Six days ago, TMZ somehow went from being known as people who go around provoking drunk celebrities, to being hailed for its release of the Ray Rice elevator tape.

But you know what? They did do a great thing.

Don't get me wrong, the organization is still the worst kind of trash peddled as journalism, but you know what they say about blind squirrels.

Just this once they may have done society some good.

Apparently, they opened some very stubborn eyes — at least for the time being.

I don't think I was in the minority when I say that I thought the initial 2-game suspension issued to Rice by the NFL was a travesty.

But there were still plenty of people who didn't care.

The NFL rolled on, the Ravens welcomed him back and even trotted out his poor wife who said she deeply regretted the role she "played in the incident that night."

It was classic victim. "I shouldn't have made him mad."

I had a couple of friends growing up who seemed to keep finding their way back into their abusive relationships over and over. They were sisters, who likely grew up with some issues in their own home that made them think it was OK for them to be treated this way.

I had wonderful parents who treated each other with respect, but I still learned all about the cycle of violence because of my friends.

I was the guy who tended to come to the rescue, until one day I finally realized nothing I did was ever going to get them out of that cycle until they wanted to escape themselves. Why their parents, their teachers or anyone else never saw the problem is beyond me. But I made the decision to stop getting in the middle. Sometimes, I look back and I think I may have taken bad advice from the very people who should have been protecting them, but instead told me to stay out of it before I got sucked into something I couldn't get myself out of.

I'm not proud of the fact that I didn't do more, but I was a kid.

What's the NFL's excuse?

What is the Ravens' excuse?

But somehow that press conference paid off for the Baltimore franchise and Rice as many seemed to accept his apology and assume that she must have done something to "deserve it." What it was that they thought she did to a 5-foot-8 206 pound ball of muscle I will never know.

Did they think she had a machete? A gun?

But it worked. The fans forgave.

After all, Rice apologized at that press conference — to everyone except his wife.

If TMZ hadn't released that video, Ray Rice would have gone back to practicing with the Ravens on Thursday. He would be playing against Cleveland next Sunday.


That's a little murky, but we'll all find out more details than we really need eventually.

People will resign or be fired. The NFL will continue to proclaim a new focus on domestic violence moving forward.

All because TMZ released a video that doesn't really seem like it was that hard to obtain.

But what changed so much for everyone after seeing that second video?

In the first, we saw Rice drag his unconscious (then fiancee) out of the elevator.

What did everyone think happened in there?

The NFL Commissioner knew he hit her. Reports have come out this week saying that Rice admitted to it.

The Ravens knew he hit her. Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said he knew exactly what was in the video because Ricedidn't lie to him.

The NFL and the Ravens both reacted to the public outrage at those sickening images, after they declined to act on their own.

But why didn't everyone care when they knew what happened?

Hey, Ray Rice punched his fiancee in the face knocking her unconscious.

He'll be back for the Cleveland game right?

Ravens coach Jim Harbaugh said seeing the video changed things. Why?

Because the Ravens saw what really happened or because everyone else did?

I saw everything I needed to see in that first grainy video. Ray Rice drags the women he supposedly loved out of the elevator.

He shows no concern. He shows no remorse.

I tried not to watch the second video, but caught it looking up from my desk in it's near endless loop on CNN.

What bothered me? It wasn't the punch. Because I knew he hit her.

It wasn't that she didn't do anything to him. Because nothing would have excused it.

It was that he stood over her like she was nothing afterward.

I didn't even have to see the look on his face.

I've seen it before.

Why did you have to see the video?

Is it because you didn't know what domestic abuse looks like?

Now that we finally know, how about we do something about it? 410-845-4642 On Twitter @ShawnYonker