NFL Indefinitely Suspends Ray Rice
The Baltimore Ravens terminated the contract of running back Ray Rice Monday, and the league has indefinitely suspended him, after new video surfaced of Rice knocking his fiancee unconscious in a casino elevator in February.
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TMZ released video of Rice attacking his now wife Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City elevator on Feb. 15. The video shows Rice punching Palmer and knocking her out cold, then dragging her body out of the elevator. Previously, only video of Rice pulling Palmer out of the elevator was made public.
Rice pleaded not guilty to the assault and avoided jail time when Palmer asked for leniency for her husband, who was given a plea deal that included a one-year pre-trial diversion program. The NFL gave Rice a two-game suspension, which elicited outrage from fans.
As part of its revamped domestic violence policy, NFL comissioner Roger Goodell admitted last month he got the Rice suspension wrong, instituting mandatory six-game suspensions for players who charged with their first domestic violence offenses. That change of policy from the league followed an embarassing series of public relations missteps by the Ravens, including a team vice president publishing an article on the team’s website defending Rice as a good guy, and a followup story which described fans in Rice jerseys giving the player a standing ovation. At a press conference following the incident, Palmer apologized for her role.
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Reaction to Monday’s news ranged from relief that the league finally did the right thing, to outrage that it took so long.
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In a statement Monday, the NFL claimed the new video obtained by TMZ had not been made available to them.
“We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today.’’
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