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Ray Rice held a Press Conference Friday in regards to the events surrounding his arrest in Atlantic City last February. Well, it wasn’t a press conference in so much that he talked to cameras, and didn’t take any questions from media.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Either way, this would be important as it’s first time publicly that the former All-Pro would comment on the situation that occurred almost three months ago. Surely at least some light would be shed on just what happened and how he plans to restore his broken image.

Not exactly. Instead we heard Rice apologize, just not the way we might have expected.

I want to first off apologize to [owner] Steve Bisciotti, [general manager and executive vice president] Ozzie Newsome and [head] coach [John] Harbaugh, and I also want to apologize to my fans, to the kids, to everyone who was affected by this situation that me and my wife were in. 

 

Apparently his wife didn’t make the cut. The woman that he married whom he was accused of knocking unconscious and whom the world saw dragged out of an elevator didn’t get at least a public acknowledgement of his contrition. Of course we still have no idea just what her role was in this altercation but it certainly didn’t feel right that she received no mention among those on the “I’m sorry” list.

Then things took an interesting turn as Rice brought up the word failure and ways in which to overcome said failure.

One thing I can say is that sometimes in life, you will fail. But I won’t call myself a failure. Failure is not getting knocked down; it’s not getting up.

Facepalm.

I truly could not imagine a poorer choice of words considering the circumstances. At the very least it was unfortunate and at most oblivious. But perhaps it’s to be expected when you choose to deliver your comments off the cuff instead of in a prepared statement, another poor decision that I’m sure his camp regrets this morning.

Then things got even more interesting as the former Janay Palmer gave her own apology. 

Huh?

 I do deeply regret the role that I played in the incident that night

Um Okay. So what role did you play in that incident?

Of course I realize that my question is rhetorical since there were no questions allowed  during this “presser” but it only further fuels speculation as to just what happened and why. Again the comments feel ill suited because all we know is that she was face down on the tile in a New Jersey casino. What would she have to apologize for?

And so after six minutes of what should have been a safe no nonsense by the book prepared statement of sorrow we instead were left with more questions than answers as the media and fan-base are collectively scratching their heads as to just what was accomplished by having Rice address the public.

This season will be a pivotal one in Rice’s career and future in Baltimore and he has a long road to travel in winning over the court of public opinion regarding his actions. This first step felt more like a stumble in that journey but things can change with time. Rice will need to put in some hard work to repair the damage that’s been done to his reputation. I can only hope that his next effort is planned better than this one.

Matt Jergensen
Matt Jergensen

Matt has lived in Maryland his entire life and is a graduate of Calvert Hall and Towson University. has always been an avid Baltimore sports fan. Since 2007, he has been writing and talking about Baltimore sports, especially the Ravens. His work has appeared on Ravens Gab, Russell Street Report, and he currently co-hosts a podcast “The Blitz- A Ravens podcast” with Brent Harris.

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