Former Washington running back Derrius Guice is planning on an NFL comeback.
The 5-foot-11, 220 pound Guice, a second-round pick in 2018 out of LSU, missed his entire rookie season injuring his knee (ACL) vs the Patriots in the preseason.
He also missed most of 2019, then had a huge game at Carolina, gaining 129 yards, scoring two touchdowns on only 10 rushing attempts. Ironically it was this Washington win over Carolina that resulted in Ron Rivera being fired.
Guice was injured again the very next week against Green Bay, went back on injured reserve (IR), and unbelievably has played in only five NFL games.
On their radio program Monday, J.P. Finlay noted that Guice had more IR stints than NFL touchdowns. Brian Mitchell joked, Guice had more IR stints than Mitchell did in his 14-year NFL career.
Guice, who is still only age 24, worked out for a group of NFL scouts at a California HUB camp. But talking only about the injuries for Guice avoids the troubling aspect of Guice.
Guice was suspended by the NFL for six games because of his violation of the personal conduct policy due to off-field troubles. There was a felony charge, four misdemeanors regarding domestic violence toward his girlfriend and destruction of property. Washington released Guice only two hours after hearing of his arrest on August 7, 2020. Washington obviously had heard of other incidents, and immediately severed their ties with Guice.
Guice never stood trial; thus he was never proven guilty by a trial, nor was he proven innocent. There was a financial settlement that essentially ended the case, and the charges were subsequently dropped in 2021.
The “other incidents” were at LSU, accusations that Guice has repeatedly denied. But if objective thinkers, don’t we have to ask ourselves, why would LSU go as far as literally removing Derrius Guice’s name from their record books?
Guice had been accused of sexual misconduct at LSU; the university looked into it enough that they made the determination to actually erase his accomplishments while part of the LSU football program. Have you ever heard of such?
Guice displayed talent and toughness in his brief NFL first act. Seeing he would come cheap, being able to sign as a free agent, it is likely Guice will be signed and given another chance by an NFL franchise.