NFL Won’t Discipline Rashee Rice After Domestic Violence Allegations

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Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice will not face discipline from the NFL after he was accused of domestic abuse by his ex-girlfriend.
In February, Dacoda Jones, the mother of Rice’s two children, filed a civil suit alleging that Rice had caused “severe and permanent injuries” to her between December 2023 and July 2025, via The Athletic. The lawsuit alleged that “grabbed, choked, strangled, pushed, thrown, scratched, hit and headbutted Ms. Jones, as well as hit her with inanimate objects.”
Rice’s lawyer Sean Lindsey said after the lawsuit was filed, “On October 9th, 2025, well after the parties' relationship had ended, Ms. Jones stated under penalty of perjury in a sworn Affidavit for Non-Prosecution that ‘Mr. Rice and I had a verbal argument, but he did not punch me.’ We will allow the legal process to run its course and have no further comment at this time.”
Jones previously had posted pictures of herself to social media in January which included bruises and scratches on her body. She wrote in the since-deleted Instagram post. “I’m so tired of keeping quiet I’m so tired of protecting his image. I’ve been through too much in a span of 8 years and I’ve had ENOUGH! I’ve dealt with abuse for years, me and this man decided to break up a couple months ago and since then it’s been nothing but hell.”
The NFL announced after those posts were made that they would be reviewing the matter under the league’s personal conduct policy.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the NFL determined that Rice “has not engaged in conduct that violates the personal conduct policy” and will not face discipline at this time. The lawsuit remains open, but for now, the NFL has closed their review of the accusations.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy added via Schefter, “There was insufficient evidence to support a finding that he violated the personal conduct policy.”
Rice’s lawyer Sean Lindsey said in a statement to Schefter, “Mr. Rice wants to thank the NFL for their thorough investigation, and looks forward to the start of the 2026-27 NFL season.”
Rice previously served a six-game suspension during the 2025 season for his involvement in a multi-car crash in 2024, which saw him driving at 119 miles per hour, that caused injury as he crashed into multiple vehicles and fleed the scene. Had the NFL determined he violated the league’s personal conduct policy again, he likely would have faced any even longer suspension as a multi-time offender. For now though, Rice appears cleared for the 2026 season.
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Eva Geitheim is an NFL writer at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or rewatching Gilmore Girls.