When video surfaced in late November of former Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt shoving and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel, comparisons were always going to be drawn to Ray Rice.
The former Baltimore Ravens running back became the poster boy of NFL domestic violence issues in 2014 when video surfaced of Rice dragging his unconscious fiancée, now wife Janay, out of an elevator, followed by another video that showed Rice punching her.
Appearing with his wife on “CBS This Morning” with Gayle King, Rice discussed his feelings when he saw the video of Hunt and said he wants to know more about Hunt’s past.
“Well, obviously, you know, you look back and you see the similarities,” Rice said. “I knew that our name was going to get brought up in the conversation, because of it being a video.”
“During my darkest moments,” Rice added, “I used to ask myself, ‘How could [Janay] even be — want to support me? … That’s understandable. But I think what’s misunderstood about us is that the friends we were before the incident. That’s why, when I look at Kareem Hunt, I want to know what his life was like. I want to know what happened in life. I know Kareem has apologized, and has expressed remorse for survivors of domestic violence. And like I said, I will continue to do that because I know now, from doing the work, how gruesome it is.”
Rice also said that he is not planning any kind of return to football.
“I don’t have to retire to tell you I’m done with football,” the 31-year old said. “I don’t want to play anymore. … The pressure I was under of being a star, that was the person I hated the most.”
Hunt was cut by the Chiefs Nov. 30 and the 23-year old released an apology shortly thereafter.
