Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has accepted a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, sources told ESPN, and will start serving the suspension at the beginning of the season.
Rice will be eligible to return to the Chiefs in Week 7 ahead of their Oct. 19 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. He had been scheduled for a disciplinary hearing on Sept. 30.
Sue L. Robinson, the former U.S. district judge who serves as the disciplinary officer jointly appointed by the NFL and NFL Players Association, was scheduled to hear Rice’s case. The only other NFL disciplinary hearing she has presided over was Deshaun Watson’s in 2022.
In July, Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years’ probation for his role in a multicar crash in Dallas that left multiple people injured during the 2024 offseason.
Rice, 25, pleaded guilty in district court to two third-degree felony charges — collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury. He received deferred adjudication, and the case will be dismissed if he completes the probation.
Rice had 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven touchdown catches in his 2023 rookie season. Last year, he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4 after he tore the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee. He had 24 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns in those four games.
In a rare scenario Tuesday, the Chiefs kept eight receivers — Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Nikko Remigio, Jason Brownlee and rookie Jalen Royals — on their initial 53-man roster. The Chiefs did this in case Rice agrees to a shortened suspension with the league, one that is different from what the NFL initially wanted, which was at least an eight-game punishment.
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