Ravens release Ray Rice as NFL suspends him indefinitely

Photo: AP

The Ravens decided to cut ties with Ray Rice on Monday, hours after a video of the running back cold-cocking his then-fiancée in an Atlantic City elevator was published by TMZ.
In addition, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Rice from the league indefinitely and stated Rice would have to apply for reinstatement. Goodell initially gave Rice a two-game suspension that was met with widespread outrage for being too lenient.
In horrifying video of the February incident, Rice can be seen lunging at his fiancée several times as he tries to intimidate her outside the elevator at the Revel. She angrily gives him a backhand slap before they make their way toward the open doors.

Once they get on, Janay Palmer — who is now Rice’s wife — keeps her head down and appears not to say a word, but the New Rochelle native’s intimidation tactics continue. The elevator doors don’t even close before Rice jumps in his future wife’s face two more times and follows up with a quick swipe with his left hand, which doesn’t appear to fully connect. When Palmer appears to stand up to him, Rice throws a pulverizing left hook. Palmer’s head hits the elevator hand rail — knocking her out cold.
In May, Rice entered a “pretrial diversion program” that allows certain defendants — usually first-time offenders — to avoid being formally prosecuted if they attend the program for one year.
If Rice completes the program, the third-degree charge of aggravated assault would be dismissed. The arrest would remain on Rice’s record, but without a conviction.
In the wake of criticism over the initial two-game ban, the NFL recently added harsher domestic violence penalties with a minimum of a six-game ban for a first offense.
According to multiple reports, Ravens executives and teammates may have been fed a different version of events from what the new video footage plainly shows.
The Ravens previously had been overwhelming in their support of Rice, which included lauding the standing ovation he received from fans during training camp and an “I like Ray Rice” letter on the team’s website. Rice held a painful press conference with Palmer during which he only read a prepared statement and did not take any questions.
An anonymous Ravens player spoke out Monday about how many in the locker room had viewed the video and had evidently turned their backs on Rice, according to Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman.
“I had a brief text conversation with a Ravens player I’ve known for some time who told me that the locker room before stood by Rice,” Freeman wrote.
“I don’t think he has very much support now at all,” the player allegedly texted Freeman.
“I think it’s gone,” he added.
The unidentified player told Freeman that Rice’s teammates originally stood behind their running back because they truly believed him when he claimed to simply be defending himself from Palmer, according to Freeman.
Now that the rest of the horrifying video has surfaced, though, his brothers on the gridiron seem to have abandoned him because they feel betrayed by his actions.
Rice, 27, was drafted by the Ravens out of Rutgers University in the second round of the 2008 draft. He blossomed in his second season, rushing for over 1,100 yards in every season from 2009 to 2012, averaging 4.6 yards per carry and totaling 33 touchdowns. Rice was named to the Pro Bowl three times, and he rushed for 59 yards as the Ravens prevailed in Super Bowl XLVII.
Rice’s performance declined in 2013, when he was hampered by a hip injury. He compiled just 660 yards on an average of 3.1 yards per carry.
Rutgers football coach Kyle Flood began his weekly news conference Monday with a statement about Rice.
“Ray will always be a part of our family,” Flood said. “The video I saw this morning was difficult to watch. As a husband and as a father, there’s nothing that could justify what I saw on that video.”
A highlight reel of some of Rice’s most memorable plays throughout his three years in Piscataway was played Saturday during the Scarlet Knights’ home opener. Flood said he was unsure whether the team would continue to play the video on game days.