin

Masahiro Tanaka

Chuck Solomon/SI, Photo Illustration by Stephen Skalocky

Sports Illustrated's 2014 MLB season preview is here, led by the newest Japanese star, Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees' $175 million investment and former star in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball is the national cover for SI¹s preview issue, which also features three additional regional covers. Angels superstar Mike Trout, new Mariners slugger Robinson Cano, and Cardinals stalwart Yadier Molina landed the other three covers.

Yadier Molina

Simon Bruty/SI, Photo Illustration by Stephen Skalocky

Sports Illustrated's 2014 MLB season preview is here, and Cardinals stalwart Yadier Molina graces one of the regional covers.

Robinson Cano

Robert Beck/SI, Photo Illustration by Stephen Skalocky

Sports Illustrated's 2014 MLB season preview is here, and Mariners slugger Robinson Cano graces one of the regional covers.

Mike Trout

Sports Illustrated's 2014 MLB season preview is here, and Angels superstar Mike Trout graces one of the regional covers.

Florida

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Syracuse

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Wichita State

140318113151-12covv24-wichst-promo-single-image-cut.jpg — Al Tielemans/SI, Darren Carroll/SI (Carr inset), Scott K. Brown/SI (McDaniel inset)

In the regular season, no team could stop the Shockers, as they finished 34-0. The Shockers face an incredibly difficult road to the Final Four in a Midwest region stacked with talent, and they're picking up doubters left and right -- but maybe that's just what they want.

Michigan State

140318113136-12covv24-michst-promo-single-image-cut.jpg — Al Tielemans/SI, Erick Rasco/SI (Cleaves inset)

Gary Harris has been the go-to guy for the Spartans all season, and now he's got a fully healthy team behind him. Never bet against Tom Izzo in March.

Arizona

Arizona spent eight weeks at No. 1 before losing Brandon Ashley ? and some games. But now the Wildcats have rediscovered their mojo and are ready to make a run in the tournament.

Connecticut

The defending national champion UConn Huskies enter the tournament with a perfect 34-0 record, and hope to finish it off with the fifth perfect season in school history and a record ninth women's NCAA title.

Doug McDermott

After surpassing 3,000 points in his already illustrious collegiate career, Doug McDermott lands on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. The image is inspired by a cover of Larry Bird, "College Basketball's Secret Weapon," from Nov. 28, 1977. In this issue's cover story, "The Hypnotic Doug McDermott," Luke Winn explains McDermott's calm and recounts the landmark moments from his four years at Creighton. You will learn incredible details about college basketball's best player.

Rising Stars: Doug McDermott (SI VIDEO)

Pete Rose

This week's Sports Illustrated cover is a trip back in time. Pete Rose, the all-time MLB hits leader and one of the most polarizing figures in the sport's history, graces the cover of the March 10 issue. The reason for Charlie Hustle's stint on the cover? The upcoming release of Kostya Kennedy's Rose biography, "Pete Rose: An American Dilemma." In his book, Kennedy provides a detailed look back at Rose's life, as well as a portrait of the Hit King in retirement, and re-evaluates Rose's lifetime ban from baseball for gambling.

Mikaela Shiffrin

18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin overcame her nerves and escaped a near-fall to win gold in the Olympic slalom, becoming the first U.S. women's slalom medalist since 1972 and the youngest Olympic slalom gold medalist. With her youth, Shiffrin is poised to become the face of Team USA for future Winter Olympics.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

For the first time in a decade, NASCAR's favorite son finished on top of its signature race as Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag in the Daytona 500. The victory offered hope of better times for the ever-popular Earnhardt, who won just his third race since 2006. Earnhardt's second win in the Daytona 500 gave him one more than his dad.

Jonathan Toews - Canada

For the third time in the five Olympics since NHL players began participating, Canada claimed the gold medal in men's hockey. The Canadians dominated the competition, eliminating the U.S. in the semifinals before blanking Sweden 3-0 in the gold-medal game, including a goal from Jonathan Toews. With the NHL refusing to commit to future Olympics, this could be the last truly insurmountable Olympic hockey championship squad.

Jabari Parker and Mike Krzyzewski

Al Tielemans/SI, Jamie Squire/Getty Images (inset)

Freshman phenom Jabari Parker chose to attend Duke despite having interest from schools closer to home. In his intimate profile, Jeff Benedict explains Parker's decision and describes his tight-knit relationship with coach Mike Krzyzewski. The two appear together on one of Sports Illustrated's regional covers this week.

Wichita State

The Wichita State Shockers appear on the other regional cover. The Shockers, one of two remaining undefeated teams in Division I (Syracuse is the other), face every opponent's best game after their Final Four run a year ago.

Michael Sam

Defensive end Michael Sam wanted the NFL team that drafts him to have no doubts about his sexuality. Now he is poised to become the league's first openly gay player. His Missouri teammates accept him. Will the pros?

Michael Bennett, Brandon Mebane and Peyton Manning

After dropping the boom on Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, Seattle Seahawks defenders Michael Bennett and Brandon Mebane appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated to commemorate Seattle's first NFL title. "This was Seattle's first championship since they joined the league as an expansion franchise in 1976," writes senior writer S.L. Price in this week's cover story. "Before their run to the Super Bowl in 2006 [an XL loss to the Steelers], they had gone a record 21 years without a playoff win, and until this season always seemed a step behind their rivals in San Francisco. But the unique identity created in 2010 by owner Paul Allen, GM John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll ? brainy, upbeat and tough -- proved perfect for transforming unheralded talent into a smart and singularly fierce outfit."

Bode Miller

For the first time ever, Sports Illustrated has four Olympic Preview covers. U.S women's Alpine skier Mikaela Shriffin, U.S. figure skater Gracie Gold, U.S. men's Alpine skier Bode Miller and U.S. snowboarders Jamie Anderson and Arielle Gold all appear on this week's covers. Each athlete brings his or her own unique story to the Olympics and gives viewers a reason to stay tuned throughout the upcoming games.

Gracie Gold

Mikaela Shiffrin

Jamie Anderson and Arielle Gold

Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman, the talk of the NFL since the NFC title game, appears on one of Sports Illustrated's national covers this week.

Peyton Manning

In advance of Super Bowl XLVIII, Peyton Manning and the Broncos appear on one of Sports Illustrated's national covers this week.

LaGarrette Blount

With Championship Sunday upon us, this week's issue of Sports Illustrated features the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos.

Seahawks

With Championship Sunday upon us, this week's issue of Sports Illustrated features the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos.

Wes Welker

With Championship Sunday upon us, this week's issue of Sports Illustrated features the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos.

Florida State, BCS Champs

January 13, 2014 | The SEC's reign of unchallenged dominance is over. Florida State brought that to an end with its 34-31 comeback victory over Auburn in the BCS National Championship Game on Monday night, placing the Seminoles back atop the college football world. Fresh off the win, Florida State adorns the national cover of the Jan. 13 issue of Sports Illustrated. In the cover image, Seminoles wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin leaps into the air to snag the game-winning touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining. Senior writer Andy Staples shares the story of the game from Pasadena, Calif. ? a dramatic, down-to-the-wire contest in which the Seminoles compiled the largest comeback in the 16-year history of the BCS title game ? and puts the monumental win in context.

Philip Rivers

140108102432-02covv15chargers-promo-single-image-cut.jpg — Joe Robbins/AP

January 13, 2014 | Don't write off the San Diego Chargers as Super Bowl contenders, writes Andy Benoit in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated. Leading the Bolts' surge is Philip Rivers, who has experienced a renaissance under first-year coach Mike McCoy.

Knowshon Moreno

140108102435-02covv17broncos-promo-single-image-cut.jpg — Illustration by Guy Stauber

January 13, 2014 | Moments before the Broncos kicked off against the Chiefs on Dec. 1, Denver Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno had a moment to remember. As the national anthem blasted from the stadium's speakers,tears streaked down Moreno's face. It prompted the question: What could bring a running back in the midst of a breakout year on one of the best teams in the NFL to tears? In this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, senior writer Tim Layden finds the truth behind Moreno's tears.

Andrew Luck

January 13, 2014 | Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts playing in Super Bowl XLVIII in New York? It could happen, says Andy Benoit in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated. Fresh off an improbable comeback over the Chiefs, the Colts are rolling ? and Luck is the reason why.