That Ray Rice is starting to become the topic of conversation surrounding teams that need a running back is a positive step for the disgraced player.
That his last season with the Baltimore Ravens was a disaster is not.
Ray Rice's Success Went To His Head, Led To Punching His Fiancée
Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw contemplated the pros and cons of the Dallas Cowboys considering approaching Rice, just one day after SI.com reported that the Cleveland Browns had preliminary discussions about the 28-year-old.
Cowlishaw noted that the Cowboys already have defensive end Greg Hardy, himself suspended four games for a domestic violence issue in April, on their roster. But two key pieces of evidence separate Hardy's situation from that of Rice.
"One is that there was a lot of ambiguity in the he said-she said Hardy case," Cowlishaw wrote. "Hardy made the initial 911 call asking police to take her away. There's nothing ambiguous about the haymaker delivered by Rice.
"Second -- and this, right or wrong, is most important -- there is compelling evidence that Hardy can play. He has 16 sacks in his last 17 games. He turned 27 in July. He has no major injuries slowing him down. If he can steer clear of trouble, his career is ahead of him.
"Rice is 28, but in running back years, he may be a lifetime older than Hardy. The man averaged 4.7 yards per carry in 2011, 4.4 in 2012 and 3.1 in 2013. He has contended that he played with a hip flexor the Ravens either failed to detect or declined to make public in 2013 and that he had to get shot up to play."
Cowlishaw noted that former NFL defensive back and current NBC NFL analyst Rodney Harrison has called for the Cowboys to consider Rice.
Also, Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Biscotti added he hopes Rice gets a second chance but is on the record as saying that that second chance won't happen in Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Sun.
A Call To Men, an organization committed to ending violence against women, originally supported Rice, then backtracked out of it.
If Rice is to secure a second chance, he'll have two huge hurdles to overcome - his destroyed reputation as a result of the TMZ video showing him punching his then-fiancée and now wife Janay, and his reputation of being a shell of his former self as a football player.
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