If you knew Ray Rice when he was at New Rochelle High School, you knew him as three things: a fantastic athlete, a true leader and a total goof ball.

I was fortunate enough to see it first-hand many times during his years there. He’d be making everyone laugh in the middle of practice one minute before ripping off a head-spinning 40-yard run the next. Usually when I needed to interview him for a story, he’d slip into goof-ball mode, cracking jokes about teammates and coaches, before crafting perfect quotes for my story.

So it was refreshing this afternoon to be standing in the same hallways at New Rochelle and seeing him come strolling in, sporting a mohawk, holding a pair of cell phones and making silly faces in the window at the people in a serious meeting he was 20 minutes late to attend.

Finally, a millionaire athlete who’s the exact same person he was growing up in the projects.

“I’ve known him since he was 7 years old,” Joe Fosina said. “And he hasn’t changed at all.”

What also hasn’t changed is Rice’s love for the city he grew up in. Many times while at New Rochelle and Rutgers, he told me about how he wanted to give back to New Rochelle and be a role model for the kids, which is exactly what he intends to do at this weekend’s “Ray Rice Day.”

Fosina, president of the New Rochelle Youth Tackle League, is one of the main organizers of the event, which includes a ceremony on Friday afternoon at a City Hall, folllowed by a youth camp at New Rochelle H.S. on Saturday.

Rice and Ravens QB Joe Flacco will headline the camp, which is open to kids ages 7-13 and is completely free of charge. Registration starts at 8 a.m. Click here for the flyer or on the New Rochelle Youth Tackle League site for more information.

Ray and I spoke for a while this afternoon and he’s genuinely excited about the event. This isn’t something he simply feels obligated to do as a famous athlete. Not only does he want to host the event, he wants it to grow into something much larger in the future.

There’s no reason to believe it couldn’t be. Ben Gordon Day in Mount Vernon started small and has blossomed into a street festival spread out over an entire weekend. Ray said he got the idea from Ben and hopes to follow the lead.

Currently, Ray is splitting his time living up here in New Rochelle and down in Baltimore. With Willis McGahee recovering from yet another knee surgery, Rice is the No. 1 back on the depth chart and is seeing most of the reps in the offseason. With Baltimore coming off a playoff appearance and the support of the league’s top defense, Flacco and Rice could be setting themselves up to be quite a tandem for many years.

You’ll get a chance to see them together this weekend in New Rochelle. They’ll be active in the camp and work closely with the kids. They’ll also host an autograph session and Rice will speak to the kids during and after the event.

The New Rochelle High School coaches will be the main instructors, and there expects to be a few other special guests. Again, it’s totally free and open to anyone. Below is the advertisement: