Ray Rice has been a pariah in NFL circles ever since the news broke about his domestic violence incident involving his fiancee Janay, who is now his wife. The public backlash only got worse once the horrific video was released. Rice was suspended by the league, cut by the Ravens, and has been unable to find a job even though he was reinstated.

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According to TMZ, Rice has now had the domestic violence charges against him dropped, and they have been expunged from his record, meaning that in the eyes of the law, he is no longer an offender.

Rice completed a pre-trial intervention program, and the district attorney of Atlantic County sent the dismissal order to the court, which a judge signed earlier this morning.

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Rice was initially charged with a felony for aggravated assault, but a deal that he struck with prosecutors meant that he was only charged with simple assault, which is a misdemeanor.

The court documents revealed that Rice was a participant in the intervention program -- which was supervised -- for one year, and he also had to pay a $125 fine.

Now that Rice's legal woes are officially behind him, some will say that he is closer to an NFL return. In practice, however, that still seems unlikely. He has been out of the league for a year and is approaching his 30th birthday. And because of the presence of the video, Rice will forever be a violent offender in the eyes of many fans, no matter what the court says.

With the number of other free agent backs and talented prospects available each year, it seems unlikely that a team would willingly choose to endure the possible public relations nightmare that a Rice signing could bring about.