A three-day break wasn't enough to separate the Baltimore Ravens from the Ray Rice saga, and Coach John Harbaugh said he expects the suspended running back and domestic violence to remain topics the team and the NFL will be addressing the foreseeable future.
"We're probably not going to get away from it and probably rightly so," Harbaugh said Monday. "Not just us, the league. Hopefully it impacts society in a good way going forward."
The Ravens have been in damage-control mode since releasing Rice after a video surfaced on Sept. 8 showing him striking his then-fiancee in a hotel elevator in February. The NFL extended his suspension from two games to indefinite after the Ravens cut ties with Rice, their sixth-year running back.
Harbaugh said he's sure the players heard the topic simmering over the weekend, amplified by the arrest of Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson on child abuse charges and Carolina defensive end Greg Hardy's off-the-field problems that earned him a day off Sunday.
"I'm sure they watch TV," Harbaugh said. "It was pretty much a topic of conversation all through the weekend and it's going to continue to be."
More news on Rice, Peterson and Hardy came out Monday.
The players' union said Monday it will appeal Rice's indefinite suspension before today's 11:59 p.m. Eastern time deadline.
Rice originally was suspended two games under the NFL's personal conduct policy for striking his then-fiancee. When videotape of that incident was made public and showed Rice punching his now-wife Janay, knocking her unconscious, the Baltimore Ravens released the running back.
Almost immediately after that, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made Rice's suspension indefinite.
Rice can apply for reinstatement when he convinces Goodell that he is "addressing this issue."
He can avoid prosecution and a criminal record by completing a pretrial intervention program, a resolution prosecutors said they agreed to after consulting with Janay Rice.
The NFL hired former FBI director Robert Mueller to look into how the league sought and handled evidence in the domestic violence case.
Meanwhile, Peterson and Hardy rejoined their teammates Monday after they were held out of Week 2 games amid off-field abuse incidents.
The Minnesota Vikings expect their All-Pro running back to play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints after he was indicted by a Texas grand jury on a charge of hitting his 4-year-old son with a tree branch.
Hardy will rejoin the Carolina Panthers, who haven't yet determined whether the star defensive end will get to play Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers as he appeals a 60-day suspended jail sentence he got in July for assaulting a former girlfriend.
Another player under scrutiny, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald, who was arrested two weeks ago and charged with felony domestic violence, played Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
The NFL, seeking to deal with the fallout of its handling of the assault by Rice, announced the hiring of three women to shape its domestic-violence policies and programs. Lisa Friel, formerly the head of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in the New York County district attorney's office; Jane Randel, co-founder of "NO MORE," a national domestic violence awareness initiative, and Rita Smith, the former executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, were selected for the unit by Goodell.
"Our goal is to make a real difference on these and other issues," Goodell said in a memo to teams and staff, which the league shared with reporters. "We know that we will be judged by our actions and their effectiveness."
The NFL hasn't taken action in the cases involving Peterson, a two-time rushing champion and the league's 2012 MVP, and Hardy, who recorded 33 quarterback sacks over his first four professional seasons.
The Vikings deactivated Peterson prior to yesterday's 30-7 loss to the New England Patriots. He will participate fully in practices and meetings ahead of the game in New Orleans.
Peterson, who was released on $15,000 bond, could face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted of the charge. Probation is also an option because he has no criminal record.
He apologized in a statement released by his agent for the "hurt I have brought to my child." Peterson said he never wanted to be a distraction for the Vikings or in a position where the public is judging his parenting skills and calling him a child abuser.
Peterson, who has a base salary of $11.75 million this season, received his weekly pay of almost $700,000 while sitting out last week's game. The Vikings also had the option of letting him practice while again deactivating him before this week's game, trying to trade him or suspending him with pay pending the outcome of his legal situation.
Hardy played in the Panthers' season-opening game -- recording one sack -- before the team opted to deactivate him 90 minutes before Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions. Hardy received his weekly salary of about $771,000 even though he didn't play.
Panthers Coach Ron Rivera said team officials haven't determined whether Hardy will play in Sunday's home game.
The Panthers will have to decide by Week 6 how they want to handle Hardy's situation.
Under the collective bargaining agreement, a team can only deactivate a player for non-injury reasons for a maximum of four games. The same limit applies if the Panthers were to suspend Hardy for conduct detrimental to the team.
The decision to deactivate Hardy last Sunday was a difficult one, Rivera said.
"If you play him and you win, then you don't have a conscience; and if you play him and you lose, he's a distraction," Rivera said.
Rivera's decision to bench Hardy came after the Vikings deactivated Peterson following his indictment.
The Panthers are trying to be careful not to be reactionary.
"That is why we have to sit down and talk about these things," Rivera said. "And we did the same thing [on Sunday]. We talked about a lot of things and at the end of the day I had to make a decision that I believe was in the best interest of our football team and for Greg."
Carolina's defense didn't miss a beat without Hardy, forcing three turnovers and getting four sacks in a 24-7 victory.
Hardy, who tied a franchise-record with 15 sacks last season, had four tackles and a sack in the team's regular-season opener at Tampa Bay. However, Hardy's status changed when the Ravens released Rice and the league suspended him indefinitely last week.
Later in the week, Peterson was indicted, adding pressure on the Panthers to deactivate Hardy.
Rivera said Sunday that "the climate had changed" in the NFL and that played into his decision to bench Hardy.
When asked if the Panthers got it right the first time, Rivera said, "I don't know. What is right? You do the best you can and nobody is infallible. We have to get this issue right and we're trying to do the right thing."
Sports on 09/16/2014