Ray Rice Apologizes to Ravens Fans: ‘I’m Truly Sorry”

Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has issued a statement Friday Morning to The Baltimore Sun apologizing to Baltimore Ravens fans. Rice, 28, also asked for forgiveness.

The Ravens terminated Rice's $35 million contract in September after a graphic video of Rice hitting his then-fiancée now wife, Janay Palmer, surfaced. The incident occurred in an elevator on Feb 15, 2014. In the video, Rice punched Palmer, causing her to become unconscious. He then dragged her out of the elevator. The couple was staying in Atlantic City, NJ at the time.

Rice did not get sentenced to prison for his felony aggravated assault case. Instead, he entered a pretrial intervention program. In November, he was reinstated to the NFL.

Rice is currently a free agent, but according to several sources, he has not met with any NFL teams. However, Rice does not think that his NFL career is over just yet. Sources added that Rice has continued to work out with the hope that will get signed by another team.

Read the full statement below:

Dear Baltimore, 

This is not a farewell or goodbye. The last seven years that my family and I have spent in Baltimore have by far been the best of our lives. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for the love and support you've shown my family and I throughout my football career. We'll always be grateful for the love we've received from all of our fans and supporters, and for winning a Super Bowl. To all the kids who looked up to me, I'm truly sorry for letting you down, but I hope it's helped you learn that one bad decision can turn your dream into a nightmare. There is no excuse for domestic violence, and I apologize for the horrible mistake I made. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, and I hope to make a positive difference in people's lives by raising awareness of this issue. Thank you, Baltimore Ravens, for all you have done for my family and I. I'm very grateful to Steve Bisciotti, Ozzie Newsome, John Harbaugh, and everyone at 1 Winning Drive. I love you all very much, and I'll always be proud to say I played for the Baltimore Ravens.

Thank you.

-- Ray Rice