Ray Rice Says He Wants to Help Kareem Hunt After RB's Release

Former NFL running back Ray Rice said he would be willing to speak with Kareem Hunt in the wake of a video surfacing showing the former Kansas City Chiefs running back assaulting a woman, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com:

"Peer-to-peer, I would definitely try to help him figure out, 'How can we start dealing with the underlying problems in your life?' Because he has a long life to live, this will be a defining moment, but it shouldn't be the moment that defines you. For me, I just see you have a long life to live and that doesn't mean just playing football—you need to just live one day at a time."

The Chiefs released Hunt on Friday after TMZ released a hotel surveillance tape it had obtained showing the second-year running back shoving and kicking a woman in Cleveland back in February. He was also put on the commissioner's exempt list by the NFL.

"I want to apologize for my actions," Hunt texted ESPN's Josina Anderson after his release. "I deeply regret what I did. I hope to move on from this."

Rice, 31, never played in the NFL again after video surfaced of him assaulting his then-fiancee and now wife, Janay Palmer, in an elevator of an Atlantic City casino in 2014. He was released by the Baltimore Ravens, initially suspended indefinitely by the league before an appeal and was never signed by another team.

Rice spoke to Rapoport about how he would approach talking to Hunt about the assault.

"First, I would look at the situation and say, 'How did I even get in that moment,' because whatever what was done in that moment, something transpired before it even got there," Rice said. "And honestly, while I don't know if alcohol or any substances were involved, I know those things can often play a role."

He continued:

"I just look at the situation and say, 'Your life wasn't being threatened.' So, if there was just words, you can back out of that situation—so somewhere there's got to [show] some strength to deal with that properly. It is hard to practice what to do in the most intense moments and about making those split-second decisions. I have taken a deeper look at my own life—and I think what was his upbringing like? That's just how I look at it. I know my upbringing wasn't perfect. And I know that's where I masked a lot of my problems."