NFL initially proposed double-digit game suspension for Chiefs' Rashee Rice, per report
Rice is set for a disciplinary hearing with the league on Sept. 30
•
1 min read
Kansas City Chiefs star wide receiver Rashee Rice is set to have a disciplinary hearing with the NFL for his involvement in a multi-car crash on Sept. 30. The timing of the hearing would currently allow Rice to play in the first four games of the regular season before receiving any discipline.
However, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported on Friday that the league initially proposed a double-digit game suspension for Rice that would've sidelined him for at least half of the season. The NFL Players Association, along with Rice's attorney and agent, lobbied for a much shorter suspension, arguing that there is no precedent for suspending a player half the season in a similar case, according to Pelissero.
It's also possible a settlement could be reached before the start of the season, according to the report, that would suspend Rice for the start of the 2025 campaign as opposed to after the hearing at the end of next month.
Who can beat the Chiefs? Is it finally time for Bills, Ravens or Bengals to end Patrick Mahomes' AFC reign?
Zachary Pereles
Rice was sentenced in July to 30 days of jail time and five years of probation after leaving the scene of an accident in Dallas, Texas, in 2024. Rice and four other men left behind a Lamborghini Urus and a Chevrolet Corvette that Rice was leasing without checking on the occupants in the other vehicles. Two of those occupants were hospitalized, while the other two were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
"I completely changed," Rice said when speaking with reporters during training camp. "You have to learn from things like that. So I've learned, and I've taken advantage of being able to learn from something like that."
Rice, a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of SMU, caught 24 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns during the 2024 campaign before his season was cut short due to a season-ending leg injury. Rice recorded 79 catches for 938 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie season with the franchise.
