Mass. Attorney General Wishes The NFL Cared As Much About Domestic Violence As It Does About Deflated Footballs

She's no fan of the NFL's prioritizing of Deflategate.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey criticized the NFL Tuesday for doling out a harsher punishment to Tom Brady over the "deflategate" controversy than it originally did to Ray Rice for beating his then-fiancée, according to ABC affiliate WCVB.

"I'm just struck by the fact that somebody like Ray Rice gets a two-game suspension and Tom Brady, over deflated balls, is facing a four-game suspension. It doesn't add up for me," Healey reportedly said after a speech to the business community.

"I sure wish that the NFL would spend about a tenth of the time that it's spending on this on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault," she said.

Last year, Rice, then a Baltimore Ravens running back, was given a mere two-game suspension for a domestic assault arrest. Only after video surfaced of Rice punching his now-wife Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City elevator did the Ravens terminate Rice's contract and the league suspend the player indefinitely.

League commissioner Roger Goodell admitted the original punishment was too lenient and pledged the league would up its efforts to confront domestic violence and mete our harsher penalties. The first offense for domestic abuse is now six games and a second offense generates a lifetime ban.

Healey said she understood the NFL wants to protect the "integrity of the game," but nevertheless believes the NFL's priorities are "not where they should be," according to MassLive.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took a different approach Tuesday on deflategate, using the Redskins as an example of the league's misplaced emphasis.

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