There was enough evidence for an indictment; not just an arrest, an indictment. He agreed to assume guilt for a lesser crime in exchange for his testimony against two others. He reached out of court settlements with the families of the two murdered men; the men that his two buddies killed apparently, yet Ray is the one paying those families....
You're right, I'm not sure of what he did. But he definitely did something. And it was bad. And he's continually avoided public (and private, for all I know. And the reason I don't know is because he refuses transparency! That's not what a leader does!) accountability for it. And to suggest that lack of prior or continuing related activity is an indicator that he wasn't heavily involved in these two murders holds no water for me. It was heat of the moment. Stuff goes down in the heat of the moment.
I firmly believe there is no limit to the things that each and every one of us is capable of doing, good or bad, when we're reacting and not thinking. Everybody screws up. That doesn't reveal anything about our character. Character is revealed by what we do after the dust clears.
Ray is viewed as this kind of NFL ambassador to strength of will, quality of character, champion of accountability. Fine. But this situation, in my opinion, was the defining moment for whether or not that holds true. Like I said, character is revealed in the difficult situations. This was one. There was a major screwup, and an opportunity for Ray to display his strength of will, quality of character, and commitment to accountability that define his on-field persona. He fell short. So short. I want so badly for him to step up and be the man he lets all his cheerleaders convince us that he is. I just don't see it. A leader is not someone who never screws up. A leader is someone who accepts full accountability when they do, holding themselves and others to that standard.
And for him to be the Standard of Leadership for the NFL, all it would take is HONESTY: "I did this (specifically!!) . I was very wrong. I screwed up. But I take my responsibility as THE role model for leadership very seriously. And in order to be authentic, I want to own up to my mistakes. In order to help teach this behavior, I know I need to model this behavior." I don't think that's ever going to happen, and it's disappointing.
edit: ivo, I have a ton of respect for you, but I doubt you'll change my opinion on this. And I doubt I'll change yours. I'd welcome a response from you, but I'm going to bow out of this discussion now.