Rashee Rice's SMU Skeletons Surface Amid Recent Arrests, May Impact NFL Discipline

College football programs need to learn what they painstakingly cover up about their star players for short-term gain will often come back to hurt that player and the program more later than it likely would have in the first place.

Southern Methodist University in Dallas may be realizing that now, as Kansas City Chiefs star wide receiver Rashee Rice's SMU skeletons may be surfacing amid his recent arrests.

OPINION: What Was Rashee Rice Thinking?

Rice, 24, was recently arrested on eight felony charges concerning a hit-and-run accident on March 30 involving six vehicles after Rice was drag racing his Lamborghini at 119 mph on a Dallas highway. Then this week, Rice was accused of hitting a photographer at a Dallas nightclub in the wee hours of Monday morning.

All this after Rice found himself on top of the world following a spectacular rookie season in which he helped lead the Chiefs to the Super Bowl LVIII title last February. He led Chiefs' wide receivers with 79 catches for 938 yards and seven touchdowns.

Kansas City Chiefs' wide receiver Rashee Rice gains yards after a catch against Baltimore in the AFC Championship game on Jan. 28 in Baltimore that the Chiefs won to reach the Super Bowl. (Getty Images)

Rice played as a first-round pick would in 2023, but he was just the 55th player taken overall late in the second round.

And now we know the mystery behind why an obvious first-round player based on his talent displayed at SMU went so late after the entire NFL avoided taking him earlier because of behavioral issues at SMU. Issues that were gleaned covertly before the 2023 draft by the various former detectives and law enforcement types who fill all 32 NFL staffs.

Rice and/or one of his friends allegedly fired multiple