By CJ Carlson
The Baltimore Ravens were attempting to honor one of their former players ahead of their huge game against the Miami Dolphins this weekend. Unfortunately, the decision to do so didn’t get received well by their own fan base. This was because the player they were praising was former running back Ray Rice. Rice was a star player on the Ravens years ago, though he was released in 2014 after a domestic violence incident. An incident that caught him on camera punching his fiancée and then dragging her out of the elevator afterwards.
Now, Rice hasn’t been fully honored yet. All that’s happened so far was that Rice was reported to be Baltimore’s “legend of the game” player against the Dolphins. The Legend of the Game tradition is something that Baltimore does as a franchise, honoring and recognizing a former player for their accomplishments both on and off the field. Calling a player who was released due to domestic violence a “legend” is definitely not going to work with the fans.
The Baltimore Ravens Stand With Their Choice
However, the franchises President Sashi Brown backed the decision and believes that Rice has done the work to change the direction of his life. He said, “He was also consistently in the community, giving back. Importantly, after Ray’s incident he owned it. On his own accord, Ray undertook critical work within himself and to bring awareness to and educate others on domestic violence. Nothing will change his past or make it right, but Ray’s work has allowed him to atone for his actions and rebuild relationships personally and professionally, including with the Ravens.”
Ray himself has openly stated that he understands why the team decided to cut ties with him when the incident occurred. He also mentioned that he knows the public perception of him is still poor, but he hopes to rectify that throughout the remainder of his life. Clearly, the Baltimore Ravens organization believe that he’s done exactly that.
Again though, not everybody is on the same page. For example, USA Today sportswriter Mike Freeman said that honoring Rice ahead of this game is a “terrible mistake”. He later went ahead to say that Rice is “no legend” in the history of the league, and that he shouldn’t be the player that the franchise chooses for their weekly tradition.
