The Baltimore Ravens Have Terminated Ray Rice's Contract

The Baltimore Ravens terminated running back Ray Rice's contract Monday after a new video emerged showing him hitting his then-fiancee in an elevator earlier this year.

Image source: Twitter

Shortly after the Ravens made their announcement, Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the NFL, said the league decided to suspend Rice "indefinitely."

Image source: Twitter

The celebrity gossip news site TMZ obtained and posted footage that appeared to show the NFL player hit Janay Palmer, who is now Rice's wife, in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino in February.

Here's the video:

Rice's lawyer, Michael Diamondstein, would not comment to the Associated Press about the running back's recent termination from the team. The NFL denies having seen the video until Monday as well.

In this Aug. 16, 2014, photo, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) carries during an NFL preseason football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. Ravens running back Ray Rice was sitting out two games for domestic violence, but after a new video emerged, Rice was cut from the team completely. (AP/Brandon Wade)

"We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, according to ESPN. "That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today."

In contrast though, TMZ reported along with its release of the video that a hotel employee, who was not named, said the NFL had seen the video before it made its decision to give Rice a two-game suspension for his actions. Rice also was issued a $500,000 fine.

Janay Rice listens as her husband, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, not pictured, speaks during an NFL football news conference, Friday, May 23, 2014, at the team's practice facility in Owings Mills, Md. Ray Rice spoke to the media for the first time since his arrest for assaulting his fiance, now his wife, at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J. (AP/Patrick Semansky)

At training camp this summer, Rice said hitting his now-wife was "the biggest mistake of my life."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently toughened penalties for domestic violence.

Before being let go, Rice had served one of his two-game suspension as the Ravens played against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.