Five years have passed since Ray Rice played his last NFL game, and the former Baltimore Ravens running back is not looking for a path back to pro football after he was shunned by the league following a domestic abuse incident.
The Chiefs, who knew about the incident before the release of the video, said Hunt “was not truthful” in describing the incident and released him from the team.
“Well, obviously, you know, you look back and you see the similarities,” Rice said in the interview.
“When I look at Kareem Hunt, I want to know what his life was like,” Rice said later. “I want to know what happened in his life. I know Kareem has apologized and expressed remorse to the survivors of domestic violence.”
Rice said he grew up around relationships that normalized other methods of abuse, including emotional and financial. He said when he and Palmer struggled in their relationship, Rice turned to football to escape it, and never asked for help. He and Palmer married close to a month after the release of the video.
Looking back, Rice said of himself, “I hate that person. I hate him."
“Somewhere down the line everybody was saying does he deserve a second chance in football and this that and the other. I actually got my second chance,” he said, motioning toward Palmer. “During my darkest moments, I asked myself how could she want to support me.”
“I don’t have to retire to tell you I’m done with football,” he said later. “The pressure I was under of being a star, that was the person I hated the most.”
WATCH: @GayleKing spoke to Ray Rice and his wife Janay about why they stayed together, how they're making their marriage work and how the Kareem Hunt video affected their lives. https://t.co/1MB4o0TG7d pic.twitter.com/IJLXaEgF6E
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) December 18, 2018
Janay knows it's hard for people to understand why she gave him a second chance.
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) December 18, 2018
"And I'm not here to force people to understand. It was never a thought whether I was going leave or not, because I knew that that wasn't him in that moment." -- JR https://t.co/1MB4o0TG7d pic.twitter.com/QZbGPz4ke1
Palmer in the interview said she never considered ending their relationship.
“It was never a thought whether I was going to leave or not because I knew that that wasn’t him in that moment,” she said. “This is somebody I’ve known since I was 15 years old. I knew that we had work to do, and I was willing to move forward and put in the work.”
Rice said he has met with NFL officials and spoken to players about domestic violence. Of the league, he said, “They’re trying to do the right thing.” He said he’d be willing to help Hunt if he reached out.
“I would love to help anyone that’s willing to go the long haul,” he said.
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