Ray Rice Insists He and Janay Rice Have Only Ever Had 'One Bad Night, It Just Happened to Be on Video'

Did you catch Ray Rice's interview with Matt Lauer yesterday on Today? The sit-down interview had actually been booked with Janay Rice, and it gave her an opportunity to finally speak about that horrific night in Atlantic City last February when Ray knocked her out cold in an elevator. The couple had been dealing with their issues semi-privately until the surveillance video went viral last September, and the fallout has been huge. Janay answered all sorts of questions about their relationship and insisted that her now-husband has never laid a finger on her other than this one time. Supposedly, Ray came home near the end of her interview and decided to appear on camera.

Perhaps NBC thought it would feel more impromptu and less strategically planned if Lauer talked to the couple while standing in their kitchen. Once they all settled in around the island, Rice insisted that they have only had this one bad night together, and unfortunately there is video to document it. He also claims that working is not his biggest concern right now.

Ray told Lauer:

"The big deal is for me to always protect her, and that's why I said I take full responsibility. She can do no wrong. This is something, you know, as a man you have to own and, we're horribly sorry, and I'm horribly sorry for everything that I have to put my family through. I still got to live every day, go take my daughter to school. She's going to grow up and the way the Internet works now she's going to Google her father's name and the first thing that's going to come up is, you know what's going to come up."

Clearly, he has been coached in how to present himself to the media and public right now, right? Rice has also said that he really hopes that a team in the NFL will decide to give him a second chance so he can continue playing the game he loves so much. While some teams have supposedly contemplated signing Ray, his manager has said there are no potential offers on the table yet.

What are your thoughts on this story now? Do you believe this was really a one-time-only occurrence, or do you think there likely has been violence between them before? Should Ray be signed to play again in the NFL right away, or should the league give him a breather?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

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Ray Rice, Janay Rice, Matt Lauer, Today, Interview, Domestic Violence, NFL, Contract