Dr. Ben Carson, the celebrated neurosurgeon and rising conservative star who is mulling a run for president, says football great Ray Rice desperately needs help after the release of a shocking video in which he is seen punching his fiancee, who later became his wife.
Carson, former chief of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, also urged that the Baltimore Ravens running back, who was terminated by the team on Monday, not be demonized.
"I'm hopeful that they will get some help for him. Obviously, anyone who would do something like that needs some help," Carson said Monday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"Let's not all jump on the bandwagon of demonizing this guy. He obviously has some real problems," Carson said. His wife knows that because she subsequently married him."
The Ravens terminated Rice's multimillion-dollar contract just hours after TMZ Sports released a video in which the grid great is seen punching his fiancée, Janay Palmer, in the elevator of an Atlantic City hotel, knocking her out, in an incident that occurred in February. The couple married in March
In addition, the three-time All-Pro was suspended indefinitely by the National Football League.
Despite the violence, for which Rice apologized, the couple later married. Carson pleaded for both to get counseling.
"They both need some help," Carson said.
"Rather than just jumping on an impunitive bandwagon [of criticism], let's see if we can get some help for these people."
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