How One Dad Turned a Ray Rice Jersey Into a Powerful Message

Ray Rice jerseys have gone quickly out of style after the Ravens player was suspended indefinitely from the NFL after video of him hitting then-fiance Janay Rice in an Atlantic City elevator went viral, but one Baltimore-area dad found an excellent fix for his daughter’s #27 jersey.

“We were just trying to decide what to do with our kids’ Ray Rice jerseys as we really didn’t feel we wanted them to wear them anymore. Everyone we saw online was cutting them up or things like that. We tried to come up with something a bit more positive and fun,” dad Bryan Bartlett of Ellicott City told the Baltimore Sun.

But how did Bartlett explain the situation to his kids Brynn, 6, and Bryson, 9? “It is a tough conversation to have with your children. We explained why you should never been mean to anyone and certainly never hit or hurt anyone. Explained to them that while if they do it now they may end up in timeout or lose a privilege when they are older the consequences are much more severe and you could lose everything. They agreed that you should never hit anyone, ‘especially a girl’ my son said, and that Ray Rice should not be a Raven anymore.”

For the less creatively inclined, the Ravens are giving fans the opportunity to exchange their Ray Rice jerseys, and one pizzeria is even offering ex-fans the chance to trade in their Rice jersey for a free pizza.

[Baltimore Sun.]