Ray Rice Reinstated After Winning Appeal

November 28, 2014

Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports first reported that former Ravens RB Ray Rice has won his appeal case and will be reinstated to the NFL.

The judge in Rice’s case believes he did not lie to Roger Goodell during his interview about what took place in the elevator fight involving his then-fiancée several months ago.

“I am not persuaded that Rice lied to, or misled, the NFL at his June interview,” Judge Jones wrote in her appeal ruling. “…I find that the indefinite suspension was an abuse of discretion and must be vacated.”

Rice is now free to sign with a team of choosing. However, it’s hard to say if anyone will be willing to bring him in for even a workout.

Jason La Canfora reports that Rice is in “great shape.”
La Canfora believes the Colts would be an “ideal” option for Rice as he has a strong relationship with Colts HC Chuck Pagano.
On top of that, Indianapolis could really use running back help now that Ahmad Bradshaw is done for the season.
According to La Canfora, Rice is likely to sign with a team next year if no one adds him before the end of the 2014 season.
Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk lists the Colts, Cardinals, Falcons, Lions, Chargers and Broncos as potential landing spots for Rice.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that the written ruling in this case could shed light on what the NFL knew and when they knew it about the incident.

Florio mentions that if Jones concluded that the league knew or should have known about the video, it will hurt their case both in the court of public opinion and possibly in the Robert Mueller investigation.

Rice’s case centered around the argument that he was penalized twice for same offense and that the new domestic abuse policy penalizes a player six games for a first offense.

There will be much more information available about this ruling and Rice possibly returning to the NFL in the coming weeks.

There’s even a decent chance that the transcript of the two-day hearing will eventually be leaked, which could draw even more attention to the NFL and Goodell given that he testified in the hearing.