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| In this still image taken from a hotel security video released by TMZ Sports, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punches his fiancee, Janay Palmer, in an elevator at the Revel casino in Atlantic City, N.J., in February 2014. The Ravens terminated their contract with Rice Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, hours after the video surfaced on TMZ's website, and he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL. |
BALTIMORE
(AP) -- Ray Rice was let go by the Baltimore Ravens on Monday and
suspended indefinitely by the NFL after a video was released showing the
running back striking his then-fiancee in February.
The
grainy video, released by TMZ Sports, shows Rice and Janay Palmer in an
elevator at an Atlantic City casino. Each hits the other before Rice
knocks Palmer off her feet and into a railing. Months ago, a TMZ video
showed Rice dragging Palmer, now his wife, from the elevator at the
Revel casino, which closed Sept. 2.
Earlier Monday, the Ravens said they never saw the new video. Hours later, they sent out a one-sentence release:
"The Baltimore Ravens terminated the contract of RB Ray Rice this afternoon."
Coach
John Harbaugh said he met with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, team
president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome after they saw the
video, and they made the decision to let Rice go.
"It's
something we saw for the first time today, all of us," Harbaugh said.
"It changed things, of course. It made things a little bit different."
The
action represented a complete reversal for the team, even though an
Atlantic City police summons stated that Rice caused "bodily injury to
Janay Palmer, specifically by striking her with his hand, rendering her
unconscious."
The Ravens had used words like "respect" and "proud" in referring to Rice following his arrest.
When
the NFL announced Rice's two-game suspension for domestic violence on
July 24, Newsome said: "We respect the efforts Ray has made to become
the best partner and father he can be. That night was not typical of the
Ray Rice we know and respect. We believe that he will not let that one
night define who he is, and he is determined to make sure something like
this never happens again."
In late July,
Harbaugh said, "The thing I appreciate about it is how Ray has handled
it afterward by acknowledging it was wrong and he'll do everything he
can do to make it right. That's what you ask for when someone does a
wrong thing. So, I'm proud of him for that."
Asked Monday night if Rice misled him, Harbaugh said he didn't want to get into "all that."
"I
don't think of it that way. Everything I said in terms of what I
believe, I stand by," he said. "I believe that still, and I'll always
believe those things, and (we'll) always stand in support of them as a
couple, and that's not going to change."
Rice
said in a news conference this summer that his actions that night were
"inexcusable." But the Ravens never took action against him until after
the second video was released.
The NFL, which
has been working hard to promote the game to women, also took action
after the explicit video was released. Commissioner Roger Goodell
announced that, based on the new video evidence, Rice has been suspended
indefinitely.
"We requested from law
enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the
video from inside the elevator," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday
morning. "That video was not made available to us and no one in our
office has seen it until today."
Goodell indicated as much on Aug. 1 when during the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend.
"When
we're going through the process of evaluating the issue and whether
there will be discipline, you look at all of the facts that you have
available to us," Goodell said. "Law enforcement normally has more ...
information, facts, than we have. We'll get as much as we possibly can."
Rice's lawyer, Michael Diamondstein, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
Rice, 27, stood to make $4 million this year.
"Obviously,
any video that depicts an act of violence in that video is disturbing
to watch. For our union, we have an unshakable position against any
violence, certainly domestic violence included," NFLPA executive
director DeMaurice Smith said at the Seahawks' facility in Renton,
Washington. "It will be a time for us now to catch up with everything
else that has occurred today."
He had been
charged with felony aggravated assault in the case, but in May he was
accepted into a pretrial intervention program that allowed him to avoid
jail time and could lead to the charge being purged from his record.
After
Goodell drew criticism not being tough enough on Rice, in a letter to
all 32 NFL owners in August he wrote, "My disciplinary decision led the
public to question our sincerity, our commitment, and whether we
understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families.
I take responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our
actions in the future properly reflect our values."
"I didn't get it right," he added. "Simply put, we have to do better. And we will."
First-time offenders now face a six-game suspension.
Rice
began his suspension Sunday, when the Ravens opened their season with a
23-16 loss to the Cincinnati
Bengals. He was scheduled to return after
Thursday night's game against Pittsburgh.
He
leaves the Ravens as the second-leading rusher in franchise history,
behind only Jamal Lewis. A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Rice is the
team's career leader in total yards from scrimmage (9,214) and is the
only player in Ravens history to rush for 1,000 yards in four
consecutive seasons.
But those are mere numbers, and his actions in that elevator shed a new light on him.
"I'm
not going to go into what he told us or anything or if it matches or if
it doesn't," Ravens receiver Torrey Smith said. "That doesn't matter.
What matters is what you see. It wasn't a pleasant site at all."
Rice
hasn't spoken often to the media since his arrest, but on July 31 he
said this is "something I have to live with the rest of my life."
He
added: "I know that's not who I am as a man. ... I let so many people
down because of 30 seconds of my life that I know I can't take back."
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