Ray Rice will appeal his indefinite NFL suspension on Monday.
The former Baltimore Ravens running back was released by his team and then banned by the league after a video emerged showing him punching and knocking out his then-fiancée, Janay, in February at an Atlantic City hotel. The couple have since married.
NFL Players Association officials could make a "double jeopardy" argument since they believe the collective bargaining agreement limits the league from imposing two penalties for the same transgression. Rice's honesty about what happened could also aid his case, after Baltimore’s General Manager Ozzie Newsome said last week Rice didn’t lie to him about the events.
Rice was released by the Ravens last week
The NFLPA, which received formal notice from the NFL office on Friday that Rice is indefinitely suspended, has until Tuesday to formally respond to the suspension. The union plans to fight the ban. It is not yet known whom commissioner Roger Goodell might appoint to handle the appeal from the league’s side.
Goodell has come under fire for suspending Rice for only two games in July and then reversing the decision. The commissioner has disciplinary autonomy under the terms of the league’s collective bargaining agreement to issue punishment.