Ray Rice felt so low during the fall as he became one of the most notorious figures in the country that he says he understood why people commit suicide.
Rice opened up in an interview with The Baltimore Sun in which he talked about a range of topics. Reading it, you begin to have some empathy for a man many felt deserved no forgiveness for hitting his wife inside an elevator.
“The big picture of it all, being the person that I am, I really felt horrible,” Rice said of how he felt. “You almost want to punish yourself. I know I’m never going to win the battle of public opinion. Honestly, I almost felt like at one point that it wasn’t worth living. I see why people commit suicide.
“It hurt that bad. I was low, real low. It hurt that bad because you worked your whole life to do all the right things and then you’re the world’s most hated person. It was really tough. My daughter, oh Lord, I grew up without a father, there’s no way I could check out on my own family.”
Rice never went that far, but things became so bad in Baltimore that he says he plans to move back to his hometown of New Rochelle, New York. He hopes he can one day get to the point where he isn’t solely associated with the video and the domestic violence committed against his wife. He also is hoping for another shot in the NFL after not playing last season.
“I don’t want my career to be defined by this one moment,” Rice told The Sun. “I’ve been smart with money and the NFL is a great-paying game, but I really want to get back out there for my pride and to be able to leave the game with dignity. I don’t ever want to feel exiled out because I wasn’t that guy. … I know I’m not ready to call it quits yet.”
Someone who went through something similar was Michael Vick, who eventually made his way back into the NFL. After a year off, so has Richie Incognito. And now Adrian Peterson is wanted by several clubs. Maybe after another year away from the game, one team will be willing to give Rice a second shot. The problem is that Rice is 28 and had a poor season in 2013. Maybe some team will be desperate enough to give him a shot in another year, but he will be that much closer to 30 by then, which is the age of death for running backs.
