Kansas City, Missouri
Chiefs large receiver Rashee Rice was ordered to serve 30 days in jail Tuesday after testing positive for marijuana, which violated the phrases of his probation for his role in a crash that left a number of folks injured on a Dallas freeway two years in the past.
The Texas State Attorney’s Office stated Rice was to report to jail instantly as half of his original sentence last July, when he pleaded responsible to third-degree felony prices of collision involving critical bodily harm and racing on a freeway inflicting bodily harm.
As half of his plea settlement final summer time, Rice was sentenced to 5 years of deferred probation and 30 days in jail as a situation of his probation, prosecutors stated. The settlement had given him flexibility on the timeframe for serving that jail sentence.
“We are aware of the reports and have been in touch with the league office,” a Chiefs spokesman informed The Associated Press, declining additional remark. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy likewise stated the league was “aware of the report” and declined to remark.
Messages left with Rice’s lawyer weren’t instantly returned.
The timing coincides with the NFL’s offseason exercise section, which implies Rice will miss beneficial work with the group. The Chiefs are due to begin voluntary exercises May 26 and so they have a compulsory three-day minicamp starting June 9.
The case stems from an accident in March 2024, when the 26-year-old Rice was driving a Lamborghini Urus SUV at 119 mph (191 kph), made “multiple aggressive maneuvers around traffic” and struck different automobiles, prosecutors stated. The prosecutors additionally stated that after that crash on North Central Expressway that Rice failed to examine on the welfare of these in the opposite automobiles and fled on foot.
During coaching camp prior to final season, Rice stated he had “completely changed” and grown from the expertise, which resulted in a six-game suspension handed down by the NFL for violating the league’s personal-conduct coverage.
“You have to learn from things like that,” Rice stated. “I’ve learned and taken advantage of being able to learn from something like that.”
The newest authorized hassle Tuesday comes at an particularly unhealthy time for Rice, who additionally paid one of the crash victims $1 million as half of a mediated settlement and $115,000 to cowl victims’ medical bills. The second-round decide in the 2023 draft is heading into the final yr of his rookie contract, and groups are doubtless to weigh his off-the-field hassle in deciding on his subsequent contract.
When accessible, Rice has been a stable large receiver, catching 156 passes for 1,797 yards and 14 touchdowns and serving to Kansas City win the Super Bowl in the 2023 season. But his suspension coupled with a knee harm – a freak accident when Patrick Mahomes hit his knee whereas making an attempt to make a sort out – have restricted Rice to taking part in simply 28 video games over his first three seasons.