Ray Rice, Former Baltimore Ravens Star, Will Coach at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl 2016
Ray Rice will be returning to football. Although, probably not in the capacity he would have hoped for. The former Baltimore Ravens star--who has been out of the NFL since 2014 after being released by the Ravens for a domestic violence scandal--will take part in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl as a coach. In doing so, he'll join former Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes as co-running backs coaches on Mike Martz's staff.
The Collegiate Bowl is held for draft-eligible college players, and will be held Saturday in Carson, California. The week leading up to the game features practices and classes about the various aspects of the NFL. The intention is to educate future players of the league on what to expect when they get there, and also to learn from the mistakes others have made before them--like Rice.
"Young rookies, anybody in college... I want to be able to spread all of my experiences to help other people, to make them understand that domestic violence is not OK, not even one time," Rice said, in an interview with ESPN.
And while Rice remains out of the league, he wants to use the opportunity in front of him to help make any difference he can.
"I think the NFL has such a huge platform, and I've seen the platform I had when I was playing, when I would go out and help people. I go out now, and I don't have an NFL platform, but I'm going out there and helping people out. So if I never played a down again, why not see if I could use their platform to go out there and help make a difference?"
The former Pro-Bowler has been clear about wanting another shot in the NFL, and has stayed in shape in case the opportunity comes knocking. However, nobody has yet been willing to give him that chance.