Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice has reportedly won his appeal and been reinstated by the National Football League as of Friday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com:
Pro Football Talk confirmed Rapoport's report:
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the judge believed Rice's statement:
An appeal hearing regarding Rice's indefinite suspension began in New York on Wednesday, Nov. 5, and league commissioner Roger Goodell was forced to testify. That served as the primary catalyst for Rice's return.
Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com had reported this last Sunday that a decision on Rice's appeal would arrive within the next week.
Rice had his Baltimore Ravens contract terminated and was indefinitely suspended by the NFL when video surfaced of him punching his then-fiancee and current wife Janay Palmer.
Initially suspended for just two games prior to the video surfacing, the released footage caused Rice to be ousted from football for an extended period of time. The NFL released a statement to explain why its disciplinary action changed.
"We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator," read the statement, via The Washington Post's Mark Maske. "That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today."
CBS Sports' Pete Prisco weighed in on Rice's conduct:
That type of backlash is what Rice faced when TMZ Sports released the video. Even though he's been reinstated, all 32 NFL teams will likely be hesitant to bring Rice in on even a short-term contract.
For someone who'd had such a clean image tarnished, Baltimore gave Rice the benefit of the doubt regarding his incident with Palmer. Once the brutality and intent of Rice's actions were evident, his release was immediate, and the NFL reacted swiftly, too.
In addition to perhaps not being in football shape, Rice was coming off the worst season of his career in 2013, when he averaged a meager 3.1 yards per carry.
There's a need for Rice to establish himself in a new locker room, where many players likely have lost respect for him in light of his public domestic violence saga. Clearing both physical and mental hurdles will be key in Rice's bid to return to the NFL gridiron.
Rice will inevitably generate some interest from teams with dire running back situations now that he's eligible to play, given his history of production. It will be difficult for Rice to convince an organization to take a chance on him due to the complicated situation created by his recent, unfortunate past.
//from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1ylU5FW
via IFTTT November 28, 2014 at 11:58AM
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