Despite Appeal Victory, Ray Rice’s NFL Career is Likely Over

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on November 29, 2014

Yesterday, we witnessed a huge development in the case involving former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.

Rice, who was initially handed just a two-game suspension for assaulting his then-fiancé in February, was eventually suspended indefinitely and cut by Baltimore once video evidence of the assault surfaced. Soon after, Rice appealed his suspension on the grounds he was essentially getting punished twice for the same infraction. While he claimed he told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell everything which would eventually be seen on the tape, the league begged to differ.

Though it certainly won’t win him any publicity, Rice was able to convince a judge he had indeed not lied about a thing. It was announced early Friday afternoon the embattled back had won his appeal, and as a result, is eligible to play for any team, effective immediately.

While this is all well and good for Rice, it definitely doesn’t mean he’ll be back on the field any time soon. As we enter Week 13 of the season, it’s tough to believe any team will want to bring him into the fold this late. Said acquisition would involve a lot of work regarding getting Rice up to speed on the playbook fast enough to ensure he could be even a little bit effective. And this is just dealing with one of the on-the-field issues which would come with signing him.

Unfortunately for Rice, while this latest ruling gives him the opportunity to get back on the football field, it doesn’t guarantee said opportunity takes place. There are numerous hurdles any interested team would need to consider before even offering Rice a tryout. Quite frankly, you’re forced to wonder if there is any team out there willing to take a huge gamble on the idea of signing Rice.

First of all, consider the fact this appeal victory doesn’t really change all that much. Rice was wrongly punished twice for the same incident — I’ll give him that. However, this is more an issue with the league than him. It was ridiculous to give him such a miniscule suspension in the first place, even before the contents of the security footage were leaked.

What this win doesn’t do is erase the horrifying images we all saw from inside the casino elevator. It doesn’t undo his actions, and it won’t make everyone forget the fact he knocked his fiancé out cold. At the end of the day, he wasn’t found innocent of his actions, his punishment was just merely mishandled by his employer.

Now, a team could easily bring Rice in during the offseason under the guise of everyone deserving a second chance. There’s even a possibility he’s really earned one, too. However, not only would this organization need to worry about bringing him into their locker room, but also about the reactions they would receive from fans, as well as sponsors.

Remember how much heat teams took when it came to showing interest in Michael Vick upon his return to the league in 2009? Now consider the fact Vick actually served prison time for his crimes. Imagine what kind of backlash Rice would receive if he returned to the NFL having only served a legally shortened suspension after a disgusting display of domestic violence. Not only would fans have a huge problem with Rice’s presence, but you have to believe sponsors would be hard-pressed to continue any partnerships as well.

For Rice, the concept of getting back onto the field is a two-way street. Along with the need for an interested franchise willing to take the risks, Rice has to do plenty of work on his end as well. His focus shouldn’t be on proving to the league he’s in great game shape, but putting a ton of effort towards rebuilding his currently shattered image. He needs to go through PR boot camp, he has to prove to everyone he is not the person you saw on the casino surveillance tape. He’ll likely need to make multiple public stances against domestic violence. He can’t just claim he’s a changed man — he has to show us.

Even then, though, the prospects of him finding a landing spot next year aren’t terribly high. Beyond his legal troubles, it goes without saying his 2013-14 season was a huge step back. He had just 43 less carries than the previous year, but those resulted in 483 less yards. His public image is the real issue, but his significant drop in production won’t help his cause either.

If he does attract attention from interested parties, it would have to be a team with great structure. He needs a team who is prepped and ready to handle the wave of public relations issues which would no doubt hit them the second the first rumor of their interest pops up on Twitter.

We pretty much know you can cross Baltimore off the list of potential suitors. They’ve endured too much damage already, and bringing him back would essentially be them signing up for another round. On top of this, thanks to the emergence of Justin Forsett, the Ravens simply don’t need him.

To be honest, signing Rice wreaks of a New England Patriots move. Even though owner Robert Kraft claimed Rice would never play for New England, Bill Belichick taking in a league castoff despite the negative press and giving him a career rejuvenation would be the least surprising thing ever. However, after the Aaron Hernandez incident, the Patriots are likely proceeding with caution when it comes to their acquisitions. Because of this, it’s a little more probable the team follows Kraft’s intentions than it is having a change of heart and bringing Rice in.

Again, maybe Rice focuses the rest of this year and the upcoming offseason on repairing his image. Perhaps he puts 100% effort towards convincing everyone he has indeed learned from his horrible mistake, and how he has earned himself a second chance. This step is a necessity if he ever wants to play in the NFL again.

However, even if he does all of this, it doesn’t guarantee a return. In fact, barring an organization well-prepared towards taking on the risk of signing him, it’s very likely we’ve seen the last of Rice in the NFL, regardless of his appeal victory.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CDrottar19 or “Like” him on Facebook