NFL Was Sent Ray Rice Video Months Ago: AP

Police source says he sent it to an unnamed executive
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 10, 2014 5:44 PM CDT
NFL Was Sent Ray Rice Video Months Ago: AP
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.   (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

If Roger Goodell's job as NFL commissioner was on thin ice in the wake of the Ray Rice case, that ice just got even thinner: A law enforcement source tells the AP that he sent a video of Rice knocking out his then-fiancee to an NFL executive five months ago. He does not name the executive, however, and nor can he say for sure that anyone in the league watched the DVD. But he did play a short voice-mail in which a female voice in an NFL office confirms that the video arrived, adding, "You're right, it's terrible." Goodell has said that the league never saw the video until TMZ released a copy this week. Only then did he suspend Rice indefinitely, after an initial two-game suspension critics say was too paltry.

"We have no knowledge of this," says an NFL spokesman of the AP's revelation. "We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday. We will look into it." The story comes after the National Organization for Women became the latest voice to demand that Goodell resign, reports USA Today. Also today, a dozen members of Congress sent Goodell a letter demanding the "highest level of transparency" about how the league handled the Rice situation, reports Time. Specifically, the lawmakers want the NFL to spell out exactly what steps it took to try to obtain the video. (More Roger Goodell stories.)

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