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 With the backing of the NFL Players Association, Rice on Tuesday
filed an appeal of his suspension by Commissioner Roger Goodell for
knocking out his then-fiance and now wife in an elevator of a New
Jersey casino.
"Ray Rice is radioactive as we speak," Rick Horrow, a sports
business consultant and lecturer at Harvard Law School, told
Reuters. "But just like Michael Vick and others have demonstrated,
America embraces second chances. But I have no way of knowing
whether that is next month, next year or next decade."
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has said he doubted Rice
would ever play in the NFL again.
Vick, who had been a star quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons, may
have been similarly "radioactive" after he pleaded guilty to federal
dogfighting charges in 2007 and was sentenced to two years in
prison. But after serving his sentence he was welcomed back by the
NFL, playing first for the Philadelphia Eagles and then New York
Jets.
Rice initially was suspended by the league for two games for
punching Janay Palmer but when a video surfaced showing the incident
the Ravens released him and the league extended his suspension.
In his appeal Rice said he is being punished twice for the same
offense. He also called for an independent arbitrator to hear the
case because Goodell, who normally decides appeals, would likely be
a witness.
Christine Brennan, a national sports columnist for USA Today, said
Rice deserves a second chance - eventually. She said perhaps a one-
or two-year suspension would be justified.
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"What Ray Rice did was reprehensive and inexcusable but does he
deserve a second chance at some point? I would say yes. In our world
if we just said, 'That's it, you're done,' no chance to redeem
yourself, no chance to help others, what are we doing?" Brennan said
in a telephone interview.
Brennan suggested Rice speak to groups of domestic abuse even while
his appeal is being heard.
Rice is 27 and coming off his least productive NFL season so teams
might be less willing to give him a shot following a prolonged
period off the field.
"The better the player, the more willing people are to give a second
chance," said Horrow. "That's just the way it is. So we'll just have
to see how this all shakes out."
(Reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Editing by Frank Pingue)
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