Or to play defense? "Best running back I ever went against at any level, and the best defensive player nobody knows about," Greene, a safety for the Jacksonville Jaguars, said about Rice. A personal favorite memory of Rice is that of a No. 5 on the basketball court after another trip to the state championship football game in 2004. The result was that New Rochelle handed Mount Vernon its only Section 1 playoff loss since 1999 and went to the state championship basketball game.