Thousands of Baltimore Raven fans have turned out on Friday to trade in their jerseys of the team's former running back Ray Rice at the M&T Bank Stadium.
In light of the public scandal involving the athlete, the team's management invited fans to switch their No. 27 Ray Rice jersey for either that of Torrey Smith, Terrell Suggs or Joe Flacco.
Experts say this event is one public relations scheme the team has gotten right since the beginning of the Rice incident.
The Ravens' management had been heavily criticized for suspending the running back for only two games after he was charged with physically assaulting his fiancee in February. This forced the team to take more stringent disciplinary action against Rice.
The NFL has also come under fire for the way the player's case was handled. Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner apologized for the sporting body's errors in dealing with the Rice situation.
"I said this before and I say it again now - I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter. I am sorry for that," he said to the press at the Midtown Hilton Hotel. The NFL has since put Rice on indefinite suspension.
The Ravens formally cut ties with the player on the 8th of September 2014 after a second video of him assaulting his fiancee Janay Palmer in a Jersey hotel elevator went viral.
The footage, released by TMZ, shows Rice knocking out his girlfriend and subsequently dragging her unconscious body on the floor.
Although Rice has married Ms. Palmer a day after he was indicted by a grand jury on charges of third degree aggravated assault. He was ordered to pay a fine of $15,000 and could face up to 5 years in jail.
Rice is the one of many NFL players currently entangled in a domestic abuse case. Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings has been charged with assaulting his son and Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers was found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend. Also, last month, San Francisco defensive player Ray MacDonald was arrested after police identified him as a suspect in a domestic violence case.
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