Chiefs’ Rashee Rice expected to play first 4 games as NFL schedules hearing: Source

By Jesse Newell, Dianna Russini and Jeff Howe

Kansas City Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice is scheduled to have an NFL disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 30, allowing him to play the first four games of the season, a source confirmed to The Athletic.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report the news of Rice’s hearing.

Due to the timing of his hearing, Rice now should be able to play in the Chiefs’ opening slate of games. They are:

K.C.’s season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Week 2 at home against the Philadelphia Eagles

A “Sunday Night Football” game at the New York Giants

A home game against the Baltimore Ravens

Rice, 25, faces a potential suspension because of his role in a March 2024 high-speed car crash in Dallas. He was sentenced last month to five years of probation and 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to two third-degree felony charges. The NFL waits until all legal matters are settled before determining player suspensions under the league’s personal conduct policy.

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Rice’s disciplinary hearing will be held before Sue L. Robinson, the former U.S. district judge who serves as the jointly appointed disciplinary officer for the NFL and the NFLPA, a league source confirmed. The Rice case will be Robinson’s second hearing. She handled the Deshaun Watson case three years ago.

Police reports indicated Rice was driving 119 mph in a Lamborghini Urus when he crashed on a Dallas highway, causing a chain reaction of collisions involving six other vehicles. Investigators said Rice didn’t check on other victims and fled the scene on foot.

In a July statement from his attorney, Royce West, Rice said he’d had “a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the damages my actions caused.”

“I will continue working within my means to make sure that everyone impacted will be made whole,” Rice said in the statement.

As part of the plea agreement with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, Rice had to pay restitution to all the victims for their out-of-pocket medical expenses before his plea — an amount that added up to $115,481.91.

However, an attorney for one of the victims said last month that Rice has yet to pay back $1 million promised in an agreed-upon settlement stemming from a civil suit.

A 2023 second-round pick out of SMU, Rice had 24 catches for 288 yards with two touchdowns in four games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He emerged late in 2023 as the Chiefs’ top receiving threat, finishing with 79 catches for 938 yards.

Rice has been working at full strength in training camp following offseason rehab for his knee.

(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)

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