Ray Rice is a disgrace to the National Football League, and the NFL is a disgrace to football itself.

What has unfolded during the past week in regards to the Ray Rice scandal is going to make people in the league lose their jobs, and rightfully so. Rice has already lost his.

For those who may not have heard, Rice was caught on camera dragging his unconscious wife out of an elevator in an Atlantic City hotel. He was given a two-game suspension after admitting he had knocked her unconscious. Last week, TMZ released the video of Rice knocking his fiancee unconscious, resulting in his removal from the NFL.

I have never seen a more astonishing, cowardly act by a man in my life. It disgusts me to watch the video released by TMZ early last week. I don’t know how Rice looks at himself in the mirror. There is no excuse, absolutely no excuse on this planet, that would justify his actions caught on tape. He is a 212-pound professional athlete striking a woman who is half his size. Has he no morals? There is nothing a woman could ever say or do that justifies violence against her. Absolutely nothing.

I honestly don’t think Rice is even processing the severity of his actions. Players across American sports leagues are coming out and standing up for him, and even Rice’s own fiancee, now wife, has defended his actions. It is despicable.

What’s more mind boggling about this, is that reports are leaking all across the league that Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, had this information and saw the same video, and handed down a mere two-game suspension to Rice. Goodell and his league have the softest policy in regards to domestic violence. If someone can prove that Goodell had seen the video before handing down his ruling, we will have a new NFL commissioner soon.

There is a moral problem in America, and it’s illustrated in two forms in this scandal. The first is that Rice had the audacity of strike his fiancee, and the second is that Goodell saw this brutal act of violence and handed down a two-game suspension. Both men had the chance to do the right thing and both men failed. One of those failures has already lost their job, and I’ll guarantee that Goodell is on his way out.

This isn’t the first time that the NFL has exhibited a weak response to domestic violence cases. Just in August, defensive lineman, Ray McDonald of the San Francisco 49ers was arrested after getting in a scuffle with his pregnant fiancee. Police on the scene reported that McDonald’s fiancee had visible injuries, but he still started in the season opener.

Goodell did give Rice a blow to his paycheck, losing over half a million dollars in this conflict, but that sum looks like nothing in comparison to his $7 million annual salary.

Goodell and the league must learn that money and fines are not the solution. You can’t make a statement to an all-star caliber player with half a million dollars in fines—they’re multi-millionaires. The only way you can make a statement is with action. The action Goodell chose was a two-game suspension for a brutal strike to a woman caught on tape. The inconsistency is paramount here. Josh Gordon of the Cleveland Browns received a year-long suspension this season for his third positive marijuana test. Not to take away from the seriousness of those incidents, but how does Goodell watch the video and see that more acceptable than marijuana use?

Last week the NFL announced its new policy on domestic violence. The first incident will result in a six-game suspension. The second will ensure a life-long ban from the league, with the possibility to be reinstated after a year. This is an effective policy for the domestic violence issue in the NFL, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s too late. This policy is Goodell’s way of covering his behind in light of this scandal. This should have been implemented long before now, and Goodell can thank his inconsistency and indecisiveness for the loss of Rice’s job, and soon his own.