Sports
NFL Officials Reportedly Make Decision on Ray Rice Suspension
The Baltimore Ravens may have to do without the well-known running back at the outset of the season.
Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice will reportedly be suspended for the first two games of the season as punishment for an assault charge in the off-season.
News of Rice's two-game suspension broke Thursday morning, during the first day of practice at Ravens training camp in Owings Mills, according to Comcast SportsNet.
In the Feb. 15 incident leading to the assault charge, Rice was seen dragging Janay Palmer, his fiancée—who the following month became his wife—at an Atlantic City casino. She appeared to be unconscious. Rice was indicted on a third-degree aggravated assault charge in March and admitted to a pre-trial intervention program in May.
Not going to trial "helped his cause in terms of minimizing the kind of discipline the NFL would impose..." NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
The two-game suspension starts Aug. 30 and ends Sept. 12, according to ESPN. It includes the first two games of the season, when the Ravens face off against rivals the Cincinatti Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During those games, Baltimore will turn to Bernard Pierce, Lorenzo Taliaferro and Justin Forsett to fill in for Rice, according to the Ravens.
Rice—who earns more than $235,000 weekly during the season—will also go without pay for two weeks, ESPN reported, and he will be fined $58,000.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was expected to make an official announcement Thursday afternoon, according to The Washington Post.
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