Ray Rice

As the Ravens await NFL commissioner  Roger Goodell's  ruling on  Ray Rice's   discipline, it's becoming more apparent that they won't be alone in going with the running back by committee approach during Rice's absence. There is wide-ranging opinion on how long Rice will be suspended for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy with his actions during a physical confrontation with his then fiancee and now wife in February. But it's certainly not impossible - and some view it as probable - that Rice is suspended for at least the first three games.

When Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco handed the football off and threw swing passes to Ray Rice this spring, he had a close-up view of the three-time Pro Bowl running back's physical transformation. Rice had regained much of his old quickness, displaying an ability to run away from defenders that all but disappeared during the worst season of his NFL career last year. Rice has lost roughly 20 pounds since last season, when he weighed as much as 225 pounds while struggling with hip and quadriceps injuries that robbed him of his ability to elude pursuit or break tackles.

Ray Rice is showing off his chess skills in a new online ad campaign. The increasingly marketable Ravens running back has been unveiled this week as not only the newest pitchman for Xenith football helmets, but the face of the company's player safety campaign. As part of the arrangement, Rice stars in the Massachusetts-based company's online ad to introduce the "enlightened warrior. " The minute-long online commercial for the safety campaign has a chess theme. It opens with Rice explaining how he's been playing the board game since he was 9 years old. He says: "Chess helps me stay focused.

Should we be happy for them? Ray Rice and the former Janay Palmer, his longtime girlfriend and mother of his two-year-old daughter, celebrated their marriage last week at the Four Seasons Baltimore in front of friends, including fellow Ravens Torrey Smith and Lardarius Webb.  Rice and Palmer, you may recall, were married in a private ceremony in March, a day after he was indicted on third-degree assault charges for allegedly knocking her...

While Ray Rice continued to bask in the glow of his 29-yard, catch-and-run on fourth-and-29 against the San Diego Chargers, quarterback Joe Flacco admitted that he didn't do any reflecting on the play and he didn't plan to. “We got away with one and I'll be glad. I could have looked like a big-time idiot if we don't get that play,” Flacco said. “I kind of went out on a limb there to check the ball down on fourth-and-29. We don't get that, everybody is crushing me: 'What the hell is he doing checking the ball down on fourth-and-29?

The status of the contract negotiations between the Ravens and Ray Rice will loom over the offseason and that will remain true whether the Pro Bowl running back shows up at organized team activities later this month or opts to stay home until a deal is done. Rice told reporters Tuesdayin New York at Nike's official uniform unveiling, he still hasn't decided what he is going to do as he waits to see if negotiations with the Ravens result in a long-term contract extension or him playing the 2012 season under the franchise tag. “Me and my agent (Todd France)

I find it difficult to understand how those who laud Ray Rice's character can defend what happened in Atlantic City ( "Ravens' Rice knocked fiancee unconscious, police say," Feb. 20). Mr. Rice's actions define his character. Even if his fiancée was having a medical problem, you don't leave her lying in a hallway without rendering assistance or at least showing some concern. This lady was not a side of beef but the mother of Mr. Rice's child. I'd be very curious to see what Ravens coach John Harbaugh's logic would be if it were his daughter being pulled unconscious from an elevator by her fiancé as if this were a common occurrence.

On occasion, Ray Rice likes to exchange sweaty jerseys with opposing players that he admires, and he already knows which Cleveland Browns player will be in his crosshairs after the final whistle blows Sunday afternoon. Rice plans to seek out rookie running back Trent Richardson, who looked up to Rice and other backs while weaving his way to the NFL. But the respect is mutual, as Rice has been a “huge fan” of Richardson, the third pick in April's NFL draft, since watching Richardson run over and around defenders while he was at Alabama.

Ravens running back Ray Rice talks about this Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Ray Rice rushes in to help Ellicott City. Get ready for 27 for Old EC. For 27 days, beginning Friday and running through Oct. 10, participating merchants and restaurants will offer themed specials featuring Rice's jersey number, 27. Then, 27 percent of those sales will be donated to benefit community recovery efforts from the derailment. There will be an online auction on the 27forOldEC Facebook page featuring donated Ravens football items in addition to the various specials offered by the businesses.  Follow Baltimore Diner on Twitter @gorelickingood

As the Ravens await NFL commissioner  Roger Goodell's  ruling on  Ray Rice's   discipline, it's becoming more apparent that they won't be alone in going with the running back by committee approach during Rice's absence. There is wide-ranging opinion on how long Rice will be suspended for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy with his actions during a physical confrontation with his then fiancee and now wife in February. But it's certainly not impossible - and some view it as probable - that Rice is suspended for at least the first three games.

The defensive line was supposed to be a major strength for the Ravens last year after they signed veterans  Chris Canty  and  Marcus Spears  and then used a third-round pick on  Brandon Williams . It didn't work out that way. The group didn't perform poorly by any means, but the defense finished 11th   against the run and didn't generate a lot of pass rush from the interior defensive line beyond the work of  Arthur Jones...

Ray Rice and his wife met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell today at the league's New York headquarters, one of the final steps for the embattled running back in dealing with his February offseason arrest before the start of the 2014 season. Two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed the meeting, which has been expected as Rice faces discipline under the NFL's personal conduct policy stemming from an aggravated assault charge for allegedly striking his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, during an altercation in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino.

What a contrast there's been in the responses by Baltimore sports teams' management to inappropriate behavior by their professional athletes ( "Manny Machado 'needs to re-establish himself as a big leaguer,' Dan Duquette says," June 10). Here we have Mr. Machado, whose misbehavior involved slinging a bat down the third base line, and general manager Dan Duquette is already talking about sending him back to the minors. Then we have Ray Rice, who by all accounts knocked his then girlfriend out cold, and the Ravens' response is not to respond at all. Other then the sanctions by the NFL, Mr. Rice faces no repercussions from the Ravens organization.

UPDATES AT END... Ray Rice's Friday news conference was one of those media events I wanted to give myself some time to think about. Now that I've thought about it for almost 24 hours, I can say without reservation it is one of the worst media PR disasters I have ever seen. And that perhaps says as much about the Ravens and Rice's apparent legion of advisers and handlers as it does the troubled running back himself. It violated almost every rule of how to use a news conference to try to redeem a badly damaged image.

The attorney for Ray Rice suggested that the Ravens running back retaliated after being struck first by his then-fiancee during a domestic-violence incident in February. Philadelphia lawyer Michael Diamondstein, who helped Rice obtain approval for a diversionary program that will allow him to avoid jail time and offer the chance to have his record cleared in a year, appeared to give a detailed "hypothetical" account of what transpired at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., during a radio interview with Matthew Hammond of 97.3 ESPN-FM in New Jersey.

Ray Rice continues to stand up against bullying by designing a T-shirt that will help raise money to fight the problem. Rice has joined with PACER National Bullying Prevention Center and a shirt company called CustomInk for the Be Good to Each Other campaign, designing a tee with the message: "You can be a hero to someone just by being a friend -- Ray Rice. " Adult versions of the shirt cost $26 and all of the proceeds will go to PACER, an organization that aims to prevent bullying through education.

While Stan Ber is correct that Ray Rice only has been indicted, not convicted for the offense of domestic violence, I am puzzled why he hopes that Rice avoids prison time. In recent months, athletes, entertainers, military personnel, and the heir to the DuPont fortune, have received slaps on the wrist for violence against women. (Just today, Minnesota Timberwolves player, Dante Cunningham was accused of choking hs girlfriend).  If Rice is convicted but avoids prison, most Ravens fans will cheer for him, ignoring his offense.  While athletes and entertainers should not be punished solely because of their status, neither should they be given preferential treatment by the courts compared to non-celebrities convicted of similar crimes.

In his first public comments since his February arrest following a physical altercation with his now wife, Ravens running back Ray Rice apologized to fans Friday. But most sports columnists felt that Rice should also be sorry for his awkward apology. Eric Edholm, Shutdown Corner blog, Yahoo! Sports : The facts of the case do show that Rice is a first-time offender who had never stepped afoul of the law previously. Team officials have disapproved of his actions but have stood by him for the most part.

Now that Ray Rice has held a widely criticized news conference Friday that included some awkward, off-the-cuff moments and no public apology to his wife, just months after their physical altercation at an Atlantic City, N.J., casino, the Ravens' star running back is hoping for a much smoother experience on the football field. That return could be delayed, though, by a punishment under the NFL's personal-conduct policy. The Ravens are bracing for a potential multiple-game suspension, but no discipline has been determined, and Rice is expected to meet soon with commissioner Roger Goodell.