In September of 2014, Ray Rice was suspended by the NFL for two games after a TMZ-released videotape showed a violent exchange between Rice and his then fiancee Janay Palmer at a casino in Atlantic City. The video, although a bit grainy, clearly shows Rice dragging Palmer’s limp body out of an elevator. He was arrested and indicted for aggravated assault and later held a press conference with Janay (now Rice), where he apologized to everyone except for his wife. The press obviously noticed this omission and criticized him heavily for it. He would later sit down with Matt Lauer for an interview on the Today Show where he specifically expressed remorse to his wife. He said: “The reason why that press conference was the way it was, was because we were still under legal situations. So there wasn’t much that could be said, but I’ll be honest, we were nervous, I was nervous, and that was the first time we were available to speak…but I made that clear in my last time I was able to speak that my wife is an angel. She can do no wrong. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
Key Apologia Strategies:
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Transcript
“First of all, I’d like to just thank you guys for taking the time out to come out and just hear me out for a little bit. I had many nights and many days and a lot of time to reflect on a lot of things. I usually prepare my speeches just coming off the top [of my head], but during the time I had, I had a chance to jot a lot of things down.