How Should the NFL Deal with Players Facing Legal Trouble

The 2024 NFL season kicked off Thursday night, with the defending Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, beating the Baltimore Ravens 27-20 at Arrowhead Stadium. 

To no surprise, Patrick Mahomes is already in MVP form, throwing for 291 yards with a 71% completion percentage. Taylor Swift's boyfriend, on the other hand, was not ready for it. Travis Kelce finished with only three receptions for 34 yards.

Mahomes' playmaker for the game was wide receiver Rashee Rice, who led the Chiefs in receiving yards, putting up 103 yards on seven catches. 

Rice's superstar performance gives Chiefs fans hope the team can repeat and win its fourth Super Bowl in the Mahomes era. However, fans and fantasy football owners might have a problem or eight. 

Rice is facing eight felonies related to a street racing incident in Dallas this past March. The charges include the following: one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving severe bodily injury, and six counts of collision involving injury. 

Rice's trial isn't scheduled until next year, which will give him the chance to play the entirety of the 2024-2025 season. Having the trial pushed back to next year saves Rice's sophomore season, but do other players in similar legal situations get as lucky? 

It depends entirely on the charge. Typically, a player facing domestic abuse charges will almost always end up on the commissioner's exempt list.

The commissioner's exempt list is a form of paid leave where players on the list are not allowed to play games in the NFL. Players are still allowed to attend meetings, workouts, and receive treatment and other resources at the team facility.

Since 2014, there has been a rise in the number of players landing on the list.

One of the most notable cases was in 2014 when MVP running back Adrian Peterson was placed on the list for the entire season amid child abuse allegations. Peterson could only be reinstated after the investigation was concluded. 

Other players who have been on the list in recent years include Michael Vick (2009), Jonathan Vilma (2012), Greg Hardy (2014), Josh Brown (2016), Reuben Foster (2018) and Kareem Hunt (2018).Does Rasheed Rice deserve special treatment compared to these other players due to his felony not being domestic related?

Henry Ruggs’ III is currently serving a 3-10 year sentence after a fatal DUI that took the life of a woman back in 2021. If no one died would Ruggs III just be put on the commissioner's exempt list. Would his situation be any different from Rice's? The only person who can answer that question is NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Commissioner Goodell is solely responsible for determining if a player is eligible for the list.

Giving all that power to just Goodell presents several problems that can arise from bias. Maybe he wants Patrick Mahomes to remain the NFL’s golden boy and chief money maker. It would be difficult for the NFL’s biggest asset to keep up his MVP performance without his top receiver. 

That's just one of the many rabbit hole possibilities that could occur by having one person in charge of the list.  

It is essential by the 2026 season that the NFL implements a defined rulebook that would classify what type of discipline the player receives depending on the charge(s) they are facing. The other option would be creating a select committee to work with Goodell to decide the punishment for the players. Either option would help alleviate any potential bias.

Lastly, I do not think Rashee Rice deserves to be placed on the list. However, I do think the Chiefs should have suspended him for at least a game to set an example for the rest of the team that no such misbehavior will be tolerated.

By Jack Chinsky

#NewhouseMoJo