The Chiefs have enjoyed a hot start to the season from wide receiver Rashee Rice. The team’s top wideout exited today’s game after an ugly-looking knee injury, and according to James Palmer of Bleacher Report, there’s concern that he suffered a season-ending ACL tear. The 24-year-old will undergo an MRI tomorrow to find out the severity of his injury.
Rice is in his second season as a pro out of SMU. As a second-round rookie, Rice caught 79 balls for 938 yards and seven touchdowns. His reception and yardage numbers were second on the team, while he led Kansas City in receiving touchdowns.
So far, in 2024, Rice has dominated the receiving numbers in Kansas City. Through three games, Rice has 24 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns, all best on the team. The next closest player on the team is rookie first-rounder Xavier Worthy who has six catches for 81 yards and a score. Rice has been so good through three weeks, in fact, that he came into Week 4 with the second-most receiving yards in the NFL behind only Nico Collins of the Texans.
With a Super Bowl ring as the result of his rookie season, it would seem that the transition has been an easy one for Rice. The real learning experiences for him have come off the field. Three separate events this offseason made it appear as though Kansas City may have been in danger of starting the season without Rice.
It started with Rice’s involvement in a hit-and-run incident that resulted in eight felony charges. He was believed to have been driving 119mph and fled the scene following a six-car accident. That was followed by an incident in which Rice, or a member of his party, fired gunshots into an empty car belonging to an SMU basketball player. Finally, in May, Rice was accused of punching a photographer in the face at a Dallas nightclub, though the accuser asked police not to file charges.
Initially, the Chiefs were bracing for a league suspension for Rice, but as the regular season approached, it began to seem as though any decisions on a suspension would be delayed as the league made the decision to wait for “the conclusion of the legal process.” Ultimately, it became clear that Rice was not expected to serve any suspension in 2024.
Rice’s injury today was the result of a turnover. When Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton intercepted Patrick Mahomes and began returning the ball downfield, Rice pursued the defender. When attempting to knock the ball out of Fulton’s hands, Rice was cut down at the knees by Mahomes, who was attempting to tackle Fulton.
Losing Rice is a big blow to the Chiefs offense. Without Rice for the game, tight end Travis Kelce had a resurgent performance after a slow start to the year. If Rice joins free agent addition Marquise Brown on injured reserve, Mahomes will be targeting a group of weapons that consists of Worthy, Justin Watson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Skyy Moore, and Mecole Hardman. While none of those names jump off the page as scary x-factors, Mahomes has won Super Bowls with similar receiving corps.
If it is confirmed with tomorrow’s MRI that Rice is out for the year with an ACL tear, his absence may be extended even past his recovery. With plenty of time before Rice will potentially play again, the legal process for Rice’s offseason trouble will have time to play out. If the NFL decides to levy a suspension as a result, Rice’s absence could be extended by three to six games or more.
I’m here to read all the karma comments….
Gotta love how Karma comes around…especially when you least expect her
The people who he maimed certainly should.
Noooooo
Next, the league will finally suspend him. There is no reason to bench a solid contributor for an SB team, but now… why not?
If Goodell does that he would be the biggest POS Commissioner in Pro Sports. Oh wait he already is. Never mind.
6 player pile up resulting in an on field accident where Mahomes collided with Rice causing a blown out acl for Rice.
Kind of a fitting karmic outcome for someone that caused a major 6 something car accident himself.
But nfl will probably give Rice time served towards a suspension since he’s slated to missed rest of this year and possibly start of next
As a wise musician once said
“ Cause karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a god
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma’s a relaxing thought
Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?
Sweet like honey, karma is a cat
Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like that”
Yes that’s Taylor swift
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Oh what a bummer! Could not have happened to a better punk-ass kid!
In actuality he never should have been playing but since when would the NFL do the right thing when it comes to accountability?????
Damn, always a shame when one of the good guys suffers a serious injury
Damn, always a damn shame when the public is safer because one cannot drive 119mph with an ACL Tear in the right knee.
Ronk325 — I get jokes, nice post. Please remember that you can’t spell F#CK without KC.
Brandon Carney on Twitter: “At least Rashee Rice went out doing what he loved. Ending a drive with a horrible collision and immediately leaving the scene.”
I guess you can say his year didn’t go well. With a Prison Sentence AND a torn ACL in his immediate future. Can you play Football on Weekends on a Work Release with one leg? I gotta check that out.
This year’s gonna be a bloodbath, eh?