Bob Kravitz

bob.kravitz@indystar.com

If Ray Rice got a two-game suspension for allegedly striking and knocking out his then fiancee, what's commissioner Roger Goodell got in store for Jim Irsay?

A 10-minute suspension?

And a $100 fine, payable in $20 bills?

Once upon a time, Goodell was seen as a heavy-handed, draconian disciplinarian. But in the Rice case, he comes off as shockingly lenient and tone-deaf to one of the most serious issues in our society — violence against women. The league that makes such a big deal about going pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month just slapped all its female fans right in the face, just as Rice was alleged to have done to the woman who is now his wife.

As I was coming up to Anderson Monday morning, I made a point of listening to Adolpho Birch, the NFL's vice president of labor policy and government affairs, speak to ESPN's "Mike and Mike." It was one of the most embarrassingly inept responses to questions I've ever heard, an endless loop of specious blatherings. Birch tried to make the case not only that the Rice suspension was fair, but that it sent a strong message to NFL players that violence against women will not be tolerated.

Seriously, he said that.

A strong message.

Excuse me?

To their credit, both Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic called Birch on his statement, then opened the floodgates to callers who were outraged by the Goodell decision and the Birch mock-explanation. (Next time, Roger, go on the radio yourself rather than sending out a lieutenant).

Which brings us to the next item on the commissioner's disciplinary to-do list: Make the call on Irsay.

A conspiracy theorist would suggest that the Rice suspension was laughably soft so that the bar would be set absurdly low for a potential Irsay suspension, which, you would think, would have to come down within the next few weeks. If Rice gets just two games for allegedly hitting his fiancee — the TMZ video only showed him dragging her around unconscious, but the NFL is said to have elevator video that shows far worse — then how does that bode for Irsay, who was charged with driving while under the influence of drugs?

"In the NFL, I don't think they take domestic abuse against women seriously enough; I want to see the commissioner come down fierce on (the Rice case)," former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita told Jim Rome before Rice's sentence was handed down. "And also driving under the influence. We don't take that issue seriously enough. Those are two issues now, and that's where the commissioner has to do the right thing …"

Until this point, Goodell had been largely reasonable and consistent. He'd been tough, a relentless hammer when it comes to arbitrating these cases, but he'd been consistent.

This time, though, he went off the rails. The NFL, and specifically Birch, talked about precedent in this case, but Ben Roethlisberger was suspended six games — eventually it was reduced to four games — for his involvement in a sexual assault case.

In that case, it never went to court, but the NFL maintained its own standard of conduct and hit Roethlisberger with a reasonably tough suspension.

In this case, Rice was put into a diversionary program in order to forego a trial, and the commissioner went soft on him.

This is a league that's run by smart people, which makes me wonder: How could several NFL executives come together in a meeting room and reach the conclusion, "You know, this seems fair"? How tone deaf are they? How could they fail to know there would be incredible blowback, not only from the media but from fans outside of Baltimore. (And, I'm guessing, inside Baltimore, too.)

Granted, drug suspensions are collectively bargained, written in stone, while issues like the Rice case are left to Goodell to arbitrate. But you wonder what kind of message is sent when pot smokers get longer suspensions than people who engage in domestic violence. You wonder what kind of message is sent when Robert Mathis takes a fertility drug (also a steroid masking agent) and gets four games, yet Rice gets just two games.

The NFL is still seen, sometimes accurately, as a boys-will-be-boys culture where disrespect of women remains a major problem. Goodell could have shown this wasn't the case. He could have ascended the soapbox, got behind his bully pulpit and issued a declaration that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in any area of the sport.

If there's something the public doesn't know, or hasn't seen, then Goodell should be fully transparent here. It's not enough to send Birch out there to be consumed by wolves. Goodell needs to step out and share with fans how he reached such a befuddling conclusion here.

Rice is the one who should be paying the price in this case.

Instead, it's the NFL.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or email bob.kravitz@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BKravitz.