By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com
Super Bowl champion and former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has been named the head coach of the Milford Mill Millers junior varsity football team, according to the high school’s X account.
Rice is returning to Baltimore after being a Raven for his entire National Football League (NFL) career. Rice was drafted in 2008 and played six seasons with the team.
During his NFL career, Rice received second team All-Pro honors twice and was named a Pro Bowler three times. He rushed for over 1,000 yards every year of his career except his rookie season and in 2013–which ended up being his final year as a professional football player.
In 2012, Rice was a key contributor to the Ravens’ Super Bowl run. He rushed for 1,143 yards during the regular season and added another 306 yards during the post season. The Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl 34-31 in one of the most memorable Super Bowls in recent history. Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh defeated his brother Jim in Super Bowl XLVII, marking the first and only time two brothers faced off against each other in the Super Bowl as head coaches. This was the second Super Bowl victory in Ravens’ franchise history.
However, later that year a video of Rice punching and knocking out his now wife, Janay, went viral. The incident occurred in an elevator in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and would effectively end his career as a NFL running back.
Prior to being named the head coach of the junior varsity team at Milford Mill Academy, Rice served as a running backs coach at his alma mater, New Rochelle High School in New York.
Rice joins a list of notable former NFL stars who are becoming head coaches at the high school and collegiate level. Fellow former Raven Desean Jackson was recently named the head coach of Delaware State Hornets. Rice’s former teammate Ed Reed was also named as the offensive coordinator at Chamblee High School located in Georgia.
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