Ray Rice says Greg Hardy should take serious look at domestic violence

Ray Rice and Greg Hardy each have an ugly domestic violence incident in their pasts, and have gone about the aftermath in much different ways.

Rice has been contrite, doing many interviews apologizing for the incident in which he punched the woman who would become his wife in an Atlantic City elevator, including interviews with his wife at his side. Aside from one vague tweet about regret, Hardy has pretty much claimed that his ex-girlfriend caused her own injuries and then doubled down by saying he was innocent and being discriminated against.

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Hardy has a job in the NFL, with the Dallas Cowboys. Rice does not; he hasn’t been signed since he was cut by the Baltimore Ravens last September. This is entirely due to their respective values on the field and not how each of them has acted off it.

It was a bit strange to hear that Rice offered advice to Hardy on a popular radio show.

“One thing I would encourage Greg [to do] is to take a deeper look into what the severity of domestic violence is,” Rice said on WFAN’s “Boomer & Carton Show” (You can listen to the whole interview here.) “It’s better late than never.”

It would be easy for Rice to be cynical here — Hardy has shown almost no remorse and he has the job that Rice covets so much. But he also has a unique perspective that could perhaps help Hardy.

“You have to be sincere in your actions,” Rice said during his discussion about Hardy. “Show it on and off the field. Take that uniform and use it for what it’s worth. You don’t have to win another football game, you don’t need another dollar to go out and make a difference in other peoples’ lives.”

Rice said on the show that he has been working out hoping for another chance, and that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reached out to him this summer. Rice is free to sign with a team, he just needs a chance.

He just wants the chance that Hardy already got.