BARRY WILNER
AP Pro Football Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The players’ union on Tuesday plans to appeal the indefinite suspension the NFL handed to Ray Rice last week.
NFL Players Association spokesman George Atallah told The Associated Press on Monday “we are expecting to appeal before the deadline on Tuesday night.” That deadline is 11:59 p.m. EDT.
Rice originally was suspended two games under the NFL’s personal conduct policy for striking his then-fiancee in a hotel elevator. When videotape of that incident was made public and showed Rice punching his now-wife Janay, knocking her unconscious, the Baltimore Ravens released the running back.
Almost immediately after that, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made Rice’s suspension indefinite.
Although he doesn’t have a team, Rice remains a member of the NFLPA.
Rice can apply for reinstatement when he convinces Goodell that he is “addressing this issue.” Rice can avoid prosecution and a criminal record by completing a pretrial intervention program, a resolution prosecutors said they agreed to after consulting with Janay Rice.
The NFL hired former FBI director Robert Mueller to look into how the league sought and handled evidence in the domestic violence case.
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