The Ravens had an interesting speaker in Wednesday to address the team’s rookies as part of an ongoing series of speeches and seminars.
Ray Rice.
The Ravens released Rice in 2014 after video surfaced of Rice punching his then-fiancee. He was suspended indefinitely by the NFL when the video surfaced; he’d previously been facing a two-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
Rice has been out of the NFL since.
The team’s statement on Rice speaking to the rookies, released via the team’s Twitter account on Thursday afternoon, said: “Our 27 sessions to our rookies through our player engagement program review and teach life management and life lessons. Rice, who played for the Ravens from 2008-2014, delivered an important message that included his story, both the good and the bad. He clearly had the attention of our rookies.”
The NFL eliminated the Rookie Symposium this year, instead opting for individual team programs and seminars like the one that brought Rice back into the Ravens’ building this week. The goal remains to deliver messages that might keep at-risk players out of bad situations and reinforce that being an NFL player is a privilege, and that’s why the Ravens took the rather bold step of inviting Rice back into their building.