This offseason has been one filled with legal troubles for Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice. Rice is facing a total of eight felony charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in Dallas on the evening of March 30, an incident in which he and another driver were believed to be street racing (with Rice allegedly reaching a speed of 119mph). About a month later, Rice was accused of punching a photographer at a Dallas nightclub.
During his meeting with police about the hit-and-run matter, Rice reportedly accepted “full responsibility” for his role, and his attorney later indicated that his client intends to cover the expenses of the victims, though Rice is being sued for over $1MM in actual damages and $10MM in punitive damages by two of those victims. The photographer that Rice allegedly struck subsequently asked police to not file charges against the second-year wideout, and the investigation was reportedly closed shortly thereafter.
While it seems as though Rice will not face charges for his encounter with the photographer, that incident could nonetheless impact the suspension that the Chiefs expect the NFL to hand down at some point. The league may wait until the hit-and-run legal process plays out before issuing sanctions, but once that happens, the alleged assault — as well as an incident that took place while Rice was still in college, in which the then-SMU player or a member of his party fired shots into an empty vehicle belonging to a member of the school’s basketball team — may well factor into the punishment.
In the meantime, Rice is free to take part in all team activities, and he was a full particpant in the Chiefs’ OTAs. Yesterday, he participated in a youth football camp in Kansas City alongside a number of the team’s other top receivers, and he offered his first public comments on his situation (via ESPN).
“I’ve learned so much from [the hit-and-run],” Rice said. “All I can do is mature and continue to grow from that. This (the youth football camp) is a step in a better direction for me.”
While vowing to improve as a person, Rice added, “[a]ccidents and stuff like that happen, but all you can do is move forward and walk around being the same person, try to be positive so that everybody can feel your love and your great energy.”
As a rookie in 2023, Rice was the Chiefs’ most effective wide receiver, and whenever his seemingly inevitable suspension is levied, KC will feel his absence. The team did address its WR corps in a meaningful way this offseason, adding Marquise Brown in free agency and another speed merchant, Xavier Worthy, in the first round of the 2024 draft. The club recently agreed to a re-up with Mecole Hardman and is still rostering Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, and Kadarius Toney.
“Rice reportedly accepted “full responsibility” for his role”
“While vowing to improve as a person, Rice added, “[a]ccidents and stuff like that happen, but all you can do is move forward and walk around being the same person”
Yeah, no.
“Accidents” are not accidents when “accidents” occur under gross negligence or depraved indifference so calling them “accidents” instead of acknowledging your own culpability is the EXACT opposition of accepting full responsibility.
Furthermore, you can do more than “move forward” (AKA pretend it never happened) you can make amends (settle the lawsuit in full and plead guilty).
And here’s the key, FFS, please do NOT walk around “being the same person”. You need to work on being a much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much better person. A lot of work.
This is what the jolly sack of S and the Chiefs would say to him if they cared about human life at all. If.
He’s a POS for sure, but that’s completely fine with KC. Just look at what Lamar Jr did to his mentally handicapped sister in law. And Jovan Belcher’s murder suicide. And Hill’s domestic issues. And Frank Clarks gun charges. Tim Barnett in the 90s abused his wife then sexually assaulted a minor before finally getting booted from the team. Andy Reid’s own son drove drunk and handicapped a child for life.
This Rice kid fits right in.
Huh? Really? You learned so much from the hit and run your first thought was to go to a club and get into a fight with a photographer. Whether the guy filed charges or not nobody made that story up. He was there. And probably there for days. This guy is so full of it he reeks like a sewer pipe. Gimme a break. Going to a kids football camp makes up for almost killing a bunch of people. Who’s he think he’s kidding?
Wrecking a car going 100 mph is not an accident. Keep living the thug life Mr Rice , meanwhile watch your career dwindle away. Thats offensive to hear him say “ accidents happen” an accident is spilling coffee on someone , bumping someone at a traffic light , tripping and falling into someone’s personal space .., he didn’t accidentally do what he did. He will be out of the league very soon.
Just to be clear. If he was driving fast going 100 mph and crashed into someone. That would be accident. Same as it would if you or he or anyone was going 70 80 90 on the free way. Nobody intentionally causes car crashes unless you’re in one of those car derby things.
“ an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.”
That’s not really what happened here though. Rice was racing and allegedly/supposedly under the influence though idk if that’s been confirmed. I believe they found mj in one of the cars but could be wrong on that detail.
Also speeding, street racing isn’t thug life unless you’re in Japan.
Let’s hope he learns to love prison food.
The inmates corner him in the shower saying “We’re just here to feel your love and great energy”…lol.
He’s going to learn there’s a whole new definition to the word violated that has nothing to do with his driving record.
I am sure he learned a lot when he came to the realization that Chiefs signed Hollywood Brown and Drafted Worthy and his days may be numbered in the League and also possibly doing jail time.
Took him this long to learn right from wrong? What a disgrace.
He hasn’t learned anything yet, he hasn’t faced any punishment for his mistakes, he hasn’t turned over a “new leaf”. He did something incredibly dangerous and stupid and ran away from it. He was high and now that he has sobered up he feels foolish. He didn’t feel foolish while he was committing those crimes only after the rest of us took notice of his reckless shenanigans did he finally decide to take any responsibility.
Seriously think through the part where Reid and the Chiefs decided that…after ALL that this guy has done…him issuing a boilerplate “I take full responsibility” statement was good enough for them to have THIS guy as both an ambassador of their brand and to serve as a role model for kids.
Rice should have been cleaning the Port-A-Johns (in FULL uniform) at that camp while the other Chiefs players who have not committed crimes (if you can find enough of them) worked with the kids.
Mahomes is a great player and seems like a good dude but…by virtue of being both of those he’s putting a nice face on what is basically the 2007 Bengals cubed to the tenth power.
I hope he’s learned what a dumb immature idiot he is who almost killed a ton of people because he’s a dumb immature idiot. This kid deserves to be thrown in prison for as long as he should be and lose every dime he’s earned. What he did was reckless, irresponsible and reprehensible!
At this point he should just shut up & stay away from reporters. He’s a scumbag & this is only the beginning
I don’t know Rice. Maybe he’s being genuine. If so, I applaud him.
However, whether he’s being genuine or not, does taking “full” responsibility mean that he will be pleading guilty to his charges, instead of waiting on a court date to either fight it or get a few charges dropped? Isn’t that part of “full” responsibility-accepting the consequences of one’s actions?
Like I said, I don’t know Rice. Maybe he truly never had anybody enforce these sorts on him growing up, or he ignored them, and is just now finally understanding what consequences are, and wants to be better. Maybe he only feels badly because he got caught and doesn’t care so much about the why of what he did. Or maybe he’s just a terrible person who only caters to his own selfishness and is lying his tail off. I don’t know. What I do know is that, in my eyes, taking “full” responsibility means accepting the consequences of one’s actions, no matter how unpleasant that may be. Plead guilty, save the trial. Actions speak louder than words.
Courts set court dates. Judges prosecutors and defense typically have other things going on so they set dates so things don’t overlap.
He’s young
He did an insanely stupid and reckless thing
Thankfully no one was gravely injured.
It’s important to remember, I highly doubt rice was out looking to hurt anyone. And if he’s truly remorseful for his actions and damage it caused he should accept responsibility legally and morally (ie fixing or replacing cars people lost).
But he’s 24. He’s young enough he can hopefully choose to make better decisions going forward.
I didn’t see anything about suspension and jail time from you. Certainly you believe both are warranted
“ And if he’s truly remorseful for his actions and damage it caused he should accept responsibility legally and morally”
Legally would include jail time if that’s what he’s given but we all know athletes tend to avoid jail time in favor of other things. Legally would also include a suspension as that is the leagues legal right per the cba to issue a suspension.
He deserves a suspension and some jail time. They can even let him serve it after the season. 10 games and 30 days seems right
Probably gets 8-9 (half the season or so) could be 10 making it a nice round number and 30 days seems likely.
I am familiar with the legal process. Pleading guilty will certainly save time by skipping a jury or bench trial. In any case, we agree that remorse is better spoken to with action versus simple words. What Rice said is believable in many wats; proving by taking action will help make that more so.
No doubt his agent set up his first public interview while he’s at a youth football camp.