When Ray Rice flexed his muscles for all the world to see Sunday — celebrating his go-ahead touchdown in Baltimore’s 28-13 AFC Championship rout in New England — there was SUPE tattooed on his right bicep.
Not for Superman or Super Bowl, but for the deceased cousin whose memory has driven Rice to where he is now. It was for the love of family that’s carried the former Rutgers star’s dream all the way from a housing project in New Rochelle to the world’s biggest game in New Orleans.
“I think God saved the Ravens for this game … and they’re going to get it,’’ said Rice’s mother, Janet, who wore her son’s No. 27 jersey to their win in Gillette Stadium and probably will do it again against the 49ers. “He was destined to be here. My sister [Denise] says he was born with a purpose, and for a purpose, and that’s to do what he’s doing now — play ball. God has given him a gift.’’
Rice, who turned 26 Tuesday, grew up largely in St. Paul FBH Church. His aunt Denise is now a pastor there, and says she speaks to Rice weekly and prays for him before every game. The church was a haven for this Raven, an oasis — like the football field — where things made sense, when so often life seemed senseless.
He was just 1 when his father, Calvin Reed, was killed, an innocent victim of a drive-by on his way from work, left to die on the sidewalk. A decade later, Rice’s cousin/father-figure Myshaun Rice-Nichols — a rising rapper called S.U.P.E., for Spiritually Uplifting People Everywhere — was killed in a St. Patrick’s Day 1998 car crash brought on by a drunk driver just two weeks before Rice-Nichols’ first CD was to be released.
“They’re still watching. They see what he’s doing now,’’ said Janet Rice. “He plays every game dedicated to [S.U.P.E.], because he looks up to him. That’s who he admired. It hurt him a lot. He knew [S.U.P.E.] was going to be a star, so Ray wanted to make him happy and let him know I’m going to live my dream [for] him. He said he’d do it all for S.U.P.E.’’
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Ray Rice (Getty Images)
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Rice isn’t old enough to remember his father, but he can recall being 3 and being unable to wake his grandfather John, who had passed away in his sleep in their tiny apartment in the Hollow. And it’s memories of S.U.P.E. that drove the 5-foot-8 Rice to become one of the NFL’s biggest stars, his 7,506 total yards since becoming a starter four years ago by far the most in the league.
“He was such a positive force in my life. He always had a smile and a kind word for me. He always told me I could be somebody if I set goals. He kept me focused. His lessons went beyond football for me,’’ Rice told the Star-Ledger. “Some people might think I’m crazy when I say this, but he is here. I feel him. I want everyone to know who he was. I want him to know I haven’t forgotten.’’
From the day in youth football when Rice scored three touchdowns, hurt two players and knocked out the other team’s quarterback — all in the first quarter — to lead New Rochelle to consecutive state finals, he’s always been the best. From the school-record 4,926 yards at Rutgers to the weaving 30-yard pickup on fourth-and-29 on Nov. 25 against the Chargers, nothing shocks friend Courtney Greene anymore.
“Since Pop Warner he’s been the best. Football, basketball, doesn’t matter,’’ said Greene, who played with Rice from the age of 5 all the way through Rutgers. “When everybody’s getting amazed, it’s just normal to me. We grew up together all our lives; I’ve seen it before. What’s even better is how humble he is, how hard he works. So it’s real satisfying to see what he’s doing.’’
He’s always been a worker, from an 8-year-old sweeping up hair in a barbershop for tips to washing dishes in a catering hall to the day in high school he saw his mother crying after she’d been fired from working at her day-care center job two weeks before Christmas, patting her on the back and vowing to make sure she was never in this position again.
“I remember telling him real young — middle school — ‘OK, you’re the man of the house.’ He took it seriously,’’ said Janet, who still speaks to her son every morning, with a laugh.
Ray has a fiancée and daughter, but Janet has long seen his paternal instincts in looking after his three younger siblings Markell, Durell and Durasia.
“One day his junior year [of high school], I was running his bath water, and I remember him just staring out the window,” Janet said, “and he turns around and looks at me and says ‘Ma, I’m going to the league. I’m going to move you out of the projects.’ ’’
That dangerous part of the projects was called the Hollows, two plain brick buildings with a concrete courtyard and all sorts of trouble and temptations.
“When guys take different paths where we come from, he did a good job,’’ Greene said. “He shows how much he cares about his mom, and it shows in his play. He does it for her and his family.
“There are a lot of different ways you can go where we’re from. But his mother grew him up in the church, making sure he’s there. Once guys know you’re all right, the whole city started to protect him. That’s the Golden Child where we’re from, and everybody’s proud of him.’’
After Rice signed his rookie contract — four years, $2.8 million — he kept his word, moving his mother six blocks away, albeit on the other side of the proverbial tracks to The Davenport next to the river. Two years later, it was into the pricy Avalon on the Sound, also in New Rochelle. He bought her an Acura, then a Lexus. And, after inking a five-year, $40 million deal this season, he wasn’t done.
“He said pack your stuff. I’m moving into my first house. He said, ‘Ma, I can’t believe I bought you a house!’ In two weeks, I move in,’’ said Janet, who has steadfastly refused his attempts to get her to retire from teaching special needs kids at Isaac E. Young Middle School.
On any random Monday during the season, or any day in the offseason, Rice could show up there — like the day he dropped by … with quarterback Joe Flacco in tow. Or the Monday morning New Rochelle football coach Lou DiRienzo walked into his office and found Rice there, a day after leading the Ravens past Oakland.
“Ray’s very big in this town,’’ DiRienzo said. “Ray has tremendous personality and a smile that fills up a room. People are endeared to him. From when he was little, he’s a fun guy people like being around. … What he means is a role model.’’
Or, as Greene said, a Golden Child.
After all, Rice literally has his own day, every spring in New Rochelle when he hosts a football clinic for kids. He donates equipment to his old high school team, and drops by with gifts. It’s an admiration born of loyalty.
“It gives kids a sense of hope, that with hard work you can make it,” said Jermaine Hollis, 31, who has known Rice since they were young. “He’s always motivated kids to do well. He always comes back and shows love.”
— Additional reporting by Zach Braziller
brian.lewis@nypost.com