It was smart for Ray Rice’s lawyers to get out in front of the story of Rice’s recent arrest by putting the phrase “very minor physical altercation” in the ear of the media.
Apparently, the “very minor physical altercation” resulted in Rice’s fianceé getting knocked out cold.
TMZ has posted surveillance video that shows, per TMZ’s characterization, Rice dragging his seemingly unconscious fianceé out of an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. It’s a bizarre, awkward sequence of events, showing Rice essentially dumping her from the elevator car and then not knowing quite how to get her legs out.
A third person arrives and Rice lifts the woman up from a face-down position, at which point she seems to snap out of it, but she remains very groggy.
Whatever happened, the video doesn’t lend credence to the notion it was “minor,” and it appeared to be something far worse than a “misunderstanding.” Both Rice and his fianceé were arrested as a result of the incident.
On Monday, G.M. Ozzie Newsome said that Rice remains in the team’s plans for 2014. But that was before the video surfaced.