Free agent running back Ray Rice sat down with ESPN’s Jemele Hill to talk about his life since the infamous elevator video that saw him knock his then-fiancée Janay out cold in an Atlantic City casino elevator.
Here is a small excerpt from Rice’s interview:
“I’m a rehabilitated man … Over time, I want to be able to rewrite the script to tell my daughter, ‘Daddy made the worst decision of his life but this is what I did going forward.’ And to the survivors of domestic violence, I understand how real it is and I don’t want to ever take that for granted because it’s a real issue in our society. My video put the light out there. If you have never seen what domestic violence looks like and you look at my video — I can understand why some people will never forgive me.”
After the 2014 incident, Rice was cut by the Baltimore Ravens. He has received no viable interest from any clubs and remains a free agent. He has since moved from Baltimore to Connecticut and has received support from advocates including former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, who is helping Rice by contacting NFL teams in an attempt to get the running back a job.
Rice also explained in the interview that a hip injury limited his production in the 2013 season where he only totaled 660 rushing yards and four touchdowns at a sluggish average of just 3.1 yards per attempt. The former Pro-Bowler also reported that he doesn’t think his current health status is stopping him from signing with a new NFL team.
Yet, he remains unemployed.
Rice’s current unemployment is likely due to the fact that no team wants to take on his baggage—not to mention the public backlash that would come with signing a player with a major domestic violence headline attached to his name.
We’ll see if Rice’s latest attempt to gain the attention of an NFL team is received or if it falls upon deaf ears. At this point, training camps are well underway, but there should be opportunities as injuries mount for running-back needy teams.
Photo: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports