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Ray Rice Winning Appeal Wouldn’t Make Signing Him Acceptable

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Ray Rice

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

As most of you probably know by now, Ray Rice is doing everything in his power to have his indefinite suspension for assaulting his now-wife lifted. His suspension appeal is set for today, November 5, and tomorrow, but the results won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things.

By all accounts, Rice has a strong case to have his suspension overturned and receive his reinstatement back into the NFL. The only problem with that is that, unless a particular team enjoys PR nightmares, there won’t be a single suitor for his services.

Rice was released by the Baltimore Ravens back in early September after video emerged of him punching his then-fiancee in the face in an elevator, knocking her unconscious. While it’s believed the NFL knew about his actions – he reportedly admitted them to Roger Goodell when the two initially met to discuss the situation – the public outcry after seeing the video was too loud to ignore.

So even though the league – and likely the Ravens – were aware of what Rice did, the visualization was simply too much to bear. Hence, he was suspended and let go by Baltimore, effectively hopefully ending his NFL career.

That’s why no team should (or will) take the risk in signing Rice if he does win his appeal. It’s believed he will, but his recent decline in on-field production wouldn’t be even close to enough to warrant taking on his off-field problems, even if they are in the past.

Rice could be reinstated by mid-November. However, don’t expect to see any teams kicking the tires on the wife beater. And if, for some crazy reason, a team does sign him, a media firestorm the likes of which we haven’t seen in some time will certainly ensue.

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