Ray Rice video could have altered how Oklahoma dealt with Green-Beckham situation

The Oklahoma Sooners were no strangers to controversy during the lead up to the season. Freshman running back Joe Mixon was suspended for the year after being charged with assault.

Linebacker Frank Shannon, the team's leading tackler from last year, was also suspended for the season following a Title IX investigation into an alleged sexual assault.

Then there was the case of former Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who was dismissed by the Tigers after a number of run-ins with the law, including an alleged incident of domestic violence.

Oklahoma accepted Green-Beckham's transfer following his dismissal, and even attempted to get a waiver approved by the NCAA so that he would be eligible to play this season. That waiver was denied, and Green-Beckham is sitting out the season before joining the Sooners next year. But if the timing had been different, he may not be in Oklahoma at all.

Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione said that the recent release of the Ray Rice video has made domestic violence such a hot topic that the university would be unlikely to make the same decision today regarding Green-Beckham.

"If someone presented a case like that now, I think you would be fair to say that he probably wouldn't be at Oklahoma," Castiglione said. "Just because of the attention and the cases now in the public consciousness, the university would have been unlikely to take on a situation like that." 

Castiglione did stress the differences in the two cases. Green-Beckham was never charged and was thoroughly researched by both the police and the university before being admitted. Rice, on the other hand, was both arrested and charged before entering a pre-trial diversion program. 

Oklahoma found that Green-Beckham deserved a second chance and he has been viewed as a model student since joining the Sooners. Castiglione wanted to make sure that Green-Beckham was not made to feel unwelcome by his comments. 

"I don't want to create the impression that you are here, but you shouldn't be here," Castiglione said. "If we knew he had done something wrong I can assure you he would not be here."