It’s not looking good for Rashee Rice. Although the car wreck he caused could’ve turned out a lot worse, the legal ramifications he’s faced with put his NFL career in very real jeopardy. According to multiple reports, the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver faces eight felony charges stemming from the accident he caused in the Dallas area about two weeks ago.
As of early Thursday morning, Rice still hadn’t turned himself in as warrants are out for his arrest, but he reportedly intends to do so.
Rice said he was going to take “full responsibility” for his involvement in the accident, which left multiple people injured and hospitalized. It was allegedly an instance of street racing gone awry. The 23-year-old and his crew fled the scene of the accident.
As a member of a much-maligned Chiefs receiving corps, Rice’s chemistry with quarterback Patrick Mahomes grew as his rookie season went on. The second-round pick out of SMU racked up 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven TDs in the regular season, and was a key pass-catcher in Kansas City’s run to win Super Bowl LVIII.
I doubt this will be covered elsewhere, so it’s worth sharing: Former NFL scout John Middlekauff is well-connected around the league. He now has a successful 3 And Out podcast, and in reacting to the news of draft prospect T’Vondre Sweat’s DWI arrest, he reached out to some sources about Rice, since it was a somewhat similar situation.
One of the college evaluators passed along the following assessment of Rice: Not a bad guy, but “hangs out with a lot of dipsh*ts.”
That evaluation certainly seems to check out here. Rice is clearly a little young and naïve, and put himself in a compromising situation in terms of who he was associated with. It wound up costing him in a big way with this car accident. All there is to do now is wait as the legal process plays out. As for the Chiefs, they’ll draft at least one wide receiver while they await Rice’s fate. He could very well be looking jail time.
