Apparently you can go home again — even if you’re a wife beater.
Disgraced NFL running back Ray Rice returned to his alma mater, New Rochelle HS, on Saturday, his first public appearance since a video of him knocking out his wife in an elevator cost him his job.
The New Rochelle native walked onto the gridiron like a conquering hero, his toddler daughter, Rayven, on his shoulders and his battered wife, Janay, by his side.
He strolled down the sideline and hugged longtime football coach Lou DiRienzo, who had invited his former team standout to the school’s home opener — despite a public outcry over the vicious, caught-on-tape beating.
Team officials warmly greeted the player who once led the Huguenots to the 2003 state title.
With New Rochelle leading Ramapo 34-0 at halftime, Rice high-fived the water boy and gave out a few more hugs, before he and his family were escorted into the school by police as the most forgiving of the 300 rain-drenched fans lined up and shouted his name.
“Welcome home, Ray!” one yelled.
A defiant DiRienzo, who has coached the football team for 22 years, said he was happy Rice came to the game.
“Ray is a part of our family and a part of this program,” said the coach, who even traveled to Baltimore to support Rice.
“He made a terrible mistake, but I know the character of the man, and he will rise from this. The mistake he made will be erased by the good deeds he will continue to do and by the good deeds he’s done. New Rochelle High School will always be Ray Rice’s home. Having him here today means the world to me.”
The coach was reportedly upset, and even threatened to resign, after school officials last week removed Rice’s Ravens jersey from the gym wall and his picture from the school’s “Hall of Fame” hallway.
DiRienzo invited Rice over the objections of Principal Reggie Richardson, according to the blog Talk of The Sound.
But Richardson denied a conflict and said the invitation didn’t come from the coach, although Richardson didn’t know who did extend it.
“I don’t know how the word got out” about Rice’s visit, Richardson said. “The fact is that although we condemn Ray’s actions that he engaged in, we also have to acknowledge the fact that this is his home.”
Asked if honoring a domestic abuser is a good lesson for children, the educator said, “Our job is to educate the kids as to why what Ray did was wrong, but he’s still part of this community.”
He said Rice did not speak to the players “as far as I know.”
Rice was arrested in February after he got into a fight in an elevator at the now-closed Revel Casino in Atlantic City with Janay, 26, his then-fiancée and mother of Rayven. Days later, a video surfaced of the beefy, 212-pound, 27-year-old Rice dragging an unconscious Janay out of the elevator.
The couple married in March, and Rice pleaded not guilty as New Jersey prosecutors sent him to a program for first-time offenders.
Both Ray and Janay apologized publicly for the incident, and the 2013 Super Bowl winner was suspended for two games.
But the scandal reignited on Sept. 8 when TMZ released a video taken inside the elevator showing the former Rutgers running back flattening Janay with a brutal left hook.
Amid swelling public outrage, he was cut by the Baltimore Ravens and quickly suspended indefinitely by the NFL, which has been roundly criticized for its handling of the incident.
Last week, a Twitter image with the hashtag #SupportRayRice implored Westchester folks to come out to back the local hero.
And anyone who disagrees with me @RayRice27 wife still supports him. People make mistakes so what its life. Let him back in #SupportRayRice
— Adrian Maddox (@Maddox0) September 12, 2014
Donte Stallworth drove drunk and killed someone he’s back in the NFL. #CNN and other media outlets should leave him alone #SupportRayRice
— blue (@bluemoney2020) September 12, 2014
“Wear your jerzees,” the flier read.
New Rochelle junior Aaron Crosswhite, 16, on Saturday called Rice’s abuse trouble “sad.”
“He beat his wife,” he said. “You’re not supposed to beat somebody. But he’s from New Rochelle, and he did a lot of things for the high school, so we have to support him. I’m glad he’s here.”
