Ray Rice wins appeal; can sign with any team...

Cotton

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Ray Rice wins appeal
Updated: November 28, 2014, 3:27 PM ET
ESPN.com news services

Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has won his appeal of an indefinite suspension and has been reinstated to the NFL.

Rice is now eligible to sign with any NFL team.

An NFL spokesman, when asked by ESPN's Andrew Brandt if the league would pursue any further action against Rice, said: "We, of course, accept the ruling as binding."

Rice was suspended indefinitely Sept. 8 for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy after a video of him hitting his then-fiancée was released publicly. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell originally had suspended the running back for two games.

A source who has read the decision told ESPN investigative reporter Don Van Natta Jr. that U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones, who heard Rice's appeal earlier this month, concluded Rice did not lie or mislead the NFL.

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome testified under oath Nov. 6 in the appeal hearing that he heard the former Baltimore running back tell Goodell during his June 16 disciplinary hearing that he had hit his then-fiancée in a casino hotel elevator, sources told "Outside the Lines."

Rice also testified, as did his wife, Janay. Details of what Rice and his wife testified to Nov. 6 and what Goodell said Nov. 5 were not released to ESPN's "Outside the Lines" because of a gag order that Jones imposed. But sources said Newsome backed Rice's previous accounts of what he told Goodell. Goodell spent the majority of his time testifying under cross-examination by outside union attorney Jeffrey Kessler, sources said.

Rice, 27, is a three-time Pro Bowler and helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII. He rushed for 6,180 yards and 37 touchdowns in six seasons with Baltimore.
 

boozeman

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Can't see anyone tripping over themselves to sign him at this stage of the football season. Perhaps Indy, but that would be about it.
 

Carp

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Can't see anyone tripping over themselves to sign him at this stage of the football season. Perhaps Indy, but that would be about it.
It is funny though...the gap in time makes people forget fairly quickly. Indy is most likely for sure, but I could see the Cards and Bills having interest.
 

townsend

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I think Rice's crimes are less effed up than Adrian Peterson's, he also didn't spend months pretending like it was the right thing to do.
 

boozeman

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I think Rice's crimes are less effed up than Adrian Peterson's, he also didn't spend months pretending like it was the right thing to do.
Taking a switch to a kid versus knocking a woman half your size out with your fist.

Hmmm. Tough one.
 

townsend

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Taking a switch to a kid versus knocking a woman half your size out with your fist.

Hmmm. Tough one.
4 year old was like 1/10th of Peterson's size. Adrian Peterson used a stick that gave the kid cuts all over his back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum, that's not 'taking a switch' that's cutting up a child, and it sounds a hell of a lot more premeditated (especially considering the son of a bitch refusing to even admit that it was wrong) than some dumbass throwing a punch at his wife.

I'm not justifying the punch mind you. But there's a damn difference between violence towards an adult and violence towards a child. I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that Mr. and Mrs. Rice have probably had some measure of physical violence between them in the past (not that I'm excusing it) I can get an athlete having a fast twitch reaction to someone who's acting aggressively, and believe that maybe he hasn't been coached on how to resolve conflict. It's an athletic response the consequences of which Rice did not anticipate or prepare for. He's a guy who's been trained his entire life to use his full strength at everything, and therefore could presumably be rehabilitated into more passive forms of conflict resolution. That doesn't make what he did was okay, but it does mean that he isn't a psychopath.

Adrian Peterson's son, not the one that died from child abuse, the one who was abused after his half brother died from child abuse. Wasn't part of a squabble that turned violent, he was a helpless child that got his legs and privates torn up by a man who didn't just make one move, he deliberately beat the shit out of a kid (he barely knows) with multiple strikes and then dared to pull that "don't tell me how to raise my kids." bullshit.
 

Cotton

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Cotton

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Schefter is saying that the Colts have no interest either. A little surprising if true.
 

Clay_Allison

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I'd sign him to a cheap contract through 2015. To put a little leverage on Murray.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Can he even still play? His 2013 season was complete shit. We haven't seen him this year.

If I was getting 2011 Ray Rice I'd say it would be worth the PR nightmare. If I'm getting 2013 Ray Rice it's a waste of time and money.
 

ravidubey

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Rice hit a wall last season and is probably seriously out of shape. I wouldn't sign him to anything more than the vet minimum.

The guy to have signed was LeGarrette Blount, but like most teams Dallas totally dropped the ball.

New England wins again.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Rice hit a wall last season and is probably seriously out of shape. I wouldn't sign him to anything more than the vet minimum.

The guy to have signed was LeGarrette Blount, but like most teams Dallas totally dropped the ball.

New England wins again.
Blount is a cancer that Dallas doesn't need on it's roster. I don't think he would have been able to handle sitting behind Murray and getting 0 carries in games.
 

L.T. Fan

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Blount is a cancer that Dallas doesn't need on it's roster. I don't think he would have been able to handle sitting behind Murray and getting 0 carries in games.
I can't see Dallas needing another running back if Murray stays. Especially with what I have seen of Randle and Williams on the PS.
 
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