Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is attempting to latch on with another team after a drama-filled year that saw him exiled from the NFL following a disturbing domestic violence case.
We already know about Rice’s situation and what led to his fall from grace, so there’s no real reason to rehash that.
However, the free-agent running back did speak on a multitude of different issues with Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun.
Touching on everything from his domestic violence case to a potential return to the NFL, Rice opened up big time here.
When posed with the question about whether anything good can come out of his situation, Rice had this to say:
There’s definitely going to be a lot of good that comes out of this. It’s an unfortunate situation for me and my wife. It’s unfortunate. There’s people that go through domestic violence on all different levels. We truly know we had one bad night, but I always preach that one bad decision and your dream can turn into a nightmare. We truly lived it, but now the way to come clean with it is to own it and try to help now. There’s no reason that no one should have to go through what me and my wife been through, no one.
Rice continued by taking responsibility for his actions:
I take full responsibility for my actions. We take this as a whole, as a family and say, ‘How can we help others? How can we prevent this?’ Truly, it’s just talking. It’s all a general conversation is, getting to know your partner and understanding what’s right and what’s wrong.
We have no idea whether this was an isolated event for Rice. And in reality, that’s not really our business. What we do know is that this one incident painted Rice in such a bad light that it may have ended his football career.
When addressing his future in the NFL, Rice seemed to be drinking out of a half-full glass.
I’m optimistic that I’ll get a second chance. I don’t think this boils down to whether I can play football or not. Obviously I know that. I just think there’s so much more that comes with it, Rice told the Sun report. “I know the PR side of it will be tough. I understand that. I just know that if a team that really truly genuinely looks at me and understood that this guy made a horrible mistake then they can structure a plan for me.”
The great thing here is that Rice understands full well that he’s a PR hit waiting to happen. Despite a lack of on-field success during his last full season in the NFL back in 2013, Rice would have been given another shot if this domestic violence situation never happened. Now that it has, he’s understanding the uphill battle he’s going to have to climb. He also thinks that second chance is coming.
I don’t like to be singled out, I like to be part of the team, if they can understand that I’ll do anything to help the situation and go out and give them the best football I got, I think I’ll get a second chance.
Off-field issues aside, the 28-year-old running back didn’t necessarily leave a good imprint on potential suitors during a 2013 campaign that saw him average a career-low 3.1 yards per carry. With about 1,800 total touches under his belt and weighing under 200 pounds, there has to be some question regarding Rice’s ability to make an impact moving forward.
With that said, the former second-round pick still believes that he can be a three-down running back in the NFL.
I know that I can play all three downs. At the same time, I know the load of a running back. Whatever the situation is going to be, I just want to get on the field and contribute. If that door opens for me to be a primary ball carrier, I can do it. If that situation comes to me to do third down, run routes out of the backfield, I’ve done that.
Up until this point, there has not been any interest in the veteran running back. His off-field issues coupled with struggles on the field may in fact spell the end of Rice’s career.
At the very least, he’s addressing the issue head on. If nothing else, we should give him some credit for that.
Read the entire interview from the respected Aaron Wilson right here.
Photo: USA Today