Ray Rice, unlike Greg Hardy, is still not playing for an NFL team after his high-profile arrest for domestic violence. And if Rice doesn’t get a second chance, the former running back said that instead, he’d like to work for the league to help raise awareness of the issue.
Asked by ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on Sunday to compare his case to that of Hardy, a defensive end who was given a second chance by the Dallas Cowboys after he was arrested on domestic violence charges while he was a member of the Carolina Panthers, Rice said he could only speak about his own case.
Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens star, has been out of the NFL since he was released by the team in September 2014 after a video emerged of him punching his then-fiancée Janay Palmer, who is now married to the three-time Pro Bowl player.
“I totally understand what my visual did and the effect it had on society and the survivors of domestic violence,” Rice told ESPN’s SportsCenter on Sunday morning. “So, for me, to never be forgiven … I understand those things, and I totally take full responsibility for my actions. The one thing I can say is … I have made a lifelong decision to raising awareness about this.
“I used to have a situation where kids were like, ‘I wanna be like Ray Rice.’ And now I have to think about kids and parents saying, ‘I don’t want you to be like Ray Rice.’ And that haunts me.”
Rice’s comments come after photos from Hardy’s case, which showed extensive bruising to Hardy’s former girlfriend, were leaked to Deadspin. Hardy took to Twitter on Saturday to address the photos and to “express regret” for his actions.
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