The jail sentence will be served at any time inside that five-year interval. Schefter provides Rice additionally obtained deferred adjudication, which means that if he completes the probation course of his case will likely be dismissed. This improvement paves the way in which for the NFL to maneuver ahead with its personal investigation and potential self-discipline in opposition to Rice.
“We’ve got been carefully monitoring all developments within the matter which stays below evaluation,” an NFL spokesman stated in a press release, by way of Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports activities. The Chiefs declined to remark, Jones notes.
Rice was certainly one of two folks driving when a Lamborghini SUV and a Corvette misplaced management the evening of March 30, 2024. He and all 5 different whole occupants of the 2 autos fled the scene after the accident, which happened whereas Rice and former faculty teammate Theodore Knox have been believed to be road racing. Rice grew to become the topic of an arrest warrant days later and turned himself in to police. The 25-year-old confronted a complete of eight felony expenses stemming from the incident.
As famous by the Dallas County District Legal professional’s Workplace, by way of NFL Community’s Tom Pelissero, Rice entered right into a plea settlement on two third-degree felonies (collision involving critical bodily harm and racing on a freeway inflicting bodily harm). Previous to the settlement, Rice had already paid for the victims’ medical prices, totaling roughly $115K.
“Final March, I used to be concerned in a high-speed accident in Dallas,” a assertion from Rice (delivered by way of his lawyer) reads. “There have been plenty of sleepless nights excited about the damages that my actions induced, and I’ll proceed working inside my means to guarantee that everybody impacted will likely be made entire. I urge everybody to thoughts the pace restrict, drive secure and drive sensible.
“Final and definitely not least, I’m profoundly sorry for the bodily damages to particular person and property. I totally apologize for the hurt I induced to harmless drivers and their households.”
With out a authorized decision in place by the beginning of the 2024 common season, the NFL declined to put Rice on the commissioner’s exempt listing. That allowed him to play and led to the expectation a suspension wouldn’t be handed down till 2025. In Week 4, the SMU product suffered a knee harm which was initially feared to be an ACL tear, although additional testing revealed that was not the case.
Nonetheless, Rice’s knee surgical procedure ended his season and left the Chiefs shorthanded on the receiver spot. Two years stay on the previous second-rounder’s rookie contract, and he’s slated to be wholesome in time for coaching camp. In fact, it now stays to be seen if he will likely be with the group on the onset of camp or if he’ll use the interval between now and the beginning of the marketing campaign to serve his jail time. He will even await a choice concerning a suspension from the league.
