NFL Seeks to Suspend Rashee Rice for Personal Conduct Violation
The NFL is considering a suspension of at least six games for Rashee Rice, wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Sources close to the situation indicate that the NFL is seeking for the suspension to begin at the start of the season.
If Rice and the league reach an agreement, the suspension would begin with the Chiefs’ first game on September 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil. Rice is expected to appear before the league at a disciplinary hearing on September 30 in New York.
Sue L. Robinson, former U.S. district judge and joint disciplinary officer for the NFL and the NFL Players Association, will be in charge of hearing Rice’s disciplinary case. Previously, Robinson presided over Deshaun Watson’s disciplinary hearing in 2022.
In the event that an agreement is not reached on the terms of the suspension, Rice could play the first four weeks of the season before any sanction is imposed for his involvement in a multiple-vehicle car accident in Dallas during the 2024 offseason, where several people were injured.
In July, Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation for his role in the accident.
Rice, 25, pleaded guilty in district court to two counts of third-degree felonies: collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury. He received a deferred adjudication, and the case will be dismissed if he completes probation.
In his rookie season in 2023, Rice had 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven touchdowns. Last year, he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4 after tearing the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee. In those four games, he had 24 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
In an unusual decision, the Chiefs kept eight receivers on their initial 53-player roster: Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Nikko Remigio, Jason Brownlee, and rookie Jalen Royals. The Chiefs took this measure in case Rice agrees to a shorter suspension with the league, different from what the NFL initially wanted, which was a sanction of at least eight games.
