The Baltimore Ravens have terminated the contract of running back Ray Rice after a new video surfaced that appears to him striking his then-fiancee in an elevator last February.
The grainy video by TMZ Sports apparently shows Rice and Janay Palmer in an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. Each hits the other before Rice knocks Palmer off her feet and into a railing. An earlier TMZ video showed Rice dragging Palmer, now his wife, from the elevator.
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The Ravens said earlier Monday that they never saw the new video. Hours later, they sent out a one-sentence release:
"The Baltimore Ravens terminated the contract of RB Ray Rice this afternoon."
The NFL also took action, saying on Twitter that Commissioner "Roger Goodell has announced that based on new video evidence that became available today he has indefinitely suspended Ray Rice."
Rice's lawyer, Michael Diamondstein, would not comment to The Associated Press.
The National Football League said it hadn’t seen a video that appears to show Ray Rice punching his wife in an elevator before it suspended the Baltimore Ravens running back for two games in July.
“We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an e-mail. “That video was not made available to us, and no one in our office has seen it until today.”
Rice was suspended after the NFL said it had reviewed all evidence in the case, including video. Asked if the league would re-open the case, McCarthy didn’t immediately respond. Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Rice was arrested Feb. 15 after getting into an altercation with his wife, Janay Rice, who was then his fiancee, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. While video footage at the time showed the 218-pound, two-time All-Pro dragging her out of a casino elevator, there was no video from inside the elevator.
Players including former New York Giants center Shaun O’Hara today expressed their anger over the situation.
“As a man I am disgusted,” O’Hara, who now works as a television analyst on NFL Network, said on Twitter. “As former NFL player I am ashamed by handling of this by the league. Despicable.”
Rice was suspended for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, under which a player doesn’t have to be found guilty of a crime to be disciplined by the league.
As a first-time offender, Rice’s record will be cleared of charges related to the alleged assault when he completes an intervention program that prosecutors had approved.
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Following criticism of its handling of the incident, the NFL on Aug. 28 said it will suspend players for six games for first offenses of domestic violence and sexual assault. Players would be banished from the league for a subsequent violation.
Criticism of Rice’s punishment was renewed after Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon’s season-long ban for what ESPN said was a positive marijuana test was upheld by an arbitrator.
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