Ray Rice Worries About His Daughter Googling Him Someday, Talks Possible Future Without Football

Former NFL star tells Today's Matt Lauer why he is "horribly sorry for everything that I have put my family through" stemming from February assault on now-wife Janay Rice

By Rebecca Macatee Dec 02, 2014 2:38 PMTags

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Ray Rice knows that any athletic accomplishments he had in the NFL or potentially could have in the future will likely be overshadowed by his troubles off the field.

In a Today interview that aired Tuesday, the former Baltimore Ravens running back spoke to Matt Lauer at length about the shocking video released earlier this year by TMZ Sports that showed him brutally punching his then-fiancée (now wife) Janay Rice. He apologized for his actions and the effects they've had on his loved ones, saying he's "horribly sorry for for everything that I have put my family through."

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The 27-year-old athlete worries about what he and Janay's young daughter will think when she's old enough to "Google her father's name and the first thing that's going to come up is—you know what's going to come up."

As Matt pointed out, it's probably not going to be dad's career highlight reel.

Whether or not Ray will have a future in football, though, is still TBD. Last month, he won an appeal making him eligible to play in the NFL again, but a team would still have to make the decision to put him on their roster.

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So, what would it take for another team to take a chance on Ray? "They would have to be willing to, you know, look deeper into who I am and realize that me and my wife had one bad night, and I took full responsibility for it," he said. "And one thing about my punishment and everything going along with anything that happened is that I've accepted it. I went fully forward with it. I never complained, or I never did anything like that. I took full responsibility for everything that I did, and the only thing I can hope for and wish for is a second chance."

And if he isn't given that second chance? "If I never play football again, I'll be honest with you, I would adapt into life and I would sacrifice more so she can have a better future," he said.

Janay said that answer didn't surprise her "at all," explaining, "I know he wants to play football, but I know regardless he'll always support me in anything that I want to do. So God forbid he doesn't play football again, then I'll step in and, you know, maybe I'll be a provider."

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Ray said his wife "can do no wrong," adding that his main job now "is to always protect her." He admitted, too, that he "made a horrendous mistake not apologizing to my wife" when the couple held a joint press conference in May. He added that he and Janay "were still under legal situations" at the time, which limited what they could say.

He reiterated that his behavior in the video "was just very uncharacteristic of myself," and while he admitted he and Janay never had a" "perfect relationship," he insisted the elevator incident was the first and only time they had an altercation "where it went that far."

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So, what now? Ray told Today that he and his family "all just want our lives back." He said he now realizes that "domestic violence is a real issue in society," and he's well-aware of "the amount of people we've affected."

"We could take our one bad night—it just happened to be on video—but we are truly sorry to the people that are really going through it," he said. "You know, it's a real problem. And I know when the time is right, I know my wife wants to help. I know I want to help."

For more information on domestic abuse or to get help for yourself or someone you love, visit the website for The National Domestic Violence Hotline or call 1-800-799-7233.

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