Ray Rice takes a punch, but is it a knockout?

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice got his sorry A$$ fired today, and he was indefinitely suspended from the NFL after video surfaced showing his oh-so-loving treatment of his fianceé during a February fight in an elevator.

The video is nauseating and disgusting, and even then, it's not the most astounding part of this astounding story.

In March, Rice was indicted for aggravated assault stemming from the February fight with his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, inside an Atlantic City elevator. But he avoided prosecution in May by agreeing to go into a counseling program for first-time offenders.

Then, the Ravens tweeted this gem: "Janay Rice says she deeply regrets the role that she played the night of the incident."

In July, after TMZ released video showing Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of the elevator, Rice called his behavior "inexcusable." But apparently it wasn't, because NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell only suspended him for two games for "conduct detrimental to the NFL."

Conduct detrimental to the NFL? How about to the woman he cold cocked?

After the two-game suspension was announced, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh stood with his star running back. "It's not a big deal, it's just part of the process," Harbaugh told ESPN. "There are consequences when you make a mistake like that. I stand behind Ray. He's a heck of a guy. He's done everything right since."

We saw more of that heck of a guy this morning as TMZ released video from inside that elevator. It shows Rice punching Palmer in the head, knocking her out, before dragging her unconscious body out of the elevator.

After the video's release this morning, Rice was dropped by the Ravens and the NFL upped his suspension to indefinite.

Three things about this shock me – besides the obvious knockout punch.

No 1. That prosecutors deferred his prosecution. Surely no one seeing that video – and I'm assuming that prosecutors did see it -- would believe that Rice should have dodged prosecution. Even if Palmer wouldn't testify, that video says it all.

No 2. That the NFL gave him only a two-game suspension in July, after viewing the first video of Rice dragging his unconscious fianceé out of the elevator. What, did they think she knocked herself out?

And 3. That Palmer married this character.

It's difficult to understand why a guy like Rice would decide that it's OK to pummel the woman he claims to love. But we know do a few things.

We know that Palmer is not alone. One out of four women and one out of seven men endure domestic violence, according to the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

We know that usually, it starts small and escalates over time and that women who suffer it often stand by their men, whether it's to preserve a lifestyle, or because they see no other option or because they simply don't see a problem.

We know that in Maricopa County, the majority of domestic-violence victims refuse to cooperate with efforts to prosecute their abusers. The majority.

And we know that the abuse is likely to continue until there's a consequence.

Something greater than a two-game suspension or even an indefinite one.

This guy should never again put on a uniform.