Janay Rice, wife to National Football League (NFL) player Ray Rice, came to her husband's defense despite the fact that he knocked her unconscious as seen in reports earlier this year. This marked the beginning of the rehabilitation of Ray's image.

Weeks ago, family advisers decided that Janay was the most eloquent defender that Ray could have in this trying time.

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Thus, the plan was set in motion, with the Rice family auditioning for media outlets to get an exclusive interview. Apart from that, they wanted to recast the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former team Minnesota Vikings into villains

The result was an unusual campaign in the sports world that suggested Ray was a victim of athlete's abuse.

The issue went public over the weekend in an article on ESPN's website. The article included Janay Rice's interview and picture that was to be shown on NBC's "Today" show.

In the interview, Janay held herself as a strong woman who does not for domestic abuse, but also forgives her husband for what he has done.

"People forget we're human," Janay told NBC's Matt Lauer. "Everybody makes mistakes. After this whole situation, you would think we lived in a country full of people who never made a mistake."

When Lauer asked Janay what Ray thought when he saw the video, she just said that he was in such a shock that this had just happened and that he didn't know how to function at this point.

Both interviews with ESPN and "Today" were done weeks ago, but were withheld until after the arbitrator's ruling last Friday that reinstated Ray into the NFL and overturned Goodell's suspension.

Jack Deschauer, vice president for the strategic communications agency Levick, said that the two-part interviews had elongated the notion that began with the ruling, saying that perhaps Goodell didn't do the right thing.

While Ray has been reinstated to the NFL, the likelihood of a team signing him is minimal. It does not seem like any team needs a running back who has been in the game for a while and is being associated with being the face of domestic abuse. 

TagsJanay Rice, Janay Palmer, Janay Palmer-Rice, ray rice