Ray Rice

As he stood in front of hundreds of kids last year at his football clinic at Calvert Hall, Ray Rice made a promise to those in the crowd. “When I make promises, I like to keep them,” the Ravens running back said today. “I made a special promise. We said that we were going to bring a Super Bowl back to Baltimore.” The comment was met with loud cheers by those who attended the second annual Ray Rice Day in Baltimore. “Being involved in the community is just something that, winning the Super Bowl or not, I know I'd be out here doing Ray Rice Day again and I'd be telling the kids the same message every day,” Rice said.

Wearing a sharp designer suit, Ravens running back Ray Rice exited M&T Bank Stadium late Monday night looking as fresh and content as he did at any point during his team record-breaking 2011 season. He had just scored two touchdowns and gained 93 yards of offense in the Ravens' 44-13 blowout victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, and he did it while touching the ball only 13 times. That kind of workload for the Pro Bowl running back last year inspired finger pointing inside and outside of the Ravens' locker room.

     Baltimore Sun Ravens reporter Jeff Zrebiec addresses the return of Ed Reed and the signing of running back Ray Rice.

The excuses from Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron about not using running back Ray Rice are getting old. They are about 3 years old, which coincidentally, is the time the Ravens and Cameron have spent trying to build the offense around quarterback Joe Flacco. I understand what they were trying to do, and I think they fell in line with everyone else about the NFL becoming a pass happy league. Maybe that's true, but to adopt that theory you need a great quarterback. In Flacco, the Ravens have a good one, but one not consistent enough to carry an offense.

A pair of Ravens have earned nominations for weekly honors. Ray Rice's 104-yard, two-touchdown performance in the team's 31-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday has earned the running back a spot as one of three finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week. Rice is vying for the award with the Detroit Lions' Kevin Smith (140 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-35 win against the Carolina Panthers) and the Cleveland Browns' Chris Ogbonnaya (115 yards and one touchdown in a 14-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars)

In more than three full seasons as the Ravens' featured tailback, Ray Rice has carried the football 958 times and caught 246 passes. That averages out to 301 touches per season, which is a full workload for any running back in the NFL. But after rushing the ball a season-low nine times and compiling just 14 touches in the team's 43-13 loss to the Houston Texans on Oct. 21, Rice said he's open to the idea of getting at least 25 touches in Sunday's road...

Regardless of what has been displayed on the field by the Ravens during the first five games, this is still running back Ray Rice's offense. You can talk about Joe Flacco's improvement and quarterback ratings or the Ravens' impressive statistics, but there has only been one constant until now. It is Ray Rice. He is still the team's top offensive player not only because of his greatness, but also because he is the equalizer. He always brings his A-game which makes everyone on the offense better.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was trying not to point any fingers when he was asked about the lack of touches for running back Ray Rice in the Ravens 23-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. "I don't know how many touches," said Harbaugh in a sharp tone. "Yes, you can write that story if you want, but that's not the factor in the game. " Fair enough, it is being written. And it was a major factor in the game, second only behind the number of passes thrown by the Steelers across the middle to anyone whose first name was Heath.

After almost two weeks of inactivity, Ray Rice enjoyed his heaviest workload of the season in Sunday's 25-15 win against the Cleveland Browns, carrying the football a season-high 25 times for 98 yards and one touchdown. Although the running back gained just 22 yards on 12 attempts in the second half, Rice was appreciative that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron didn't stray from the running game. “We love that. I've never been a guy to say, 'Gimme this,' or 'Gimme that,'” Rice said Wednesday.

By month's end, Ray Rice could be the face of one of the most popular video-game franchises in America. So why are some Ravens fans now willing to root against the very same star they cheer on every fall Sunday? Three words, far scarier than any onrushing linebacker and oftentimes just as devastating: The Madden Curse. It's a worthwhile topic for anyone voting for Rice as he takes on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the Madden NFL 13 cover competition. Linebacker Ray Lewis, the 2005 cover boy - a bit of a misnomer, don't you think?