Ray Rice speaks to Baltimore Ravens rookies

Baltimore Ravens rookies heard a speech on Thursday from a man who’s certainly familiar with the highs and lows of the NFL, former running back Ray Rice.

Through their Twitter feed, the Ravens told their followers what Rice talked about.

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Part 2:

Part 3:

There are a couple ways to look at this.

The cynical way would be that Rice is not exactly a great role model. He punched his then girlfriend (now wife) in the elevator of a hotel, giving the NFL one of its most talked about incidents. The incident also ruined Rice’s career and sparked a controversy that, even two years later, is not going away any time soon.

Rice did a terrible thing and it’s a completely reasonable stance to say that Rice is a person who should not be talking to young NFL players.

With that said, there is another way of looking at this.

One, Rice has shown contrition for what he did. That may not seem like a big deal, but compared to people like Greg Hardy and MLB’s Aroldis Chapman, it is refreshing.

Two, because Rice has shown contrition, he’s actually the perfect person to talk to NFL rookies. Nobody is more familiar with how one decision made within a matter of seconds can completely end an NFL career, and really, ruin a life. If rookies won’t listen to him, chances are good that they won’t listen to anyone.

Ray Rice may be a person that a fair amount of people never want to hear from again, and that’s fine. But in a situation like this, his story is actually an ideal one for incoming rookies to hear.