Ray Rice: 'I Didn't Leave The Game The Way I Wanted To"

New York City, NY (WJZ) -- More damage control tonight for former Ravens running back Ray Rice as he tries to re-enter the NFL.

In a new interview with New York Magazine, Rice and his wife talk about what led up to the infamous domestic violence incident in Atlantic City.

Mary Bubala has the details from the interview.

Rice and his wife Janay Palmer first spoke out almost a year ago at Ravens' headquarters. Then they went public again on The Today Show.

Days later, Rice spoke with WJZ.

"I made a horrible mistake in my life," Rice said then.

And then last month, Rice spoke extensively with WJZ media partner The Baltimore Sun.

"Kiss your wife, tell her you love her," Rice said to the Sun.

Now this article in New York Magazine gives specific details on the couple's tumultuous relationship that led up to the fight in the Atlantic City casino.

Palmer talks about her building resentment -- "being in a relationship with a celebrity is hard. Everything is about them. Ray had to have people around him," -- she told the magazine.

Ray Rice says he nicknamed Janay, "dreamkiller."

Palmer told New York Magazine, things got even more tense after their daughter Rayven was born.

"Football came before everything and everyone," Rice told the magazine.

"It was hard knowing I wasn't his first priority," Palmer said in the interview. "I felt like a walking zombie. I told Ray he needed to change diapers more."

Rice also delved into his troubled childhood as the root of his anger -- also how people cared more about his talent on the filed then teaching him to be a man.

"Nobody ever had courage enough to try to give me the tools of life," Rice stated. "I'm learning to love myself. It's unfortunate that it took this situation for me to face myself."

Now Rice is trying to re-sign with another team after the Ravens dropped him.

Saying if his career is over -- "Honestly, it would hurt because I didn't leave the game the way I wanted to."

"I've still got a whole lot of game and I'm not ready to call it quits," Rice said to New York Magazine. "But I don't love football more than I love my wife."

This latest interview was orchestrated by a crisis PR specialist who also helped Hilary Clinto, Justin Bieber and Alec Baldwin repair their images.

Rice no longer lives in Baltimore. He bought a house in Connecticut closer to his hometown of New Rochelle, NY.

 

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