The Texans have nothing to lose other than their precious spotless arrest record. If Rice can't even win a backup job then cut him and he's never going to play a regular season game for us. If he was better than Blue though? That's a win-win situation. Give Ray Rice a chance.
I can think of at least one fan they'd lose (my wife + our three kids) - and I doubt I'm the only one. Do they really want to tarnish their brand by, essentially, advocating abuse? In this day and age, it'd be foolish for any team to pretend women don't matter...
two reasons...first...Ray Rice would instantly be the topic of Hard Knocks, and it would be a bigger story line than anything else going on. 2. Bob McNair just doesnt like Ray Rice. He has made this clear directly and indirectly
Im honestly stunned that people are so sensitive about this issue. Im not talking about the abuse part...Im talking about not wanting to be a fan of a team that employs someone that has done something bad. We have presidents that sleep around on their wives...are we going to move out of the country because the leader of our nation did something we disagree with? At the end of the day, this is just football...its a game...and we watch it because it's fun seeing grown men slam into each other.
And you're insensitive to it? So if someone knocked our your mom/gf/wife you wouldn't think much of it? If anyone were to beat the women I care about, they wouldn't live to see the next day, let alone have charges brought against them. You can be a POS person for all I care, and play on the teams I root for. But if you're violent with females to any extant, I will not support them being on my teams. **** Foster cheated on his wife and is getting divorced, but I still love the player. Don't have to like his personal life.
So inflicting physical pain on a woman - can't be on your team Inflicting emotional pain on a woman - can be on your team?
Who said I wouldn't think much of it? I don't like what Ray Rice did at all and don't approve of his actions. However, this is a game they are playing…I really don't care if I have a team full of straight A students or a team full of thugs. I want to outplay the other team on the field on any given Sunday. Also, since when do we stop giving someone a chance after they **** up? Last I checked, he never had anything on his record previously and he hasn't done anything wrong since that incident. Are we just going to shut him out of society, regardless of if he is getting help and bettering himself as a person?
Hard Knocks shouldn't play a factor. This would be a no risk signing at a position of desperate need. We are too thin at the RB position. He can serve as a camp/preseason body at least.
But you're way off base with the "suck at football" part. He most certainly does not. PR nightmare, sure.
And there are plenty of fans to replace you. The league is popular due to violence. I just don't think you can just turn it off.
This seems like an important question here. He was suspended, dealt with whatever legal issues, and apparently made amends with the victim. Does he get punished for the rest of his life by society? Who does that benefit? I'm pretty sure there are plenty of shady characters on the Texans and every other team - they just haven't been caught. So it's not about supporting or not supporting bad people - it's just about the appearance of doing so. As far as whether Ray Rice is any good at football - none of us can answer that. Lots of players have a down year and then rebound. We have no idea what kind of condition he is in with a year off and if that helps or hurts him.
If he was still good, he'd have a job. Talent is what matters. A guy named Ik broke his starting QB's jaw and a week later he gets another job....why? Because he still has value on a depth chart. If anyone thought that Ray Rice could still be the Ray Rice he once was, he'd be on an NFL roster right now given the shallow talent at the position in the league.
So you're saying that because of his last season, he dropped off that much, that teams aren't even willing to try him out? It was a season where the Ravens OLine was the worst it had been in a decade…a season where Pierce also, somehow, figured out a way to forget how to rush as well? You really can't be serious here.
