Chiefs players showed up to warm-ups wearing a shirt that stirred up some controversy, and for good reason.
What’s happening with the chiefs?
The wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team, probably one of the most popular teams over the past few years, was handed a six-game suspension because of a 2024 high-speed crash that set off the domino effect involving six cars. Rice has been ordered to serve a thirty-day jail sentence and will be allowed to split up into different stints. Going into the September 14th game against the Eagles, two Chiefs players showed up wearing graphic T-shirts that said “Free 4” on them, Rice’s jersey number. From both a PR and moral perspective, this is a terrible decision to have made.
Head coach Andy Reid tried to say that, “I know these guys love Rashee and they feel for him sitting out here. And so I think it’s no more than that. I just think that those guys, they love the kid and want him to feel part of it in their own way. I really don’t think it’s anything more than that.”
Even if the guys in red had only good intentions behind the awkward and hurtful statement, they still look ignorant when it comes to the victims injured by their teammate, who got off with a slap on the wrist. Rice caused a serious collision after speeding in a Lamborghini going 119 miles per hour, injuring two of his former college football teammates who were in the car, as well as a mother in a different vehicle. Surprisingly, Rashee Rice was not under the influence of anything, even when he fled the scene of the crime.
So why would the Chiefs want him free, especially when he hasn’t even served his sentence yet? It’s laughable for all the wrong reasons. Especially when you consider the fact that he wasn’t punished in 2024 when the incident happened, but this year.
Now, Rice says he’s a changed man, saying, “I’ve completely changed. You have to learn from things like that.” Learning doesn’t mean you should get off with no consequences when you’ve already been handed a light sentence.
Rashee Rice will serve a six-game suspension, five years of deferred probation, and a thirty-day jail sentence that he can serve within those five years.
For a short video explanation of what I’d like to call “Shirt-gate,” TikTok user @softscorpio explains all of the drama. The comments are ruthless, with some people commenting about how easy it is to hate this team, and how embarrassing their actions are.
They aren’t wrong.
It’s a disrespectful thing for Travis Kelce and Tyguan Thornton to wear shirts that act as a slap in the face to the multiple injured victims of a serious crash that Rice tried to run away from.
Harsh words from a lawyer
March Lenahan had some choice words about the situation, as the lawyer representing one of the victims, admitting that Rice has yet to pay any of the $1.1 million settlement he’d made with the victim.
“Free Rashee? He already thinks he’s getting away scot-free.”
The next game that Rashee Rice will be able to play in will be the October 19th game against the Las Vegas Raiders. So far, the Chiefs are having a tough start to their season without him.