Ray Rice - The Nicest Guy I've Ever Met

[rmw10]

Tonight, Ray Rice was doing an autograph signing down the street from my house. My basement is full of Ravens stuff, and it wouldn't be complete without a Ray Rice jersey.

Now, here comes the nice part. A girl standing in front of me, probably 20 years old, was waiting in line, and you could tell as she got closer, she got more excited. Tons of people were thrilled to meet Rice, but she stood out in excitement. As she was approaching him at the table, she just mentioned in passing that she drove 7 hours from Virginia Tech just to come meet him, and was driving 7 hours back right after the signing to head back to school.

When she told him this, Rice was stunned. He signed her jersey, took a couple of pictures with her, and then asked if she needed anything else. She only asked him for another picture with her and her dad as well. Ray Rice clearly took that up, but also insisted for her to grab something off of the table for him to sign, cost covered by him.

She just wanted the picture, but Rice insisted once more. He finally took his wallet out of his pocket, and gave his credit card to one of his friends/guards to take her up to the table to pick out something else for both her and her dad. She brought back a helmet, got it signed, and gave him one more hug in a fit of tears of happiness.

Clearly, she was thrilled for this. While this was pocket change for Rice, it made a true fan happy. I've been doing autograph signings for years, and while I've met some great people, no one has ever come close to this small, but meaningful gesture.

I told him I drove 5 minutes just to mess around with him since he was pretty much goofing off all night. He told me I got a picture and a hug. I thanked him both for being kind to me and the girl and he shook my hand and told me "it's all about the fans."

[CorvusCorax]

Awesome story and I'm glad that you told it! Wants me to get a Ray Rice signing as well!

[Purple Nurple]

Thank you Ray Lewis for solidifying this kids class.

[Malkavian Raven]

[font=times new roman,times,serif][i]Do we have the classiest group of guys or what? This was a real heart warmer. Well, either this or the taco soup.[/i][/font]

[font=times new roman,times,serif][i]~ Malkavian Raven[/i][/font]
[font=times new roman,times,serif][i]Tum, tu-tu-tu-tu-Tums![/i][/font]

[Gordo52]

Should of said you droved like 10 hours lol. Just playing, Ray is a class act. We sure know how to pick em.

[BMORElegacy]

I have college friends that went to school with Rice in high school. According to them he was being pursued by multiple gangs as a teenager and faced crazy pressure from his peers to join. I'm so happy he was able to get out and mature into such a class individual.

Ray is a Raven to the bone.

[display name]

Another cool encounter thread. Thanks for sharing.

[1/28/01]

Big Ray and Little Ray = Two Baltimore Class Acts!

[K-Dog]

I love this team.

[ninpiggy]

I love Ray Rice! He's such an awesome guy. I love how thoughtful and down to earth he is. I guarantee he just made her night/month/year with his generosity. He rocks. Thanks for posting this!

[RavensWin09]

small yet powerful. oz always shows our draft class isn't always about the talent.....

[flynismo]

[quote name='K-Dog' timestamp='1347675384' post='1150885']
I love this team.
[/quote]

Yep

[bauer77]

Wow. This gave me goosebumps and definitely was a heart warmer. I love our team.

[Alexir]

Glad to hear this, I had a bad experience at a Rice signing but now I can see it was his agent or venue's fault (Rhymes with Ports Flips).

Wow that girl has a great story and better yet, proof!

[rmw10]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1347683447' post='1150938']
Glad to hear this, I had a bad experience at a Rice signing but now I can see it was his agent or venue's fault (Rhymes with Ports Flips).

Wow that girl has a great story and better yet, proof!
[/quote]

Chances are its the venue/promoter. There are a few guys who are top of the line when it comes to the Ravens. 90% of other promoters are flops.

[Alexir]

[quote name='rmw10' timestamp='1347684090' post='1150941']
Chances are its the venue/promoter. There are a few guys who are top of the line when it comes to the Ravens. 90% of other promoters are flops.
[/quote]

Waited 2 and half hours in the snow for him to sign our footballs. Go to hand him the football, his "guy" probably agent or promoter puts his hand out and Rice signs 2 pieces of paper chock full of Ads and doesn't say a word after we wish him good luck.

Everyone has bad days, I don't hold it against him. Just seems like it was probably just the Venue and the fact he had to fly out to GB the next day, was probably tired

[rmw10]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1347684242' post='1150943']


Waited 2 and half hours in the snow for him to sign our footballs. Go to hand him the football, his "guy" probably agent or promoter puts his hand out and Rice signs 2 pieces of paper chock full of Ads and doesn't say a word after we wish him good luck.

Everyone has bad days, I don't hold it against him. Just seems like it was probably just the Venue and the fact he had to fly out to GB the next day, was probably tired
[/quote]

He has a deal with Steiner, which is pretty much the top end of autographs. Under that deal, he can't sign anything but those ad-filled papers unless given permission by Steiner. They don't give permission unless he's at a top end sports store.

[Alexir]

[quote name='rmw10' timestamp='1347684505' post='1150949']
He has a deal with Steiner, which is pretty much the top end of autographs. Under that deal, he can't sign anything but those ad-filled papers unless given permission by Steiner. They don't give permission unless he's at a top end sports store.
[/quote]

Yeah it was so bad and worthless, I just threw it away. The quality was soooo bad. Looks like it was printed on an old school printer after being designed in Microsoft Paint.

[rmw10]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1347684592' post='1150951']


Yeah it was so bad and worthless, I just threw it away. The quality was soooo bad. Looks like it was printed on an old school printer after being designed in Microsoft Paint.
[/quote]

Yeah that's Steiner. Pretty much everyone in the autograph world hates them. They offer some good money to players though, so they sign! Definitely not Rice's fault. All that blame goes to Steiner.

[Malkavian Raven]

[font=times new roman,times,serif][i]I'll take a Rice signature on whatever you got.[/i][/font]

[font=times new roman,times,serif][i]Living in the Midwest, my only chance for autographs is at Colts, Bengals & Browns games.[/i][/font]

[font=times new roman,times,serif][i]I'm still very appreciative of Jimmy Smith signing an autograph for me during the offseason. Never even met him, but was still able to get an autograph on the back of a patient form from his dentist office. (LOL)[/i][/font]

[font=times new roman,times,serif][i]~ Malkavian Raven[/i][/font]

[Yum Chickens]

I wonder if Ray would love JMU just as much as V Tech if I drove up and visited him.. =)

[ta2d1]

Great story, He seems like a really nice guy I've met him once so far really humble. Wish I had a story like that but I did buy jacoby jones a drink thursday night.

[Alexir]

[quote name='ta2d1' timestamp='1347690757' post='1150976']
Great story, He seems like a really nice guy I've met him once so far really humble. Wish I had a story like that but I did buy jacoby jones a drink thursday night.
[/quote]

Did he drop it?

Just kidding!

[Cville-Raven]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUUp_PAP0MA&feature=player_embedded[/media]

How could he not be when he's such a beast.

[Cville-Raven]

[quote name='Yum Chickens' timestamp='1347689239' post='1150973']
I wonder if Ray would love JMU just as much as V Tech if I drove up and visited him.. =)
[/quote]
Who knows; as long as it's not another big east school he'd probably do it. If someone came in with a Syracuse Jersey on It would probably be completely different story.

[nk02442]

Ray is one hell of a man on and off the field. We are soo lucky to have him in our baltimore family.

[Blex64]

Anyone interested should please [i]please [/i]check out Ray's anti-bullying work in the community.

Helped my brother[b] a lot [/b]after one of his friends took his own life earlier this year.

[The Raven]

[quote name='Cville-Raven' timestamp='1347719086' post='1151062']
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUUp_PAP0MA&feature=player_embedded[/media]

How could he not be when he's such a beast.
[/quote]

I can't help but notice how Yanda pancaked who I think is Wilfork on a trap block at around 1:36. Dang!

Back to Rice, due is classy. He's a great dude and I'm glad he's a Raven. He represents the franchise well and he plays well. A lot of NFL players are only good players, but Rice is a good player and a good person as well. I love having such a classy organization.

[BALTIMOREFLACCO]

I live about 20 minutes from where Ray Rice grew up (New Rochelle). I had his former math teacher who told me he was a great guy. I'm glad we have such class acts on the team

[RavenFan28105]

I wish NFL.com or ESPN or other sites would post nice stuff about this. This is a great story and deserves to be spread around.