Baltimore Ravens: Stay Away from Ray Rice
By Joe Serpico
The Baltimore Ravens tried to do the right thing, but they need to stay far away from former running back Ray Rice.
A familiar face was seen at the Under Armour Performance Center this week. A face that caused the organization a lot of headaches a few summers ago.
Ray Rice met with the Ravens rookie class on Wednesday as one of the team’s guest speakers. The purpose of the speech was to tell the rookies firsthand how quickly a life can change by one mistake.
The Ravens released a statement on why they chose to bring Rice back to the facility:
“Our 27 sessions to our rookies through our player engagement program review and teach life management and life lessons.”
“Rice, who played for the Ravens from 2008-2014, delivered an important message that included his story, both the good and the bad. He clearly had the attention of our rookies.”
It was the first time that Rice was back with the Ravens since being cut in September of 2014 when a video was released of him striking his now-wife, Janay. Rice has not played football since the footage became public.
The beef I have with the Ravens bringing Rice back is the team feeling the need to justify why he was in the building.
“Rice was beloved by his teammates and the Baltimore community during his time with the Ravens. On Feb. 15, 2014, he made a terrible mistake…”
“After the incident happened, the Ravens dedicated themselves to the cause of domestic violence awareness and education.”
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Sounds like a PR stunt to me.
The Ravens would be wise to continue to stay away from Rice. While both parties have tried to do the right thing and be an activist for domestic violence, doing so together is not the way to go. For as long as the two are associated with each other, they will be remembered together.
Rice will always be remembered for that video. In 20 years, we will forget about Ray Rice the player. We will remember that video of him knocking his soon-to-be wife unconscious in that Atlantic City elevator.
The Ravens already took heat for not releasing Rice to begin with when they learned that he struck his wife. Many felt that the video didn’t need to be out there for them to take action. By now keeping him in the mix, they look like they are using a bad situation for the betterment of the organization.
I understand that they thought Rice would be the perfect person to show how quick a career can go down the drain. Rice was a fan favorite that watched everything unravel because of one mistake – I am sure this happened more than once, by the way, but that is a topic for another day – and the Ravens were in the center of the attention.
Next: Ravens Punishment Nothing Serious
They are the center of attention again by bringing him back to The Castle. When the Ravens cut Rice in 2014, they needed to cut him out of the franchise for good.