I love writing this post each year... Tomorrow marks Ray Rice day again at the New Rochelle High School's McKenna Field. The event has been sold out for weeks, and will start at 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and there will be games, lunch, instruction, autographs, and fun for youngsters aged between 7 - 13 years of age. The event attracted over 600 youngsters last year, and is always a great success. Ray commented last year " it's a great opportunity to give back." He has already done so much.
Ray has long been a hero of New Rochelle, has never forgotten his roots, and likes to involve the Pop Warner football athletes as much as he can - either by inviting them to the locker rooms at the Baltimore Ravens stadium, and offering a tour, or by calling the Pop Warner athletes. I can recall that when he went to Rutgers University, he would call the athletes on a Sunday morning offering them encouragement for their games that day. It was a weekly call the athletes looked forward to.
It was always with great pride that we would hear the commentator shout "Ray Rice from New Rochelle ' each time he would play at a Rutgers football game. To us, he put Rutgers on the map! Ray was a star from the early age of 10 when he played in the Pop Warner Football League in New Rochelle. He went on to become a star at the High School, and the team went on to win the New York State Public Schools Class AA football title in 2003.
Ray played 38 games at Rutgers, scored 50 touchdowns whilst there, and he finished third in the NFL in yards from scrimmage (1,776) in 2010 and rushed for 1,364 last season
Ray might only be 5'8" but he is a solid 210 Pounds, and as a Running Back he is fast, making his presence count. An excellent player, an excellent young man.
Ray Rice is GREAT. New Rochelle is GREAT!
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