Did NFL commissioner Roger Goodell see the video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice cold-cocking his fiance in an Atlantic City elevator before that video appeared on the internet on Monday?

Did he know just how nauseating it is to see a man crumple a woman with a single, almost nonchalant blow before he penalised Rice with a spineless two-game suspension?

Does it really matter if he did?

The NFL claimed on Monday that Goodell hadn't seen the video, that the commissioner was just like the rest of us, seeing the grainy, clip on the gossip site TMZ for the first time. It showed Rice punching his fiance, Janay Palmer, the mother of his young daughter, in the head, then dragging her unconscious body out of a casino elevator like a pile of dirty laundry.

After he appeared to spit on her. After he shoved her. And before Rice stood by, doing nothing, as she sat up, seeming dazed as another man appeared to console her and help her to her feet. Those vivid details of that night last winter are sickening.

But you know what? None of those new details matter. Not a single one. Of course the video made the assault seem worse, and naturally it sparked a tidal wave of revulsion from the public, if only because assaults like Rice’s on his fiance aren’t usually captured on camera or shared by TMZ.

But the facts alone should be enough in any domestic violence case. When a man or a woman pushes a spouse down a flight of stairs or takes a frying pan to a lover’s head, do we really need to see video evidence to realise that the act was wrong and cruel, or to adequately punish the offender?

Based on the Rice case, it looks as if that’s true. Just after lunch on Monday - seven long months after the assault, but a few short hours after the video of it went public - Rice was cut by the Ravens. Soon after, Goodell announced that Rice had been suspended indefinitely by the NFL.

All because of a video.

But it never should have taken this long. Not long after the assault, the police investigated and determined that Rice had knocked out Palmer. An earlier video showed Rice dragging Palmer out of the elevator as if he were hauling a rubbish bag to the curb.

That alone should have been enough for the NFL to suspend Rice for a good, long time, or for the Ravens to get rid of him. It should have prompted the league to send a message to other players - as well as to its fans - that domestic violence will not be tolerated.

But Rice was a star, and excuses are made for stars.

Rice’s lawyers and the NFL hinted that there were reasons for his aggression. That both Rice and his fiance were at fault. Maybe she smacked her head on the floor and gave herself a concussion. Still, she and Rice had worked it out - after all, they got married afterwards - so everything surely was okay.

None of the facts surrounding a player assaulting his fiance were so squeamish as to stop the Ravens from hosting Rice’s news conference in May, when he apologised to everyone: his coaches, team officials, fans. Everyone but the woman he had punched, who was sitting right next to him.

Janay Rice, who said she loved her husband even though her body language didn't show it, made it hard not to wince when she apologised for "the role that she played the night of the incident."

Yet the Ravens were fine with it, allowing Rice to sit all spiffy in a suit and tie, in front of a banner dotted with their logos, and thank his supporters for “teaching him what it is to be a man.”

But the TMZ video should be a reminder that some men still have a lot to learn. Some still think it’s acceptable to use women as punching bags. In casino elevators. In suburban living rooms. On Super Bowl Sunday, maybe over a team’s loss. On game days, after too many drinks.

Police logs sometimes tell the story. On rare occasions, a video tells the story. Most of the time, no one is there to tell the story. So when the league has the chance to punish the violent, it should act swiftly and surely, knowing that millions, including its players, are watching.

Late last month, Goodell promised he would do just that. He said he “didn’t get it right” when he suspended Rice with a two-game timeout. He then said he would strengthen the league’s domestic abuse policy to include a six-game suspension for first-time offenders and a possible lifetime ban for second offences. All that information came in a letter Goodell sent to the league owners.

Maybe we need to see him saying it on video to believe him. New York Times