After former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward was arrested in July of 2011 for driving under the influence, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice publicly scolded him for his actions. Now, following a Saturday morning arrest for an incident that took place at a New Jersey casino, Rice must sit back and watch the rocks being thrown at his glass house.
Rice and his fiancée were arrested and charged Saturday morning with simple assault before ultimately being released with a summons to appear in municipal court. Since the arrest, however, a copy of Rice’s summons has surfaced and it states that the Ravens running back struck his fiancée with his hand, rendering her unconscious. The website TMZ has also since posted the aftermath of the incident which supports the summons and you can see it below.
“Well it looks like Hines Ward will miss week 1 when the lockout ends DUI charge not a good look,” Rice wrote on Twitter following Ward’s 2011 arrest.
Rice didn’t stop there and further chided Ward a week later.
“People look up to you, Hines,” said Rice, according to story by the Baltimore Sun. “You just were on TV with Dancing with the Stars. Ravens fans were upset that you won Dancing with the Stars but they still watched you. That shows your charisma and character. You’ve got a legacy in the NFL that no one can take away from you. But if you hurt somebody drunk driving, that takes away a lot.”
Ward’s DUI charge was later dropped as part of a plea deal and the league decided not take action against him. Will Rice, who hasn’t had any off-field incidents up until now stay clear of a suspension? It’s hard to say, but the league has already acknowledged that the incident will at some point be reviewed under the personal-conduct policy.
A player can be punished by the league if he hasn’t been convicted of a crime and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a prime example of that.
As far as we can tell, Ward hasn’t taken the opportunity to tell Rice about what he has now done to his legacy. He doesn’t have to, however, as several others certainly will. Hopefully one these many rocks being thrown at him doesn’t render him unconscious like his fiancée was, as I would hate for him to miss out on getting back what he dished out.
