The whole, shameful story of the NFL's domestic abuse scandal

The emergence of graphic video evidence that shows professional American Footballer Ray Rice punching his fiancée in the face and knocking her unconscious has underlined a shameful episode of domestic violence in the NFL.

Warning: Some people may find the below video clip disturbing.

Rice, a running back for NFL side Baltimore Ravens, has now been sacked by his franchise after the video was published by US website TMZ and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has also announced that Rice has been "indefinitely suspended" by the league.

But not before a long, drawn-out episode in which he appeared to get off far too lightly.

The initial incident

The running back was arrested in February of this year and later charged with 'third-degree aggravated assault' – an initial video only showed the aftermath of the assault where Rice was seen dragging his fiancée’s limp body out of an elevator at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City.

Rice's attorney initially described the incident as a 'minor physical altercation'.

In May, the running back pleaded not guilty to the charge and instead applied for a ‘pre-trial intervention programme’ for first-time offenders that will see all charges dropped if he completes a one-year course of counselling.

Around the same time in May, Rice made a bungled apology alongside his now-wife Janay at a packed press conference - the pair had married in March.

Sometimes, you will fail, but I won’t call myself a failure. A failure is not getting knocked down, it’s not getting up.

• Ray Rice

Unfortunate wording, I think you will agree. Rice went on to apologise to the team, his fans and “the kids”, although as the New York Post points out, not his wife.

His employers then sent out this tweet which in light of the subsequent evidence is just quite incredible:

Because obviously Janay should not have been in the way of the professional athlete’s fist...

This is just a reminder of what Janay Rice looks like:

And this is what Ray Rice looks like:

Janay was also arrested for 'simple assault' on the night of the incident but the charges were later dropped.

Incredibly, Rice was only given a two game ban by the NFL for violating the league’s ‘personal conduct policy’, a decision which was widely condemned.

In comparison, Denver Bronos receiver Wes Welker was banned for four games for allegedly taking amphetamines – which the player claims was from a spiked drink at the Kentucky Derby.

Meanwhile, Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon has been banned for 16 games for a failed marijuana test.

So, smoking pot is eight times worse than punching your fiancée in the face?

The NFL said they had not received the footage from inside the elevator when making their original decision and have now updated their rules on domestic violence – a first-time offender will now be given a six game ban and any subsequent offence will result in a lifetime ban.

Rice had been set to return to the Ravens’ starting line-up when they face the Cleveland Browns on 21 September, until the Maryland-based outfit announced the termination of his contract today.

So at least some sanity has prevailed, but only after a lot of public outcry...

More: Is this sort of thing really allowed in American football?