By Kate Joseph
Staff Writer
Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice plans to appeal the NFL’s decision to indefinitely suspend the player after video surfaced of him knocking his then-fiance, now wife, Janay Palmer, unconscious.
“We are expecting to appeal before the deadline on Tuesday night,” NFL Players Association spokesman George Atallah told the Associated Press. (At the time of publication Rice was still expected to appeal the decision.)
The issue was initially addressed by law enforcement in February when the couple was arrested at Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey after a physical altercation.
Four days later, TMZ released video of Rice dragging a seemingly unconscious Palmer out of an elevator at the casino.
“There are a lot of facts and a process that has to be worked through in anything like this,” said Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh at the NFL combine shortly after the incident. “There are a lot of question marks.”
On March 27, Rice, 27, was found guilty of aggravated assault and faced three to five years of jail time as well as a $15,000 fine. However, Rice agreed to undergo court-supervised counseling as an alternative after the charges were dropped.
“This is our life! What don’t you all get,” Palmer wrote in a post on Instagram. “If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you’ve succeeded on so many levels. Just know we will continue to grow and show the world what real love is!”
Following the charges, Rice was originally suspended for the first two games of the 2014-2015 season.
On Sept. 8, TMZ released additional surveillance video from the night Rice and Palmer were arrested showing the running back punching his then-fiance in the face, knocking her unconscious.
Hours after the video surfaced the Ravens terminated the player’s contract.
Subsequently, Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the National Football League, announced Rice’s indefinite suspension from the NFL.
“Obviously, any video that depicts an act of violence in that video is disturbing to watch,” said NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith. “For our union, we have an unshakable position against any violence, certainly domestic violence included.”
Rice admits his fault in the altercation and expressed remorse for his actions.
“I know that’s not who I am as a man,” said Rice. “I let so many people down because of 30 seconds of my life that I know I can’t take back.”
The Ravens kicked off their season the same day Rice began his suspension, on Sunday, where the team fell to the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-16.
