Photos of the injuries Greg Hardy’s ex-girlfriend sustained after the Dallas Cowboys defensive end assaulted her brought a new light to the situation, just as video did in Ray Rice’s case. But Rice doesn’t believe it should be that way.
The free-agent running back went from a two-game suspension to being suspended indefinitely after TMZ released video of Rice punching his then-fiancée, Janay Palmer, who’s now his wife, in an Atlantic City, N.J., elevator. After the photos of Hardy’s ex-girlfriend released Friday by Deadspin were met with a similar outcry, Rice said people shouldn’t need visuals to see domestic violence for what it is.
“It really shouldn’t take photos or anything to understand the severity of domestic violence,” Rice told ESPN’s Hannah Storm on “SportsCenter” on Sunday, via CBSSports.com. “It does continue to raise awareness. It’s just a tough deal that it takes a visual for the severity to be known. Condolences go out to the survivors of domestic violence.”
Hardy offered a weak apology Sunday for “what happened in (the) past,” but Rice continued to be apologetic for what happened in February 2014.
“I totally understand what my visual did and the effect it had on society and the survivors of domestic violence,” Rice said, via ESPN. “So, for me, to never be forgiven … I understand those things, and I totally take full responsibility for my actions. The one thing I can say is … I have made a lifelong decision to raising awareness about this.
“I used to have a situation where kids were like, ‘I want to be like Ray Rice.’ And now I have to think about kids and parents saying, ‘I don’t want you to be like Ray Rice.’ And that haunts me.”
Thumbnail photo via Robert Mayer/USA TODAY Sports Images
