Ray Rice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Baltimore Ravens — No. 39 | |
| Running Back | |
| Date of birth: January 22, 1987 | |
| Place of birth: New Rochelle, New York | |
| Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | Weight: 200 lb (91 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
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| No regular season or postseason appearances | |
| Career history | |
| College: Rutgers | |
| NFL Draft: 2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 55 | |
Teams:
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Raymell "Ray" Rice (born January 22, 1987 in New Rochelle, New York) is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens. Collegiately, he played for Rutgers University. He received All-America status from Rivals.com in 2007.
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[edit] Personal life
Rice has had to deal with tragedy and adversity from a young age. At only a year old, Rice's father Calvin was killed in a drive-by shooting[1]. Ray's cousin helped to raise him before dying in a car accident in 1998. Ray's mother Janet raised her four children with only one income from her job as a special education teacher. [2]
[edit] High school career
Rice was the primary running back in high school, playing alongside current Rutgers teammates Courtney Greene and Glen Lee. His sophomore and junior seasons saw him take the primary duties, but he became the feature back his senior year.
In his junior year, he helped lead New Rochelle High School to a New York state championship, and he took the team to the finals his senior year. The quarterback of his football team was Geoff McDermott, currently a forward on the Providence College basketball team.
Rice is considered by many to be one of the best, if not the best, running back to come out of New York's Section 1 (Westchester/Rockland/Putnam/Dutchess counties) for not only his success and reputation at the High School level, but also his continual success in college. Rice's team senior year was responsible for sending more kids to play Division 1 football than the rest of Westchester county as a whole in 2005.
[edit] College career
Before attending Rutgers, Rice had initially committed to Syracuse University; he switched his commitment to the Scarlet Knights following the firing of Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni in 2005.
Ray Rice (affectionately known as Ray-Ray) is currently a student at Rutgers University. In 2005, (Ray's freshman year) Rutgers had its first winning season in 14 years and made its second bowl game ever. In 2006, the Scarlet Knights won a school record-tying 11 games and registered the school's highest ever season-ending national poll ranking, finishing at #12 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls.
As a true freshman Rice finished the season as the starting tailback for Rutgers. Rice rushed for 1120 yards and 5 TDs during his freshman campaign, including a 217-yard performance against the University of Connecticut.
Rice gained 1,794 rushing yards in 2006 with 20 touchdowns. His total in 2006 set Rutgers' single-season rushing yardage record, shattering J. J. Jennings' mark of 1,353 set in 1973. Rice's backfield partner his freshman and sophomore seasons was fullback Brian Leonard. Leonard considered entering the NFL Draft in 2006 but stayed for his senior year and took on a less prominent role in the offense which aided Rice's rise to stardom.[3] Rice was also a finalist for the Maxwell Award and finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting. Rice was named Big East offensive player of the week a school-record three times in 2006. All three times, Rice rushed for over 200 yards, including a career high 225 yard game against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Rice ended his sophomore season with 170 yards on 24 carries with 1 touchdown during the inaugural Texas Bowl to give Rutgers its first bowl victory ever in a 37-10 win. He was named MVP of the game.[4]
Rice was widely considered a candidate for both the Maxwell and Heisman awards in 2007. One of the reasons why Rice was considered as a candidate for the Heisman awards were his stellar playing in 2006. The many Ray Rice highlights from the 2006 season contributed to his popularity today.
On October 6, 2007 against the Cincinnati Bearcats, Rice scored his 35th career rushing touchdown, setting the all time program record.
On November 9, 2007 against the Army Black Knights, Rice ran for 243 yards and scored twice in the 41-6 win against Army, setting a new school record previously set by Terrell Willis in 1994, and his new single game record. [5]
On January 5, 2008, at the second annual International Bowl in Toronto, Rice ran for a new school record of 280 yards, along with 4 touchdowns as Rutgers beat Ball State University 52-30. One of the TD runs was the longest of his career - a 90-yard scamper. Rice won the MVP award for his performance.
On January 8, 2008, Rice declared his intention to enter the 2008 NFL draft.[6]
[edit] Professional career
Rice was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens with the 24th pick in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft, 55th overall.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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