Rice was born to parents Janet Rice and Calvin Reed in New Rochelle, New York on January 22, 1987. His father was killed in a drive-by shooting when Ray was a year old. Rice’s cousin, Myshaun Rice-Nichols, was killed by a drunk driver when Rice was ten.

Rice attended New Rochelle High School, where he played football with Courtney Greene for longtime coach Lou DiRienzo. He was the Huguenots’ primary running back. The last Iona-New Rochelle Turkey Bowl football game, which had been waged every year since 1949, was played in Rice’s sophomore season of 2002, when New Rochelle defeated the Gaels 53–6. Rice led his team to a state title as a junior in 2003 when NRHS defeated Webster Schroeder 32–6 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. In Rice’s senior year of 2004, New Rochelle fell to Christian Brothers Academy, who had Greg Paulus, 41–35 in the championship game. New Rochelle High School lost only one game in each of Ray Rice’s three seasons of varsity football. Rice holds the state record for yards in a single game: he gained 462 yards on 42 carries on October 24, 2004.

Rice attended Rutgers, where he played football for coach Greg Schiano’s Scarlet Knights from 2005 to 2007. In Rice’s freshman year, Rutgers had its first winning season in 13 years and played in only the second bowl in the football program’s then 136-year history. In 2006, the Scarlet Knights won a school record-tying 11 games and registered the school’s highest ever season-ending national poll ranking, finishing at #12 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls.

Rice was widely considered a candidate for both the Maxwell Award and Heisman Trophy in 2007.

On October 6, 2007, against the Cincinnati Bearcats, Rice scored his 35th career rushing touchdown, which set the all-time program record. On November 9, 2007, against the Army Black Knights, Rice ran for 243 yards and scored twice in the 41–6 victory, setting a new school record previously set by Terrell Willis in 1994, and his new single game record. On January 5, 2008, at the second annual International Bowl in Toronto, Rice ran for a new school record of 280 yards, along with four touchdowns as Rutgers defeated Ball State 52–30. One of the touchdown runs (90 yards) was the longest of his career. Rice won the MVP award for his performance. Following the season, Rice declared his intention to enter the 2008 NFL Draft.

In the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Rice rushed for 108 yards on 19 carries, which was his second career 100-yard rushing game. In Week 3, Rice rushed for his first professional touchdown against the Cleveland Browns. On October 11, he caught his first touchdown reception against the Cincinnati Bengals. On October 18, 2009, in Week 6, Rice led his team in both rushing and receiving yards against the Minnesota Vikings. He rushed for 77-yards off 10 carries, scoring two touchdowns. He also caught 10 passes for 117-yards in the 33-31 loss. In Week 14, against the Detroit Lions, Rice had career-bests 166 rushing yards and 216 total yards, scoring one touchdown. In Week 16, on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rice had a career-high 30 carries and tallied 141 rushing yards, which broke a Steelers’ streak of 32 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher. He finished the season with 254 carries for 1,339 yards and 7 touchdowns, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Rice was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl, his first, on December 29, 2009.

In the Wild Card Round against the New England Patriots on January 10, 2010, Rice scored an 83-yard touchdown run on the first offensive play for the Ravens, which was the longest play for the Ravens that season, the longest rush of his NFL career and the second longest rush in NFL postseason history. The run was part of a 159-yard, two-touchdown performance in the 33-14 victory. In the Divisional Round loss to the Indianapolis Colts, he had 13 carries for 67 rushing yards and nine receptions for 60 yards.

On December 20, 2010, against the New Orleans Saints, Rice amassed a career-best 233 yards from scrimmage (153 rushing and 80 receiving) to go along with two touchdowns. The 233 yards are also the third most in Ravens franchise history. For his efforts, Rice was awarded his first AFC Offensive Player of the Week award. On January 9, 2011, in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs against the Kansas City Chiefs, Rice became the first Ravens running back to have a receiving touchdown in a playoff game. He had 99 scrimmage yards and a receiving touchdown in the 30-7 victory. In the Divisional Round loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had 64 scrimmage yards and rushing touchdown.

In the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rice gained 107 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown, while recording four receptions for 42 yards and a receiving touchdown in the 35-7 victory. This performance was only the second time a running back had gained more than 100 rushing yards against the Steelers defense since the 2009 season, both belonging to Rice. In Week 10, he threw his first career passing touchdown on a one-yard completion to tight end Ed Dickson in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 13, Rice ran for 204 yards against the Cleveland Browns, including a 68-yard touchdown, giving him his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season as well as his third consecutive year with 1,000 rushing yards. In the following game, Rice ran for 103 yards on 26 carries, averaging almost four yards per carry and scoring a touchdown (despite a lost fumble) in a win against the Indianapolis Colts. In a Week 17 win against the Cincinnati Bengals, Rice rushed for 191 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown run in the first two minutes of the game and a 51-yard touchdown with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter; this performance not only earned Rice AFC Offensive Player of the Week but also helped the Ravens seal their first division title under John Harbaugh. Rice finished the season with 1,364 yards off 291 attempts averaging 4.7 yards a carry. He also had 12 touchdowns. He was second in the league in total rush yards and finished first in total yards from scrimmage. Rice had 704 receiving yards off 76 catches averaging 9.3 yards a reception. Rice was selected to his second Pro-Bowl in 2011 and voted to the NFL All-Pro Team.

On July 16, 2012, Rice agreed to a 5-year, $35 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens after being franchise tagged earlier in the offseason.

On November 25, 2012, the Ravens were down three with under two minutes left in the game away against the San Diego Chargers. The Ravens had the ball at their own 37 on a 4th and extremely long 29. Quarterback Joe Flacco passed short middle to Rice, who followed up by avoiding defenders for 30 yards and getting the first down in what Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh dubbed as the play that will “go down in history.” The Ravens went on to tie the game at the conclusion of the drive with a field goal, and won the game in overtime. For his performance, he received the AFC offensive Player of the Week award and the GMC Never Say Never Moment of the Week Award. He finished the 2012 season with 1,143 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns to go along with 61 receptions for 478 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. He was named to the Pro Bowl for the third time.

Both during his NFL career and after, Rice was known for his commitment to community service. Causes that Rice was involved in include the Make-A-Wish Foundation, cyberbullying prevention, and homeless aid. As a result of his service, Rice was voted as the city of Baltimore’s most charitable person in 2012. Much of his work post-career is not public, which his publicist has said is to ensure that Rice’s work isn’t viewed as an attempt to improve his image. She told a Baltimore Sun reporter, “He’s not going to start tooting his own horn just to look good. For every story people know about, there are 10 stories no one knows about.” One example of what she described occurred in 2016 when Rice, along with a close friend, gave out Christmas presents to children from low-income families with minimal media presence or coverage.

On February 3, 2013, the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII, earning Rice his first Super Bowl ring. In the Super Bowl, Rice had 20 carries for 59 yards and four receptions for 19 yards. Rice was ranked 13th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2013.

In 2013, Rice got off to a slow start due to injury. In Week 11, Rice had his best game of the season, rushing for 131 yards on 25 carries in the Ravens 23–20 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears. He rushed for 660 yards on 214 carries for four touchdowns in the 2013 season.

While on suspension for his domestic violence case, Rice was released by the Ravens on September 8, 2014. After the public release of the video of the incident from TMZ, the NFL announced he was suspended indefinitely; moreover, the Ravens recalled all Rice items from their pro shop as well as other known stores nationwide, and announced an exchange program the day after. Shortly after, it was announced that Rice would appeal the suspension on the grounds that he was suspended twice for the same offense, which is a violation of league rules. On November 28, 2014, it was announced that he won his appeal to be reinstated in the NFL.

On February 15, 2014, Rice and his fiancée (now wife), Janay Palmer, were arrested and charged with assault after a physical altercation at the then Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On February 19 celebrity news website TMZ posted a video of Rice dragging Palmer out of an elevator unconscious, which was caused from him punching her in the head. The Ravens issued a statement following TMZ’s release of the video, calling Rice’s domestic violence arrest a “serious matter”. The matter was handled by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.

On March 27, 2014, a grand jury indicted Rice on third-degree aggravated assault, with a possible jail sentence of three to five years and a fine of up to $15,000. Six weeks after the incident, Rice married Palmer on March 28, 2014. For the incident, Rice was suspended for the first two games of the 2014 NFL season on July 25, 2014. The criminal charges were later dropped after Rice agreed to undergo court-supervised counseling. In a news conference announcing longer suspension lengths for future domestic violence incidents, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that he “didn’t get it right” in deciding Rice’s punishment.

On January 15, 2015, Rice and the Ravens reportedly agreed to settle his lawsuit against the team. He had sued for $3.529 million in back pay that he would have earned for the final 15 weeks after serving the NFL’s two-game suspension. The settlement came immediately before the hearing was to begin in Baltimore, effectively ending the litigation between Rice and the Ravens. In 2016, he vowed to donate all of that season’s salary to domestic violence charities if he were signed by a team, but he remained unsigned. In 2018, Rice announced that his football career was over.

In January 2015, the Baltimore Ravens settled the claim after Rice filed a formal grievance against the NFL for wrongful termination. Rice demanded $3.5 million based on the claim that the Ravens imposed a second punishment upon him by terminating his employment weeks after the NFL levied a two-game suspension. Although the details of the settlement were not disclosed, it was estimated that he received most of his claim.