Shame on You Ravens Fans and Harbaugh
Philadelphia fans get a bad national rap. Yeah, fans threw snowballs at a horrendously weak-looking Santa over forty years ago. A small group of knuckleheads cheered a Michael Irvin injury. Okay, we’ve earned the reputation…somewhat. That’s in the past. In the present, Philadelphia fans haven’t cheered for a woman-beater. That’s what our friends two hours down I-95 South in Baltimore did.
It was bad enough when Baltimore Ravens fans gave Ray Rice a standing ovation in the pre-season after video surfaced of him dragging his unconscious girlfriend out of an Atlantic City casino elevator. The reception shocked most people as he had allegedly knocked her out in an altercation. And, today, we know that there’s nothing alleged about it.
TMZ released video from inside the elevator where you can clearly see Ray Rice coldcock his girlfriend and then drag her lifeless body out of the elevator until she regains consciousness. This is who you cheer people of Baltimore?
If the media doesn’t pass the baton of “classless” fans to Baltimore, something is not right in the world. Cheering an injury or snowballs at a makeshift Santa aren’t on the same level as cheering a woman-beater. It was shame on you Ravens fans before this new video came out now you all look like idiots to the rest of the country. Good luck with that. You’ve earned that in a way that hopefully we in Philadelphia will never know.
I hear the Ravens fans already saying “but you Eagles fans cheered a dog-killer.” I admittedly had issues with that, especially because it wasn’t a one-time dog-killing, but the repeated killing and torture over a period of time. However, the man did his time and our society dictates that we provide second-chances to those who have served their sentences and reformed themselves. And, the guy did things the right way while he was in town so cheering someone’s rehabilitation is right by me. If Rice wants to step away from the game go through counseling, anger-management classes and work with domestic abuse groups, then I could probably understand you welcoming him back. For now, he hasn’t done anything close to that.
How long you carry this baton is up to you. You can make amends with a healthy Philadelphia boo Sunday September 21st, if Goddell allows this low-life back on the field. Hopefully he ends up banned indefinitely.
On another note, when the Harbaughs were coaching against each other in the Super Bowl, I saw features about what a great family they have going back to their coach-father. I can’t see John Harbaugh’s values lining up with Ray Rice’s woman-beating behavior. He should cut him today. Shame on John Harbaugh, too. Keeping him on the roster only implies that you endorse physical violence, specifcally physical violence against women.
[UPDATE: The Ravens have terminated the contract of Ray Rice and will owe him no money. Nice work by Harbaugh and the Ravens management.]