Following months of deciding how to discipline Ray Rice for his involvement in a domestic violence case, it took only hours before the Baltimore Ravens cut ties with the running back after TMZ Sports released a video previously in the possession of Atlantic City police that shows Rice striking his then-fiancee in the face.
Shortly after the Ravens released the former Rutgers Scarlet Knight, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell banned Rice indefinitely. The NFL noted earlier today that they had not previously seen the video that was posted on September 8 by TMZ Sports. League spokesman Brian McCarthy made an announcement shortly after the video's release to clarify any speculation.
"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," he said in a statement, via this ESPN article.
The video release has obviously changed Roger Goodell's stance on Rice's discipline - the commissioner initially suspended the running back for only two games in July, which frustrated many because of the NFL's mandatory four-game bans for violations of the substance abuse and performance-enhancing drug policies. Goodell admitted his initial punishment handed down to Rice was wrong and he then changed the league's domestic violence policy to provide more clarity on the issue as well as tougher punishments (six-game ban for first-time offenders and lifetime ban for repeat offenders). The new policy seemingly did not apply to Rice before or after it was installed.
According to reports, Rice has lost the support of his teammates following the release of the video because they feel he "misled" them in regards to his account of the incident. An unnamed player informed Bleacher Report that Rice told his teammates that he had "no choice" but to defend himself on the night of February 15 at the Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. The video strongly suggests otherwise and the Ravens locker room feels they were lied to by their teammate.
And it's not limited to the Ravens locker room. Players across the NFL (current and former) began speaking out against Rice's actions early this morning after they saw the video. Terrance Knighton (Broncos), Chris Harris (Broncos), TJ Lang (Packers), Duke Ihenacho (Redskins), and Brady Quinn (free agent) were among the active players who tweeted in response to the video as well as former players London Fletcher, Scott Fujita, Coy Wire and LeCharles Bentley. You can view all of their tweets on USA Today Sports.
The Ravens will not owe Rice any money following the contract termination. Rice was owed $4 million this season, $3 million next season and another $3 million in 2016. You can read more about his ban in this ESPN article.
