Lavar Arrington, Bruce Pearl, Jeff Pearlman Debate Ray Rice’s NFL Future On This Week’s Edition Of Jim Rome On SHOWTIME®

“You cannot get out of the way of punching that woman in her face and get another job. It won’t happen.”

— LaVar Arrington, on Ray Rice being suspended for domestic violence

LaVAR ARRINGTON, BRUCE PEARL, JEFF PEARLMAN DEBATE RAY RICE’S NFL FUTURE ON THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME^®

This Month’s Edition of JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME^® Premieres

Tuesday, September 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME;

Encores all month long on SHOWTIME EXTREME^®, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND

and SHOWTIME ANYTIME

 LOS ANGELES (September 9, 2014) – Three-time Pro Bowl linebacker and NFL Network analyst LaVar Arrington, Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl and New York Times best-selling author Jeff Pearlman debate the developing story behind the suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice on this month’s edition of JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME premiering Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.

“You cannot get out of the way of punching that woman in her face and get another job,” Arrington said. “It won’t happen. That video will be the long-lasting legacy. He will have to walk around with the scarlet letter on his chest for the rest of his life. That will never go away.”

“I think it will be very difficult, given what we’ve seen, that he’s going to have an opportunity to come back,” Pearl said. “If he doesn’t get back to the league, it sends a message that this conduct is inappropriate, it’s illegal, it’ll put you in jail, and the next guy who thinks about raising his hand to a woman, he’d better put that hand down, because he’s going to lose his right to play ball.”

While Pearl and Arrington argued that Rice may never play another down in the NFL, Pearlman was emphatic that Rice will be given another chance because sports are a bottom-line business.

“I will make a guarantee, and I will win this bet,” Pearlman said. “Next year, there will be a press conference – it could be in Cleveland, it could be in Indianapolis, it could be in New York. A tearful Ray Rice will be holding the hand of his wife after a year of redemption. (He’ll be saying) ‘I learned this, I volunteered with this’ … and the owner of the team will be up there saying ‘We believe in second chances. That’s what we do in America. He’s on a short leash here.’ We do this (expletive) in sports all the time. Why? Because ultimately it’s about winning, and Ray Rice is a good running back. I guarantee you he will come back.”

Arrington, Pearl and Pearlman also discuss the other most relevant topics in sports with Rome in The Forum, including the suspension and concussion issues surrounding Denver Broncos receiver Wes Welker, the mounting pressure on the Washington Redskins to change their name and Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson selling his controlling interest in the team after self-reporting racially insensitive emails.

Detroit Tigers left-hander and 2012 American League Cy Young award winner David Price, Philadelphia Eagles running back and two-time Pro Bowler LeSean McCoy, New Orleans Pelicans all-star Anthony Davis and Chris Herren, a former NBA point guard and recovering drug addict, all appear on Tuesday’s show as well.

Here are some additional highlights from Tuesday’s show:

Concerning Ray Rice being released by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL:

JIM ROME: “Did the team get it right?”

LaVAR ARRINGTON: “They had to. That is some of the most damning information that you can have. The first thing I thought was it happened too easy … You look at the reaction afterwards. It wasn’t like he was freaking out, but the hand just released way too easily.”

“You cannot get out of the way of punching that woman in her face and get another job. It won’t happen. That video will be the long-lasting legacy. He will have to walk around with the scarlet letter on his chest for the rest of his life. That will never go away.”

JEFF PEARLMAN: I’m from New Rochelle, New York, the hometown of Ray Rice, and where I live, he’s a hero. My wife just said this morning, ‘What do we do with the helmet?’ We have this autographed Ray Rice helmet. I’ve always admired Ray Rice, but I think he’s a (expletive) coward. I really do. I just think he’s disgusting. I have no interest in him, my kids will have no interest in him, and if I’m the Baltimore Ravens, I want nothing to do with this guy.”

BRUCE PEARL: “I think it will be very difficult, given what we’ve seen, that he’s going to have an opportunity to come back. … If he doesn’t get back to the league, it sends a message that this conduct is inappropriate, it’s illegal, it’ll put you in jail, and the next guy who thinks about raising his hand to a woman, he’d better put that hand down, because he’s going to lose his right to play ball.”

“For me as a coach, who lied to the NCAA and didn’t tell the truth, and had a three-year show cause (suspension) for making the mistake of a lifetime  – something I own and am embarrassed about – I’m grateful that I was given a little bit of grace and I’m grateful that  I was given a second chance. This is a little tougher.”

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Concerning Wes Welker’s series of concussions:

LaVAR ARRINGTON: “I would say you need to think about this – three concussions. When I was playing, it was different because we didn’t have that information. But with the information that they have today, with everything that has come out and where we’re at with that knowledge, I would certainly say it’s something that you have to think about.”

JEFF PEARLMAN: “I know it’s all about winning and losing, but if I’m John Fox, I don’t want anything to do with this guy anymore. I do not want to be responsible for some guy 10-15 years down the road having no brain – lacking the ability to think.”

“I just don’t understand how the Denver Broncos can keep putting this guy out on the field, with concussion after concussion after concussion. If you’re a coach, is there a point when you say ‘I am not putting you out there, because I don’t want this to happen to you.’?

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CHRIS HERREN: “I bumped into a line of cocaine in a dorm room that took 14 years to walk away from.”

JIM ROME: “Did you ever play games high?”

CHRIS HERREN: “Never high. I’ve played them coming down. It was miserable.”

JIM ROME: “Was it a good thing being traded to Boston? It would seem like a great thing coming from Fall River.

CHRIS HERREN: “No, because I was familiar. That’s where I was born and raised, and I knew who to call if I needed (drugs). I fell into the feeling. I spent 20 bucks on a little yellow pill called oxycontin, and it turned into $25,000 a month. I tell kids all the time that I dreamed of playing for the Celtics – I didn’t dream of standing outside before the game trying to get oxy so I could be well enough to play in it.”

JIM ROME: “(In your first game in Boston), you’re out there (outside the arena) trying to find your dealer, and you can’t find him. What happened?”

CHRIS HERREN: “Panick. I was withdrawing somewhat before the game, and I knew that if I didn’t get it, I was going to struggle. So in a panic, I ran outside and grabbed it 10 minutes before game time. I got it into my system and was able to play.”

JIM ROME: “So you were high in that game?”

CHRIS HERREN: “Yeah. … At this point in my career, I couldn’t play unless I was high.”

JIM ROME: “How did you beat this?

CHRIS HERREN: “I went back (to rehab after the birth of my third child), and a staff member there said ‘Play dead. Call your wife, tell her you love her, tell her you’ll never call her again, and tell her to tell your kids that you died in a car accident. And just disappear.’ There were two sides of my heart. The good guy was saying ‘Play dead. Just cut them loose.’ The fighter, the athlete in me was saying ‘Come on man, fight for this.’ … I’ve been sober since those words.”

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JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME airs Tuesdays with encore airings all month long on SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME EXTREME^® and is available on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND and SHOWTIME ANYTIME.

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