Floyd Mayweather Apologizes for Comments Regarding NFL's Discipline of Ray Rice

In the face of backlash due to his take on the NFL's handling of running back Ray Rice, undefeated boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather apologized Wednesday night.

Rice was initially suspended for two games for assaulting his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, at an Atlantic City casino in February. After video of Rice striking Janay was released, however, the league made the suspension indefinite, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter:

This came on the heels of the Baltimore Ravens deciding to release the six-year veteran, per the team's official Twitter account:

Once the NFL altered Rice's suspension, Mayweather decided to speak out. According to ESPN.com, the 37-year-old champion attempted to downplay the significance of Rice's actions.

"I think there's a lot worse things that go on in other people's households," Mayweather said. "It's just not caught on video, if that's safe to say."

That statement was understandably controversial considering the vicious content of the video. Also, Mayweather's past issues with domestic violence made his comments even more inflammatory.

Mayweather was sentenced to 90 days in jail back in 2012 for domestic abuse against an ex-girlfriend. His insensitivity toward the Rice situation suggests that he didn't learn from his own mistake.

With pressure mounting on Mayweather to apologize, he ultimately backtracked and attempted to distance himself from the controversy.

"If I offended anyone I apologize," Mayweather said. "I apologize to the NFL. I strive to be a perfectionist but no one is perfect. I don't condone what happened. I'm not even involved in football. I'm a boxer. If I'm not focused on it I don't know why anybody else is."

Whether or not Mayweather's apology is sincere is certainly up for debate, but it is abundantly clear that he needed to shift the focus from that to his upcoming fight against Marcos Maidana on Saturday.

Mayweather's highly anticipated rematch with Maidana doesn't need any negative publicity surrounding it, and there is no doubt that Mayweather's comments on Rice were ill-advised at best.

If anything, it has caused fans and media to look back at his past of domestic violence. CNN's Sara Sidner is among those who are questioning whether or not Rice and Mayweather are being treated equally:

Mayweather's situation is different since he doesn't compete in a team sport, but he avoided any form of discipline from the boxing commission regarding his domestic abuse conviction. Perhaps that is why Mayweather felt the need to speak out in support of the former Ravens running back.

Money has never been shy about speaking his mind, but his initial comments would have been better left unsaid. Despite the apology, most people are probably already convinced that Mayweather doesn't take domestic violence seriously.

While that probably won't have a noticeable impact on pay-per-view buys for his fight or his popularity as a whole, Mayweather didn't do himself any favors either.

Mayweather has become one of the world's biggest athletes because of his controversial nature to some degree, but he has to realize that the line needs to be drawn somewhere.

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