Ray Rice Wins Appeal, Can Sign With NFL Teams Immediately
Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has won his appeal of an indefinite suspension by the NFL, and is eligible to return to the league immediately, according to reports.
Rice was suspended on Sept. 8 after video surfaced of him punching his fiance in an Atlantic City casino elevator.
He was initially suspended for two games, but public outcry prompted the NFL to take a harder look at the case.
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According to an ESPN report, hearings for Rice’s appeal ended Nov. 6. Rice and his wife Janay both testified, as did Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome. A judge found the second suspension handed down to Rice by commissioner Roger Goodell to be “arbitrary.’’ A separate process will determine whether or not Rice is eligible for back pay.
The 27-year-old Rice is a three-time Pro Bowler, but given his age and the tendency for teams to shuffle players at the running back position, it’s unclear whether a team will find it worth the public relations risk to sign him.
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Several players took to Twitter Friday to express their support for Rice, including Rice’s former teammate, Torrey Smith.
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In an interview with ESPN’s Jemelle Hill, Janay Rice elaborated on the night Rice hit her, and on the events that followed.
“The video didn’t make me rethink our relationship, but I did want more of an explanation from him. I asked him why he left me on the floor like that. I asked him how he felt when he saw that I was unconscious. He told me he was in shock. I asked him what happened when we got out of the elevator. He told me he was terrified because security was there. I asked him how he felt seeing me like that. He said he was thinking, “What did I just do?’’ I didn’t watch the video again.’’
The NFL has been criticized in each step of its handling of the Rice case, from allowing the Ravens to hold a press conference in which Janay Rice apologized, to waffling on Rice’s punishment. U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones, who heard the appeal, concluded that Rice did not lie to Goodell in his initial recounting of the assault.
“I find the indefinite suspension was an abuse of discretion and must be vacated,’’ Jones writes in her decision, obtained by ESPN. An NFL spokesman tells ESPN the league will accept the decision as binding.
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