The NFL’s international games can carry an important caveat, for some players and other team employees. Certain circumstances may prevent the player from either leaving the country or entering a new one.
Mark Maske of the Washington Post raised on Thursday the question of whether Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice’s recent guilty plea to a pair of felonies arising from a street-racing crash in March 2024 would complicate his entry into Brazil for the Week 1 game against the Chargers.
On Friday, Maske reported that Rice has received clearance to travel with the team and enter Brazil for the September 5 game.
If, of course, Rice’s representatives and the NFL reach an agreement on a suspension before Week 1, Rice would miss the game. There’s currently no indication a deal is coming. Without one, Rice will have a disciplinary hearing on September 30.
Unless the NFL decides to put him on paid leave (there’s currently no reason to believe that will happen), Rice will be available for at least the first four weeks of the season, and probably five. If there’s an appeal of the punishment imposed by Judge Sue L. Robinson, Rice could be available for the first six games.
