Ten years after the Baltimore Ravens indefinitely suspended running back Ray Rice over a video that showed him hitting his then-fiancée in an elevator, the team has announced it will honor him as its “Legend of the Game.”
Rice’s six-season career with the Ravens imploded in 2014 when video surfaced showing him punching his fiancée Janay Palmer so hard he knocked her out.
The NFL initially suspended Rice for two games before public outrage prompted his ouster from the team. He ultimately avoided prosecution over the incident.
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“I truly understand why I was let go and why so many hearts changed. But hopefully people can see where I’m at now,” Rice said in a statement posted to the Ravens’ website.
“They say people can change, right? I am not the same person I was 10-12 years ago. That’s just not who I am. Every time I stepped on the field, I gave it my all. But I couldn’t say the same for life. Now I’m trying to be the best version of me.”
Rice and Palmer have been married for nearly a decade now.
In a statement on its website The Ravens said he “did a lot of learning about himself and domestic violence” in speaking with multiple mental health professionals and survivors.
“Rice is being recognized for the player he was, and for the redemption he has worked towards,” the Ravens said.
