Ray Rice is really, really sorry. In the second part of his family's interview with NBC's Today show, the beleaguered NFL player addressed his domestic abuse scandal, apologizing to fans and viewers for his behavior.
The former Baltimore Ravens star, 27, pleaded with his former fans to "look deeper into who I am," adding that he was "horribly sorry for everything that I have put my family through."
"Me and my wife [Janay] had one bad night, and I took full responsibility for it," Rice claimed to Matt Lauer. "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."
He continued: "I took full responsibility for everything that I did, and the only thing I can hope for and wish for is a second chance."
Rice also addressed his controversial press conference after footage of him assaulting — and knocking out his then-fiancee Janay in an elevator — was released to the public in September.
"We were given what to speak about," he said of the Ravens presser during which Janay Rice apologized for her "role in the incident." Ray continued: "It wasn’t truly coming from us, if you can understand, but I made that clear in my last time I was able to speak that my wife is an angel. She can do no wrong. I take full responsibility for my actions."
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In her emotional sit-down with Lauer, Janay also recalled how the team suggested she apologize for the abuse. "They basically gave us a general script. Yes," she tearfully said. "And that was frustrating for me, because obviously people took it as, you know, I'm taking light off of what Ray did. In no way."
Janay's father Joe Palmer also sat down with Lauer to discuss his daughter's ordeal. "Honestly? I was ready to come down and speak to him, really, man-to-man, and find out what was going on," he recalled of his reaction. "I had to sit back and relax because like I said as soon as you make a hasty decision, it always ends up a bad decision. My thing was I knew them. I knew the relationship. I know Ray, he’s a really good guy. This wasn’t him. I didn’t see this in him."
Days after the footage was released, Rice was dropped by the Ravens and indefinitely suspended from the league by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. For Rice, playing football now takes a backseat to taking care of his family.
"I’ll be honest with you," the athlete told Lauer. "I would adapt into life and I would sacrifice more so she can have a better future."
He also confessed that he worries his young daughter with Janay, Rayven, will also "Google her father's name" one day. "The first thing that's going to come up is — you know what's going to come up," he said.
Watch his Today show interview above.