Ray Rice Raymell Mourice Rice ( born January 22 , 1987 ) is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He played college football for Rutgers University , and was drafted by the Ravens in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft . At the end of the 2012 season , he was ranked as the Ravens ' second all - time leading rusher behind Jamal Lewis [ 7 , 801 ] with 5 , 520 yards , and also second in attempts ( 1216 ) . He is ranked second all - time for rushing touchdowns ( 33 ) and third for combined touchdowns ( 36 ) in Ravens history . High school career . Rice was the primary running back at New Rochelle High School and led his team to a state title in 2003 . College career . Rice attended Rutgers University , where he played for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team from 2005 to 2007 . In 2005 ( Rice ' s freshman year ) , Rutgers had its first winning season in 25 years and played in only the second bowl in the football program ' s then 136 year history . In 2006 , the Scarlet Knights won a school record - tying 11 games and registered the school ' s highest ever season - ending national poll ranking , finishing at # 12 in both the Associated Press and Coach ' s Polls . As a true freshman Rice finished the season as the starting tailback for Rutgers . Rice rushed for 1120 yards and 5 TDs during his freshman campaign , including a 217 - yard performance against the Connecticut Huskies . Rice gained 1 , 794 rushing yards in 2006 with 20 touchdowns . His total in 2006 set Rutgers ' single - season rushing yardage record , shattering J . J . Jennings ' mark of 1 , 353 set in 1973 . Rice ' s backfield partner during his freshman and sophomore seasons was fullback Brian Leonard . Leonard considered entering the NFL Draft in 2006 but stayed for his senior year and took on a less prominent role in the offense which aided Rice ' s rise to stardom . Rice was also a finalist for the Maxwell Award and finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting . Rice was named Big East offensive player of the week a school - record three times in 2006 . All three times , Rice rushed for over 200 yards , including a career high 225 yard game against the Pittsburgh Panthers . Rice ended his sophomore season with 170 yards on 24 carries with 1 touchdown during the inaugural Texas Bowl to give Rutgers its first bowl victory ever in a 37 – 10 win . He was named MVP of the game . Rice was widely considered a candidate for both the Maxwell Award and Heisman Trophy in 2007 . On October 6 , 2007 against the Cincinnati Bearcats , Rice scored his 35th career rushing touchdown , setting the all time program record . On November 9 , 2007 against the Army Black Knights , Rice ran for 243 yards and scored twice in the 41 – 6 win against Army , setting a new school record previously set by Terrell Willis in 1994 , and his new single game record . On January 5 , 2008 , at the second annual International Bowl in Toronto , Rice ran for a new school record of 280 yards , along with 4 touchdowns as Rutgers beat Ball State University 52 – 30 . One of the TD runs was the longest of his career — a 90 - yard scamper . Rice won the MVP award for his performance . On January 8 , 2008 , Rice declared his intention to enter the 2008 NFL draft . Professional career . Baltimore Ravens . Rice was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round ( 55th overall ) of the 2008 NFL Draft and signed a 4 - year deal with the Ravens worth $ 2 . 805 million plus a $ 1 . 1 million signing bonus . He wore number # 39 during the preseason then switched to # 27 ( his number at Rutgers ) , after the Ravens cut cornerback Ronnie Prude . 2008 season . Rice made his first start in his first NFL game ( Week 1 of the 2008 season against the Bengals ) . Rice had a team - high 22 carries which was good for 64 yards , fumbling once . Rice also had three receptions for 19 yards , in the Ravens 17 – 10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals . Rice had his best game of the season in Week 9 against the Cleveland Browns filling in for the injured Willis McGahee where he ran for 156 yards on 21 carries . Rice finished out the season with 546 rushing yards on 107 carries and had 273 receiving yards on 33 receptions . 2009 season . It was announced during training camp that Rice won the starting running back job over Willis McGahee for the 2009 NFL season , and that Le ' Ron McClain would be switching back to full time fullback duties . McClain and McGahee had been the primary runningbacks the previous year . In the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs , Rice rushed for 108 - yards on 19 carries , which was his second career 100 - yard rushing game . In week 3 , Rice rushed for his first pro touchdown against the Browns . On October 11 , 2009 , he caught his first touchdown reception against the Cincinnati Bengals . On October 18 , 2009 , ( Week 6 ) Rice led his team in both rushing and receiving yards against the Minnesota Vikings . He rushed for 77 - yards off 10 carries , scoring 2 touchdowns . He also caught 10 passes for 117 - yards in the loss . In week 14 , Rice had career - bests 166 rushing yards and 216 total yards , scoring one touchdown . In week 16 at the Pittsburgh Steelers , Rice rushed for a career - high 30 times for 141 yards , which broke a Steelers streak of 32 consecutive games without a 100 - yard rusher . He finished the season with 254 carries for 1 , 339 yards and 7 touchdowns , averaging 5 . 3 yards per carry . Rice was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl , his first , on December 29 , 2009 . In the wildcard playoff game against the New England Patriots on January 10 , 2010 , Rice scored an 83 - yard touchdown on the first offensive play for the Ravens , the longest play for the Ravens that season , the longest rush of his NFL career and the 2nd longest rush in NFL postseason history . 2010 season . On December 20 , 2010 , against the New Orleans Saints , Rice amassed a career - best 233 yards from scrimmage ( 153 rushing and 80 receiving ) to go along with two touchdowns . The 233 yards are also the third most in Ravens franchise history . For his efforts , Rice was awarded his first AFC Offensive Player of the Week award . On January 9 , 2011 , in the Wild Card round of the playoffs against the Kansas City Chiefs , Rice became the first Ravens RB to have a receiving touchdown in a playoff game . Ray Rice finished the 2010 season with 1 , 220 total rushing yards , and 556 total receiving yards . This was his second straight season to amass 1000 rushing yards . 2011 season . The 2011 season has started off well for Rice . In week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers Rice gained 107 yards rushing and 1 touchdown , while making 4 receptions for 42 yards and 1 touchdown . The Ravens would win that game 35 to 7 . This performance was only the second time a running back had gained more than 100 rushing yards against the Steelers defense since the 2009 season , both belonging to Rice . In week 10 he threw his first career passing touchdown . It was a 1 yard completion to tight end Ed Dickson in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks . In week 13 of the 2011 NFL season Rice ran for 204 yards on the Browns including a 68 yard run and 1 touchdown . Ray Rice has had four games so far in the season where he has rushed for more than 100 yards , and has over 1000 yards rushing for a third straight season . He is currently second in the NFL in rushing yards , and second in total scrimmage yards . For his actions against the Patriots Rice won AFC Offensive Player Of The Week . For his performance , Rice was also tabbed as the new cover athlete for the NFL Blitz video game by EA Sports available on XBLA and PSN . In the following game , Rice ran for 103 yards on 26 carries and averaged almost 4 yards per carry while scoring a touchdown and a losing fumble in the win against the Indianapolis Colts . In week 17 against the Bengals Rice rushed for 191 yards that includes a 70 yard touchdown run in the first two minutes of the game and then rushed for a 51 yard touchdown run to wreak the Bengals chances of not going to the top seed . Rice finished the season with 1364 yards off 291 attempts averaging 4 . 7 yards a carry . He also had 12 TDs . He was 2nd in the league in total rush yards and finished 1st in total yards from scrimmage . Rice had 704 receiving yards off 76 catches averaging 9 . 3 yards a reception . Rice was selected to his second Pro - Bowl in 2011 . 2012 season . On July 16 , 2012 , Rice agreed to a 5 - year , $ 35 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens after being franchise tagged earlier in the offseason . On November 25 , 2012 , the Ravens were down 3 with under 2 minutes left in the game away against the San Diego Chargers . The Ravens had the ball at their own 37 on a 4th and extremely long 29 . Quarterback Joe Flacco passed short middle to Rice , who followed up by avoiding defenders for 30 yards and getting the first down in what Ravens ' coach John Harbaugh dubbed as the play that will " go down in history . " The Ravens went on to tie the game at the conclusion of the drive with a field goal , and won the game in overtime . For his performance , he received the AFC offensive Player of the Week award and the " GMC Never Say Never Moment of the Week Award . " On February 3 , 2013 , Ray Rice won his first Super Bowl . The Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII . Career statistics . " Source : NFL . com " Personal Life . In 2012 , Rice became engaged to his high school sweetheart Janay Palmer . The couple has one daughter , Rayven Rice .