Ray Rice and his wife, Janay, at a May press conference. (AP)
The fight between Janay and Ray Rice that ended in him knocking her unconscious in an Atlantic City casino elevator started with him spitting at her as she tried to grab his phone, Janay Rice told ESPN.com’s Jemele Hill.
In Janay Rice’s first interview since her husband was cut from the Baltimore Ravens, she said she slapped her then-fiancee after he spat at her but did not remember what happened in the elevator though she has seen the video.
“The video didn’t make me rethink our relationship, but I did want more of an explanation from him,” she told ESPN. “I asked him why he left me on the floor like that. I asked him how he felt when he saw that I was unconscious. He told me he was in shock. I asked him what happened when we got out of the elevator. He told me he was terrified because security was there. I asked him how he felt seeing me like that. He said he was thinking, ‘What did I just do?’ I didn’t watch the video again.”
In the interview, which was published shortly after Ray Rice was reinstated to the NFL, Janay Rice spoke about how the two met, their relationship and her parents’ reaction to the news and the video. She also said that the two had been attending counseling and were more committed and stronger since the incident.
While Janay Rice has been silent since her husband was cut from the team, she did defend herself and her husband in an Instagram post earlier this year. On social media, she’s also criticized the media for releasing the videotape of the elevator and people who dressed up as her and her husband for Halloween.
Janay Rice also spoke to ESPN about:
The timing of the couple’s marriage, which many had viewed as a legal move:
We were married March 28, the day after he was indicted for aggravated assault. We didn’t choose that day because of the indictment. It just happened to be a Friday and a time when our families could attend our wedding without having to interrupt their work schedules. I didn’t understand why that was suspicious to some people. We’d been together seven years and had been engaged for two. What happened that night wasn’t going to change the fact that we were going to get married.
The awkward press conference:
A couple months later came the press conference. The Ravens just said it was something that they felt we should do. I thought it would be good for people to see Ray publicly taking ownership for what he did. I thought it also might help humanize us. The only images out there of us were from that video. I wanted everyone to see who we really are and to understand that I have a voice for myself.
The day of the press conference, May 23, I was anxious. I didn’t know if the timing was right. With the legal process still going, I was worried about saying too much — or not enough. I knew we weren’t going to take questions, so while that was a little awkward, it made it easier. I don’t think we were ready to answer questions. I just wanted to say what I had to say and leave.
Their first meeting with the NFL:
I really didn’t think they would ask me any questions, but I was asked one. I was surprised I was asked anything at all. One of the NFL executives asked me how I felt about everything. And I broke down in tears. I could hardly get a word out. I just told him that I was ready for this to be over.
They told us they would try to move the process along, so we would find out about Ray’s suspension soon. We felt like a weight had been lifted. Mr. Goodell seemed to be a really reasonable and caring guy and wanted to make sure other people would learn from our mistake. He wanted to confirm that alcohol was a factor. He actually seemed to care about the facts and wanted to make sure that we would help other people learn from this experience.
