Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice won his appeal against his indefinite suspension from the NFL and now has been reinstated, which means he can sign with any NFL like a free agent.
The judge ruled "that Rice did not lie to or mislead NFL commissioner Roger Goodell" when they met about his domestic violence incident in a June interview. That decision meant that technically the NFL did punish Rice for the same thing twice, which is not allowed by the CBA. The decision was expected after Rice appealed his indefinite suspension, as it appeared clear that the NFL did in fact suspend Rice for the same offense a second time.
The issues surrounding Rice went into a media frenzy after the video of him striking his wife went public and that may have also influenced the decision making of the NFL. Rice was suspended back in September for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy and that came after Roger Goodell originally suspended Rice two games.
"I would like to thank Judge Barbara Jones, the NFL Players Association, my attorneys, agents, advisors, family, friends and fans -- but most importantly, my wife Janay," Rice said in a statement released by the NFLPA on Friday. "I made an inexcusable mistake and accept full responsibility for my actions."
