Baltimore Ravens cut Ray Rice after new domestic violence video

New evidence of a video surfaced showing the three-time Pro Bowl running back punching his then-fiancee during an argument in an elevator prompts league to take stricter measures.

The Baltimore Ravens released Ray Rice on Monday after a video surfaced showing the three-time Pro Bowl running back punching his then-fiancee during an argument earlier this year.
A previously released video showed Rice dragging an unconscious Janay Palmer from an elevator at an Atlantic City, New Jersey, casino, but the new one was taken from inside the elevator.
The video, published on the website TMZ, showed Rice punching Palmer, who is now Rice's wife, and her falling face down on the elevator floor. She appeared to smack her head on the elevator railing before slumping to the ground.
"The Baltimore Ravens terminated the contract of RB Ray Rice this afternoon," the team said in a one-sentence statement.
A short time later, the National Football League also took action against Rice, who was entering his seventh NFL season.
"Commissioner Roger Goodell has announced that based on the new video evidence that became available today he has imposed an indefinite suspension on Ray Rice," the league said in a statement.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh spoke to reporters later on Monday, saying he had not previously seen the video.
"It's something we saw for the first time today, you know, all of us. And it changed things, of course. It made things a little bit different," Harbaugh said.
During the summer, Harbaugh had said: "I stand behind Ray. He's a heck of a guy. He's done everything right since. He made a mistake."
An NFL spokesman said the league had not seen the new video before suspending the 27-year-old Rice for two games, a punishment widely seen as too lenient.
Rice and Palmer eventually married, a day after he was indicted by a grand jury on third-degree aggravated assault. After Palmer declined to testify against her husband, the charges were dropped and he agreed to court-supervised counseling.
The earlier two-game suspension and $500,000 fine given to Rice by Goodell sparked a firestorm of criticism.
Goodell conceded afterward that "I didn't get it right," and helped pushed through changes in the league's policy for domestic abuse by players, making the sanctions much harsher.