By this point, we all know the Ray Rice situation, that the now-disgraced NFL running back punched his then-fiancée and knocked her out in an elevator in Atlantic City. What we still do not know is exactly why Janay Rice continues to come to the aid of her husband. Ray Rice is now hated by a huge population and is now one of the biggest villains in professional sports; yet Janay is still by his side, through think and through thin, apparently.

Until Monday (September 8), allegedly nobody other than the investigators of the case saw the full footage of what happened on that fateful night in the elevator in Atlantic City. All that the public had seen was video from TMZ of Ray Rice dragging his fiancée on the ground. Did it look bad? Of course it did, but at the same time nothing was certain. There were rumors circulating all over about what actually happened that night. Was she the original aggressor? Did he effectively knock her out? Nothing was for sure, but the NFL stepped in and suspended the Baltimore running back for the first two games of the season. There was tremendous outcry about the length of the suspension, with common belief prevailing over facts and the world clamored for more punishment for Rice. But then Janay Rice went to the league offices in New York and allegedly worked with Commissioner Goodell to reduce Ray’s suspension. Less punishment for the man who beat you? It seems like a strange cause to take up, even if you’re about to marry the man.

That, in fact, is the next place in where this whole story gets confusing. Janay Palmer married Ray Rice. They are now husband and wife, bound by the vows of marriage, even after he abused her in an elevator (at this point in time, still allegedly). I will be blatantly honest, I don’t understand everything that has happened, even up to this point in time. Do we really not know the entire story? Is there a large sum of money involved here in order to keep things seemingly normal? Is Janay Palmer/Rice one of the millions of women who just do not want to leave an abusive partner for whatever reason? We may never know the truth, and maybe that’s not something the Rice family cares about.

Today, Janay Rice took to Instagram to air her grievances, specifically with the media for the coverage of this entire story. Part of here statement includes this:

“To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret everyday is a horrible thing….To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. THIS IS OUR LIFE! What don’t you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you’ve succeeded on so many levels. Just know we will continue to grow & show the world what real love is!”

That is an incredibly bold statement from Mrs. Rice. The public now knows what happened in the elevator on that night in Atlantic City. Ray Rice punched Janay Palmer and knocked her out. He dragged her out of the elevator. They are now married and she’s publicly declaring her love for him. Even when you don’t include how badly this case was botched by the NFL (read: Roger Goodell), this is an interesting case to say the least. I’m not denouncing the notion of love, because I understand just how powerful of a thing it is. That being said, I am just confused by all of these events. Based on what we know, would it not make all the sense in the world for Janay to distance herself from Ray and not marry him? It’s just a bizarre situation, but what it makes me think is that there is at least something more to this story than we know. It’s right there in black and white (literally) that Ray Rice hit her, but when you consider everything else involved in this case, who knows what the real truth is; I have a feeling that the public doesn’t.

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