Ray Rice seemingly knows that he is still unable to shake off being synonymous with domestic violence for a very long time. After the shocking surveillance video of Rice hitting his fiancée went viral in Sept. 2014, the screenshot of the blow made the cover of just about every sports publication known to man.
As the NFL continues their public relations campaign against domestic violence assaults of players attacking women, that case cost Rice a number of companies that distanced themselves from him, his job as a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, and he hasn't been signed by an NFL team since then.
Now he is using his derailed career as a cautionary tale. As part of Florida State football head coach Jimbo Fisher's preseason speaker series, the 29-year-old Rice spoke with the team on their campus in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday about his domestic violence assault to warn them about his life mistakes that they should learn from. He said in his speech, "I’m not playing football, not because I’m not good enough, but because I made the biggest mistake." You can see an excerpt of the speech below, and a quick breakdown of what was lectured to the Seminoles squad.
Rice has a long way to go, but it seems as though he's accepted that and is moving on in his new role as a motivational speaker to the next potential NFL draft class.
