Yes, Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice will be available to start the 2025 season.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com/The NFL*, Rice’s disciplinary hearing is expected to be held on September 30. This means he’ll be eligible to play until a ruling is issued — and his appeal rights have been exhausted.
The report doesn’t mention whether the hearing will unfold before retired judge Sue L. Robinson or Commissioner Roger Goodell. There has been talk that proceedings before Judge Robinson may not be required, since no facts are in dispute.
Either way, the fact that a hearing has been scheduled means that the league and Rice (and the NFL Players Association) have not reached an agreement on a suspension following Rice’s guilty plea to multiple felonies as a result of a street-racing incident in Dallas.
An agreement as to a punishment under the Personal Conduct Policy can be reached at any time. If it doesn’t happen, the hearing will transpire. Depending on the time necessary for a final decision and any appeal, Rice could be available for roughly half of the season, before a suspension would commence.
There’s a strategic component at play for the Chiefs and Rice. The goal will be to have him back and ready to go as the postseason approaches. If the process takes too long to be resolved, he could end up being reinstated at a time when it will be less than ideal for the team’s playoff chances.
The biggest question is the duration of the suspension. Some have suggested that precedent supports a short suspension. However, those cases weren’t caught on video.
Does video matter? Ray Rice went from being suspended for knocking Janay Palmer unconscious without video, to never playing again once the video was released.
