For those clinging to the argument that Ray Rice is getting too old and his last NFL season is proof that he is washed up, a counter-argument can be summed up in two words.
DeAngelo Williams.
Cardinals Refusal To Sign Ray Rice May Cost Them Trip To Super Bowl
The 32-year-old running back has resurrected his career with Pittsburgh, rushing for 697 yards and six touchdowns, and adding 256 more receiving yards after looking washed up after nine years with the Panthers.
Williams was limited to six games in an injury-ravaged 2014 with Carolina, rushing for just 219 yards with a 3.5-average yards per carry.
Cowboys Pass On Ray Rice To Sign Robert Turbin
The former University of Memphis product has averaged 4.9 yards per carry in six starts for LeVeon Bell, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Williams exploded for 134 rushing yards (and 31 more receiving) in the Steelers' 45-10 win Sunday night over the Colts.
The DeAngelo train lost 13 pounds during the offseason to get ready for 2015, Steelers Depot reported. He is listed at 207 pounds.
Rice was in the process of doing the same for the Ravens in 2014 after rushing for a career-low 610 yards in 2013. He will turn 29 in 2016, but still remains blackballed from the NFL after a video of him knocking out his wife (who was then his fiancée) in an Atlantic City casino elevator went public. Arguments against Rice, in terms of his on-field potential, point to his 2013 season.
Meanwhile, NFL owners have been willing to allow other players back into the league despite serious legal issues.
Rice's former teammate, Ray Lewis, was charged with two counts of murder in 2000 before striking a plea deal of obstruction of justice in exchange for testimony against two companions. The murders in which Lewis was originally charged have never been solved.
Former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick missed two years of his career after he was imprisoned for running a dog-fighting operation but has played seven more seasons after his release.
Former Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth spent 30 days in jail for driving drunk and killing a pedestrian in 2009, but returned -- to the Ravens of all teams -- in 2010.
And, of course, Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy was convicted of domestic abuse against a former girlfriend in 2014, only to go free when the woman refused to testify against him amid reports that he paid her a settlement, but still signed a one-year contract this season and could return with a longer contract in 2016.
And lest we forget that former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who was released immediately after he was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd in the summer of 2013, but still played in 2012 after the alleged double murder took place in July.
In other words, any reason NFL teams use as an argument against giving Rice a tryout are just dumb. It's time for the league's team rescind their unspoken agreement that has Rice blackballed.
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