If there's one athlete we can think of who has seen his reputation plummet over the past year, it's Ray Rice (full disclosure: we gave that statement two seconds of thought). In 2013 he was riding high, averaging 3.1 yards per carry in the NFL. In 2014, he was suspended, missed the entire season and became the nation's most maligned athlete after a video showed him knocking out his fiancee-turned-wife, Janay Palmer-turned-Rice.
In an interview that was published yesterday by the Baltimore Sun, Rice opened up about life as the NFL's biggest villain, saying:
"You almost want to punish yourself. I know I’m never going to win the battle of public opinion. Honestly, I almost felt like at one point that it wasn’t worth living. I see why people commit suicide. I was low, real low. It hurt that bad because you worked your whole life to do all the right things and then you’re the world’s most hated person. It was really tough."
It's unclear how seriously Rice considered ending his own life, but any would-be attempt was quickly erased because of:
“My daughter, oh Lord, I grew up without a father, there’s no way I could check out on my own family.”
Rice also sounds like he's come to terms with the fact that fans will never forget about the now infamous Atlantic City elevator incident, saying:
“There’s an old saying people tend to forget, but I don’t think people are going to forget this. I just think people are going to look at what I do with my life going forward."
Whether or not any team takes a chance on the 28-year-old is another story, although some teams have reportedly expressed interest. Of course, those teams would have to be willing to weather a PR-shit storm if they actually inked him to a contract.
But still, it's possible.
[via Yahoo, The Baltimore Sun]
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