Thousands Of The "Worst Fans In Sports" Are Lining Up To Exchange Their Ray Rice Jerseys
The Sun — Thousands of Ravens fans lined up outside M&T Bank Stadium on Friday morning to exchange their Ray Rice jerseys and cut ties with a player who was once one of the team’s most popular. Zachary Blankenship, a 19-year-old college student from Laurel, was the first to arrive. He said he bought his Ray Rice jersey three years ago for $100 and hoped to get a jersey of kicker Justin Tucker in its place. “What [Rice] did wasn’t right, and I don’t want to wear a jersey of someone who did something like that,” Blankenship said. The Ravens released Rice last week after video emerged of him knocking his then-fiancee unconscious in an Atlantic City, N.J., elevator back in February. The team is offering fans an opportunity to trade in their Rice jersey for that of a different player on Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium. Blankenship said he got there around 4 a.m. Friday and “thought I was in the wrong place.” The next fan didn’t arrive for two hours. But by the time the gates opened at 8, a deep line had formed.
Listen, I’m not mad about the media painting our fan base so poorly last week before Thursday Night Football. I get it. Ratings is ratings. ESPN, NFL Network, CBS, they were all going to hunt the parking lots looking for #27 jerseys during the tailgate. They needed some viewpoints that opposed the massive popular opinion to stir up some debate, so they went to the source and got a few. They got their ratings and painted us in a poor light. Congrats to them.
But like I said before, just because a few trashy heffers from Dundalk come out in a Ray Rice jersey and say they love the guy doesn’t mean we all feel that way. I won’t defend the NFL nor Steve Bisciotti on this matter, but I’ll defend the good people of Baltimore to the death. I’ve heard from numerous people who said they only saw 3 or 4 Rice jerseys the entire night in the stadium, and I hardly remember seeing any on TV. And while I don’t think it takes a ton of moral fortitude to come out and exchange an old jersey for a brand new one, the fact that this many people came out speaks volumes, especially when people should be working (or getting new iPhones). We’re not a perfect fan base. But this is just a good example that shows the majority of us are turning the page and aren’t the scum of the Earth.
PS: CJ Mosley. That’s the jersey swap move.
PPS: Mother’s Grille wants to wish you a happy Purple Friday. Whoops!
(but it’s cool, all bets are off until you get your morning coffee)
