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Ray Rice’s abuse of hard liquor was a big factor in him knocking out Janay Palmer, according to a new report, and he’s sworn off the stuff as a result.

He still drinks, though. Just not the hard stuff.

The NFL star told the Baltimore Ravens he and his then-fiancee were drinking A LOT before the altercation in which Ray Rice knocked out Janay Palmer.

Rice told his employer and his friends that this was a catalyst, and he becomes a different person when he hits the bottle, so he decided to “change his life.”

Not that much. He still drinks wine and other alcohol … just no spirits. Whatever his reasoning, she stood by him; Palmer married Rice after the attack.

Moreover, Ray and Janay Rice say that they’ve become immersed in religion since the ugly February incident; they were both baptized in March.

They decided to become Born again Christians, and have even done religious mentoring with other couples, including NFL players and their wives.

If that’s true, it’s as far from this as you can get:

 
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While Rice was initially suspended for two games under the NFL’s personal conduct policy after the abuse occurred, the video of it surfaced only this week.

At that point, the Ravens cut Rice on the spot and the league suspended him indefinitely, but faces intense scrutiny over how it didn’t see this before.

There are conflicting reports over whether the video was sent to the NFL in April, and how it found its way into the hands of TMZ just a few days ago.

One thing that is clear? The Rices’ united front.

Ray issued a statement after his release, saying he is staying strong for his wife and family are they “work through this” and “have a lot of people praying for us.”

Meanwhile, Palmer put the media on BLAST with a stinging Instagram post, standing by her man as adamantly as one could under any circumstances.