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Moats, wife speak about incident

Ryan Moats spoke with Robin Roberts of Good Morning America today about the incident we detailed last week in which a Dallas area police officer prevented the ex-Eagles running back from saying good-bye to his dying mother in-law.

Moats' wife Tamisha said she would accept an apology from officer Robert Powell, who ticketed Moats for running a red light and kept him in the parking lot of Plano Hospital while his mother in-law passed away of breast cancer.

"Actually it would be comforting if we heard an apology directly from him, but up until this point, we have not received a personal call from him directly," Tamisha said. "Maybe he's tried to reach out and we just perhaps missed his call, but we definitely would accept his apology because he's a human being."

Powell has issued a public apology and has reportedly been attempting to reach out to Moats and his wife.

Moats said Powell took out his gun and pointed it at Tamisha when she got out of the car at the hospital. Tamisha ignored Powell's orders and ran into the hospital to see her mother.

Moats explained what he was thinking as the disturbing situation unfolded.

"When I got out, I thought if I explain it to him, maybe he will understand," Moats said. "So I went to explain it to him, and I wasn't getting anywhere so I just said, how about I just be quiet, let him say what he has to say, and maybe he'll just go ahead and write the ticket and let me go, give me time enough to get up. So he started to talk, and it just kept going and going, and then I just had to say to him 'Could you just write the ticket and just let me go?' I was thinking maybe he could walk up with me and let me say my goodbyes. I didn't have a problem with paying the ticket. I understand about the red light, but I thought he would have some type of sympathy."

The compusure with which Moats and his wife spoke was stunning, given the circumstances.

"I accept his apology, and I hope it's sincere," Moats said.

The video below shows part of the incident, along with the interview.

Video of the entire incident, which was caught on camera, was posted on YouTube. Click here for the first part and here for the second part.