Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice beat up his current wife in February and last week was suspended two games by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, a punishment few felt fit the crime.
Now the Ravens are going out of their way to praise Rice and tout his penance, launching an us-against-the-world public relations campaign to rehab his ruined image.
The team’s website trumpeted that Rice received a standing ovation from Ravens fans after he was shown on the Jumbotron during Monday night’s open practice at M&T Bank Stadium, his first public appearance since the suspension.
Wonder what the reaction would have been if the footage was shown of Rice dragging his then fiancée, Janay Palmer, out of an elevator at Revel Casino in Atlantic City. Palmer appeared to be unconscious and doesn’t move at any point during the 51-second video. Rice was charged with third-degree aggravated assault after the altercation — in which police said he allegedly hit his fiancee with his hand — but avoided trial after being accepted into a pretrial intervention program.
Rice gave the fans a smile and a salute. There were No. 27 Rice jerseys through the crowd, many worn by women, according to the team’s in-house dispatch, which quoted a few expressing their support of Rice.
Also on the Ravens website, Kevin Byrnes – the team’s vice president of public and community relations — wrote a blog post expressing how surprised he was by the incident, why the team handled it the way it did … and why it hasn’t changed how he feels about Rice at all.
“I liked Ray Rice a lot then,” he writes. “I like Ray Rice a lot today.”
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti also is quoted in support of Rice, so this goes all the way to the top.
“Don’t we all have days or moments or periods in our life we regret?” Bisciotti told Byrnes. “Ray showed great character for the six years I’ve known him. He has shown remorse after a bad incident. It was out of character. I don’t think now is the time to abandon him. You say we are a Ravens’ family. I’ve come to believe that.”
We get it. The Ravens support Rice. So do the fans. Something makes us believe his reception won’t be so friendly in opposing stadiums.