NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appears to have been caught in another lie regarding the Ray Rice situation.
ESPN’s Outside the Lines reports that the former Baltimore Ravens running back told the commissioner in their June 16 meeting that he hit wife Janay Palmer in the face. That contradicts Goodell’s assertion that he was unclear about what happened inside the Revel hotel elevator where the punch occurred.
“When we met with Ray Rice and his representatives, it was ambiguous about what actually happened,” Goodell said as part of his statement.
Three sources told ESPN there was no ambiguity about what Rice told the commissioner, while another source said Rice told Goodell he “slapped” Janay in the face.
In an interview with CBS News, Goodell said this week he did not know what happened in the elevator until seeing it on video Monday. Contrarily, Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome said this week Rice told him what happened inside the elevator. What Rice told him seemed to match with the video.
On the other side supporting Goodell, NFL reporter Mike Freeman says multiple sources told him Rice softened what happened in the elevator in his meeting with Goodell.
Even though a grand jury increased charges to a third degree aggravated assault, charges against Rice were dropped and he was accepted into a pre-trial intervention program. That combined with Rice’s previously clean record and a plea from Janay are reasons why Goodell only suspended Rice two games.
