TMZ suspended Ray Rice from the NFL on Monday.

At least that’s what seemed to have happened after the gossip site released video of the Baltimore Ravens running back brutally knocking out his girlfriend in an Atlantic City elevator on Feb. 15. Before the PR nightmare that befell the NFL in the minutes after the video was released, Roger Goodell felt a two-game suspension for striking your girlfriend and dragging her out of an elevator was more than just appropriate. It was the standard.

Keep in mind, Josh Gordon was suspended an entire year for smoking marijuana multiple times. Terrelle Pryor got popped with five games for receiving free tattoos before he was even drafted by an NFL team. Wes Welker is gone for four games this season after allegedly taking some ecstasy and failing a drug test. And Richie Incognito was suspended indefinitely for bullying a fellow teammate. But a grown man punching his girlfriend in the face didn’t seem as important to the NFL, and Rice’s suspension would have already been halfway over had it not been for TMZ releasing the video and the public outcry that followed.

The Ravens held a joint press conference shortly after the assault in which Rice’s wife, Janay, apologized for her role in being knocked out by her NFL player boyfriend. She protected The Shield — and her marriage — by dropping the charges and standing by her man.

Goodell could have suspended Rice for as long as he wanted, but the commish decided two games were in line with the league’s standards — standards he eventually beefed up after public backlash of the suspension exceeded replacement referee levels.

He could have set an example and shown that the NFL is sincere in its efforts to better women’s lives in ways other than wearing pink for four weeks in October. But he decided to engage in damage control and protect his client. Was seeing the limp body of Janay Rice being dragged through the elevator doors after a confession from her assailant not enough?

Goodell said he never saw the video until TMZ reported it, despite numerous reports to the contrary by high-level NFL journalists. If NFL brass didn’t see the video before Monday, the investigation into the assault was a farcical sham. If they did, it is something much, much worse.

The Ravens cut Ray Rice soon after the video was made public, and Goodell swooped in to say Rice was suspended indefinitely from the league — like a kid flipping off a cop car speeding by five minutes after it’s passed.

The NFL has made it known that it cares more about its brand than it does seeing justice served for domestic violence crimes. Jimmy Graham was fined more for dunking through the goal posts this preseason than Rice was for his assault.

In the NFL, you’re punished harder for taking Molly than you are for hitting her.

And for that, Roger Goodell should be suspended indefinitely.

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Cory Gunkel is a reporter. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, Ext. 178, or by email at cory.gunkel@vicksburgpost.com