AP Report Says NFL Got Rice Video / Ex FBI Chief Will Investigate NFL

The Associated Press reports today that a law enforcement official associated with the Rice case had in fact sent a copy of the tape to the NFL in April.

The report runs counter to statements Goodell made yesterday in an interview with CBS about the Ray Rice situation. During the interview, after Goodell had been asked whether any league officials had seen the tape, he said, “No one in the NFL, to my knowledge.” At least he gave himself plausible deniability. Very canny, Roger.

However, Goodell may be right. The law enforcement official was not able to confirm that anyone in the league had actually watched the tape. He could only confirm that they had received it. His proof was a 12-second voicemail he received from a league official saying that they had gotten the video.

This evidence does contradict the league’s claim that they had reached out to law enforcement for the tape and had been unable to get it. In the same interview with CBS, Goodell stated, “We assumed that there was a video. We asked for video. But we were never granted that opportunity.” Now that we know they had the tape, the bigger issue becomes why the NFL didn’t watch it, if we’re to believe what Goodell says.

The AP notes that the version of the video they watched is different from the clips TMZ released. In the version they saw, audio is included, and the clip is slightly longer. Essentially, all the evidence to make a fair and proper decision about Ray Rice’s initial suspension was in the NFL’s hands.

Ex FBI Chief Will Investigate How NFL Handled Rice Evidence

The NFL says former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III will conduct a probe into how the NFL handled evidence as it investigated domestic violence claims against former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation will be overseen by NFL owners John Mara of the New York Giants and Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Goodell said that Mueller will have access to all NFL records. The NFL’s announcement came after a law enforcement official told the AP on condition of anonymity that he sent a tape of Rice striking his then-fiancée at a casino to an NFL executive in April. Goodell has maintained that no one at the league had seen the tape prior to Monday, when it went viral online.

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2014/09/nfl-ex-fbi-director-investigating-how-league-handled-ray-rice-evidence/The NFL says former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III will conduct a probe into how the NFL handled evidence as it investigated domestic violence claims against former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation will be overseen by NFL owners John Mara of the New York Giants and Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Goodell said that Mueller will have access to all NFL records. The NFL’s announcement came after a law enforcement official told the AP on condition of anonymity that he sent a tape of Rice striking his then-fiancée at a casino to an NFL executive in April. Goodell has maintained that no one at the league had seen the tape prior to Monday, when it went viral online.

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2014/09/nfl-ex-fbi-director-investigating-how-league-handled-ray-rice-evidence/