Watkins said Rice's actions and the way the NFL responded — first with a two-game suspension and then an indefinite one after the video of the attack was publicized — left her with "mixed emotions" about the sport she has long loved. “This action taken by our union is to protect the due process rights of all NFL players,” the NFL Players Association said in a statement. Other fans were still trying to reconcile the Rice they knew before this year, the player who worked to stop bullying, among other causes, with the person seen in the video punching his then-fiancee Janay Palmer and then dragging her out of the elevator. Hill said she still loves the Ravens, and she defended the NFL's handling of the incident.
– Thousands of Baltimore Ravens fans swarmed M&T Bank Stadium today to rid themselves of a jersey many now consider tarnished. Though stores have dropped Ray Rice's jersey, the Ravens are offering fans a chance to swap those already purchased for another player's jersey this weekend after a video surfaced that appears to show Rice knocking out his then-fiancee, the Baltimore Sun reports. "I don't want to wear a jersey of someone who did something like that," said a teen who turned out to swap his Rice jersey for one with Justin Tucker's name on it. "What [Rice] did wasn't right." But as fans gather in Baltimore, the NFL Players Association is gathering evidence after Rice appealed his NFL suspension this week as expected. "This action taken by our union is to protect the due process rights of all NFL players," the NFLPA said in a statement, per the Guardian. "The NFLPA appeal is based on supporting facts that reveal a lack of a fair and impartial process, including the role of the office of the commissioner of the NFL." The union argues a player can't be punished twice for the same offense if all evidence was presented initially. A hearing date is to be set within 10 days.