The Steelers didn’t take long to react after running back Chris Rainey was arrested this morning and accused of slapping his girlfriend.
Just hours after the arrest, the Steelers announced that they waived Rainey. And the team made no secret of the fact that the arrest is what cost him his job.
“Chris Rainey’s actions this morning were extremely disappointing,” Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert said in a statement released by the team. “Under the circumstances and due to this conduct, Chris will no longer be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
This is at least the second time that Rainey has been accused of a crime in which the victim was a woman he was in a relationship with. In 2010, when he played at Florida, he was arrested and charged with felony stalking after threatening his ex-girlfriend.
The Steelers took Rainey in the fifth round of last year’s NFL draft, and he played in all 16 games as a rookie, leading the team in kickoff returns and getting limited playing time on offense.