Ray Rice’s reputation is deservedly at an all-time low right now. The Ravens running back is serving a two-game suspension due to a domestic violence dispute that happened over the offseason where Rice assaulted his soon-to-be wife in an elevator.
Inevitably, Michael Vick was asked about how Rice should handle the attention he’s likely to receive for the foreseeable future and Vick had some very good advice for Rice. Namely, you can’t undo what you did, so do everything you can to improve the world around you moving forward:
“You’ve got to continue to make amends,” Vick said. “Once you start something, you can never go back. I feel like I’ve become an advocate of animal welfare, and I think I have to continue that.
“It’s all about keeping kids 15 years from now from doing the same. We’ve saved a lot of kids, and we’ve saved a lot of animals. That’s how I feel. Ray will make it right. He’ll do everything he can to make this situation whole again.”
Now, no one is comparing what Vick did to what Rice did. Vick was imprisoned for being a part of a dog fighting ring. Rice was suspended for two games for beating a woman. However, Michael Vick was able to make something positive out of a horrible situation by working with the Humane Society and being an advocate for animal welfare and that could help provide Rice with a blueprint of how to proceed with his life. Ray Rice won’t be able to undo what he did but he can definitely try to make amends for it.
