When Ray Rice swung open the double doors to the penthouse suite in the lavish city high-rise, the crowd of family and friends anxiously waiting on the other side erupted.

Rice had just spent the previous 20 minutes composing himself after succumbing to the emotion of hearing his name called as the 55th overall pick in the NFL draft to the Baltimore Ravens. Suddenly, the tears came pouring back.

"We got a phone call before the pick was announced. I can't even explain what it was like," said Rice, who watched the draft at a nearby apartment with his mother, Janet, grandparents and his closest friends. "Walking into this room was an unbelievable feeling. I didn't get here by myself. It's emotional to be here."

The star Rutgers running back spent several minutes walking through the room where 50 friends and family watched the draft. Rice cried through most of it, especially when everyone swarmed around him and his mother as they entered.

"This is the most emotional time of my life," Janet said. "The anticipation of just sitting there and waiting for that call, when it finally came, all his hard work, dedication and determination all paid off."

That call didn't come quite as soon as Rice might have expected.

Most draft experts leading into the draft listed him as the sixth- or seventh-rated running back, which projected him to go in the second or third round. Five running backs were selected in the first 24 picks but only one was selected in the next 30.

As Rice watched the picks go by, he grew restless.

"I've never seen that side of him but I saw it at the end," Janet Rice said. "They told me it would be like this and now I've experienced it. It broke my heart to watch."

Rice was ecstatic when he got a call from the Ravens before the 53rd pick. It brought an end to what he called the most stressful time of his life.

"These last few days were like a nightmare," he said. "I was trying to do things to ease my mind and get it off of (the draft). I was going out with my friends and trying not to think about the draft. But as soon as I lay my head down on the pillow at night, it would come right back to me."

Rice said he'll rest easy for a few nights, at least until next week when he reports to the Ravens' mini-camp. He's well aware of the team's running-back situation with Pro Bowler Willis McGahee ahead of him.

Ravens management spoke highly of Rice.

"We've gone into seasons where we only had one running back, and that's been a disaster," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "We think adding Ray Rice gives us a guy that we feel has the durability to play 16 games, if he had to. He brings the type of temperament and the type of character we want on our football team."

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Rice might return kicks early on.

Like he had to in college, Ray Rice will have to prove his size won't prevent him from being a viable NFL back.

He measured at only 5-foot-8, 199 pounds at February's NFL Scouting Combine. His considerable workload in college also concerned pro scouts. In three seasons as a starting running back, he rushed 902 times for 4,926 yards and 49 touchdowns, all school records.

"There's no doubt in my mind that he's going to be a successful back," New Rochelle coach Lou DiRienzo said.

"Everybody asked me when he was at Rutgers: Did you know he was going to be this good at Rutgers? And I always said, 'No, and neither did anyone else.' He's done everything on his own. He took what God gave him and took it to the next level. And he deserves all this."

Baltimore's first preseason game is in New England on Aug. 7. It opens the regular season at home vs. Cincinnati on Sept. 7 and travels to play the Giants on Nov. 16.