Amid a deafening public uproar, the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL took steps Monday to ensure that running back Ray Rice won’t see the playing field anytime soon.
The Ravens announced on Twitter that Rice’s contract with the team had been terminated, hours after the release of surveillance footage allegedly showing him punching his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, inside an Atlantic City hotel elevator.
The #Ravens have terminated RB Ray Rice’s contract this afternoon.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 8, 2014
Rice was indicted in March, but the third-degree aggravated assault charge will be dropped in a year if he completes a pretrial diversion program.
He was suspended only two-games by the NFL, a punishment that has been pilloried for being too light. The league acknowledged last month that it had mishandled the situation and announced a tougher new policy for domestic violence and sexual assaults.
Shortly after the Ravens cut Rice, the league announced that he will be “suspended indefinitely.”
And now the NFL has announced that former Ravens RB Ray Rice has been suspended indefinitely.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 8, 2014
This post has been updated.
