Ray Rice Wins Appeal: Former Baltimore Ravens To Play In NFL Once Again; Does This Mean Sports Accepts Abusers? Rice: 'I Am Thankful,' Janay Palmer: 'It's A Relief' [WATCH]

MStars News has learned that former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is one happy man, and has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Rice has won his appeal of the indefinite suspension that he faced after knocking out his girlfriend (now his wife), Janay Palmer.

Rice has been welcomed back to the sport of football.

According to ESPN, the former Ravens star is now eligible to sign with any NFL team who is willing to take him.

Rice and his wife had a lot to say as they both released statements on Friday.

"I would like to thank Judge Barbara Jones, the NFL Players Association, my attorneys, agents, advisors, family, friends and fans — but most importantly, my wife Janay," the 27-year-old said during his statement released by the NFLPA. "I made an inexcusable mistake and accept full responsibility for my actions."

Rice adds, "I am thankful that there was a proper appeals process in place to address this issue. I will continue working hard to improve myself and be the best husband, father and friend, while giving back to my community and helping others to learn from my mistakes."

Former U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones was the lucky judge who had to work this difficult and controversial case. Jones listened to Rice's appeal and stated her reason for her decision to allow Rice to play in the NFL once again:

"In this arbitration, the NFL argues that Commissioner Goodell was misled when he disciplined Rice the first time. Because, after careful consideration of all of the evidence, I am not persuaded that Rice lied to, or misled, the NFL at his June interview, I find that the indefinite suspension was an abuse of discretion and must be vacated."

"I find that the NFLPA carried its burden of showing that Rice did not mislead the Commissioner at the June 16th meeting, and therefore, that the imposition of a second suspension based on the same incident and the same known facts about the incident, was arbitrary," Jones
added.

 "The Commissioner needed to be fair and consistent in his imposition of discipline."

"Moreover, any failure on the part of the League to understand the level of violence was not due to Rice's description of the event but to the inadequacy of words to convey the seriousness of domestic violence. That the League did not realize the severity of the conduct without a visual record also speaks to their admitted failure in the past to sanction this type of conduct more severely."

Rice's wife, Janay also sent high praises for her husband's return.

"It feels unbelievable. It's a relief. We've been telling the same story for months and we always had faith that we'd done the right thing. Everyone deserves a second chance. We're excited about what the future will bring." Janay said.

The NFL also had something to say about Ray's appeal:

"We respect Judge Jones's decision to reinstate Ray Rice from his indefinite suspension for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy in an incident of domestic violence. Ray Rice is a free agent and has been eligible to be signed by an NFL team since he was released by the Ravens. Based on Judge Jones' decision, he will be eligible to play upon signing a new contract."

Obviously the Rice's had a lot of faith in the appeal after Ray was suspended indefinitely September 8 for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, but how will his faith be when returning to a team?

MStars News wants to know, will you be a fan, do you think Rice will be accepted by a team soon? Comment below!