He got off because of who he is
Sure, I would trust a libiot to give that kind of reply but not a conservative on this site.
First off, he was just another football player back then. In the league for three seasons under his belt. No witnesses came fourth saying he was the murderer. Truth be known, it was one of those acquaintances that shouldn't have been was the killer. Raymond unfortunately, kept his mouth shut on the matter probably at the advice of his attorney. Art Model would not have helped the guy out if he thought for an instant that Ray was capable of such a horrible act and Art was a class act. I understand Ray's pov on the matter although I disagree with it entirely, he should have come fourth and spoke out but that's not what you do when you come from where he did. He had and has to live with the whole mess in his mind forever so I won't harp on it unlike others who weren't there or have a clue as to what went down that fateful night.
Some restitution or financial compensation was given to the families of the victim by Ray and he really didn't have to go that far but he was compelled to do so. Over his career since that night, he's made positive impacts on the community to any and all kids no matter, color of skin or stature in life. He was accessible by the community as a whole, became a leader in making his team mates better off the field as well as on.
Overall, he paid for his one mistake of hanging out with dirt bags that had less to lose than he but at the same time, he would never be the person he is today without that incident.